Perkasa and other Islamic pressure groups setting up their own National Unity Front (NUF) has been slammed by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang as a challenge to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong himself.

He said if DAP had done the same thing in defying the NUCC, that is endorsed by the Agong, they would have been accused of insulting the royalty.

"If DAP or any of Pakatan Rakyat parties had done what Perkasa had done, in going against the Agong’s speech on the NUCC, we would have been accused of being anti-national, anti-agong and traitors and all sorts of actions would have been taken against the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders," Lim lamented.

Lim in a statement yesterday questioned why "instigators and extremists" from Perkasa and other NGOs are given a "free hand" to incite racial and religious animosity.

He reminded that the Agong in his speech opening Parliament last Monday endorsed the government's National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC).

But Perkasa not only constantly criticised the NUCC but also has decided to form its own NUF claiming to usurp the NUCC's objectives, to tackle issues of racial relations in the country.

"The Agong has been openly challenged and defied by the provocative and insensitive statements and actions of the extremist organisation Perkasa and other NGOs," Lim said in a statement yesterday.

"They have rejected wholesale the NUCC and have set up the NUF as an alternative to the NUCC," he added.

Yesterday, the Perkasa-backed NUF announced former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamed as its first chief.

Since the NUCC's inception, the Malay supremacist group has constantly criticized the group and snubbed its invitation for a closed-door session, on grounds that the council included members that sympathised with gender minorities and supported the use of 'Allah' by Malay-speaking Christians.

Lim reiterated that the Kajang by-election should be a referendum from the people to state that they want Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to take action against those who incite religious and racial tension