The Sabah government has been slammed for barring Malaysian citizen and internationally renowned activist Ambiga Sreenevasan from entering the state.

"While we are planning Sabah's ' Kembalikan Negara Ku ', Ambiga's planned entry is rejected.

“We're all Malaysians, the citizens of this country, and we can't enter our own country,” lamented Malaysian Indians Progressive Association (Mipas) secretary general S Barathidasan ( right ) today.

Mipas is one of the NGOs involved in the civil movement Negara-Ku, which is on a roadshow to advocate ‘moderation, peace and harmony’ through their ' Kembalikan Negara Ku ' (Return our country) programme.

It was reported yesterday that the Sabah Immigration had informed Ambiga she was not allowed in to the state for the programme on Nov 25.

Ambiga, a prominent lawyer and former Malaysian Bar president, is best known for leading the coalition for free and fair elections Bersih through several massive rallies over the past years before she retired from co-chairing the group.

Barathidasan asked why no one from Barisan Nasional or pro-BN non-government organisations had been stopped from entering Sabah.

“What a double-standards mentality. Something is grossly wrong with how this country is being governed,” he said.

Negara-Ku kickstarted their programme on Wednesday in Malacca and plans to head to Sabah and give other states this month as part of its circuit.

The other destinations are Perak, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.