Panellists at a forum last night concur that it is only Umno and the Malay elites who are at risk of becoming sidelined like the Red Indians in the US, not ordinary Malays.

Among them include PAS vice president Husam Musa, who said that most parliamentary seats would remain Malay-majority even if Pakatan Rakyat takes over the government, and only a redelineation exercise could change that.

He pointed out that of the parliament’s 222 seats, Malay majority seats outnumber non-Malay majority seats by 52 seats.

“What Perkasa and the former chief justice (Abdul Hamid Mohamad) feared is not that Malays become Red Indians, but that Umno would become read Indians,” he said told a forum themed ‘Are Malays and Islam under threat?’ last night.

Nevertheless, he cited latest surveys by the pollster Merdeka Centre showing that 55 percent of Malays felt threatened, up from 26 percent in the first months after the 2008 general election.

This, he said, is due to an ‘intensive’ propaganda war in mainstream media.

“We cannot deny that this psychological war has made its impact. Whether Malays are under threat is another matter, but to their minds, they have accepted (the message of) Umno’s psychological war that Malays are under threat.

“Perhaps that is why the chief justice made his statement a few days ago that Malays would become Red Indians. In my opinion, the longer Umno rules Malaysia, the sooner Malays will become Red Indians,” he said.

Husam was responding to Abdul Hamid’s statement on Sunday, urging PAS to unite with Umno and stop DAP, or Malays would become marginalised like the Red Indians in the US.

Incomprehensible drivel

Meanwhile for national laureate A Samad Said, he said the “seasonal” drivel that Malays and Islam are under threat comes during elections and during Umno’s general assembly, and is hard to comprehend.

This is because on contrary to the claims, Samad (left ) said the positions of power remain firmly in Malay hands over the past five decades, including all previous prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, home ministers, menteri besars, and most members of parliament.

This is apart from the civil service and the military, where most of its members are Malay, and the Malay Rulers.

“With such solid foundations, what is the basis for news reports that Malays and Islam are threatened?

“This is what keeps going about in the media, and sometimes I think that it is the non-Malays who are being threatened.

He also highlighted that all Malaysian prime ministers to date were of Malay noble origin (bangsawan) apart from Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Did you realise that those in power for the past 57 years come only from a certain group? Why does not come from below? People who are cleaner, more visionary, and more ambitious?” he said.

Meanwhile, Selangor University law lecturer Abdul Aziz Bari ( right ) said the position of the Malay Rulers - and by extension the Malays - are now more secure than ever, because those who had threatened it are now weak.

This is because most constitutional amendments protecting the Bumiputera and Islam require a two-third majority in Parliament, as well as consent from the Conference of Rulers.

BN, which had made a constitutional amendment in 1993 to strip the sultans of their immunity to legal prosecution, had lost the two-third majority in 2008.

“Umno, in certain circumstances, goes against the constitution. It is not the (constitutional) provisions that pose a threat, but Umno’s attitude.

“Now that Umno is weak, they are safe. So back to the question whether Malays and Islam are threatened, I think they are safe because those who like to ‘steal’ from them are weak,” he said.