Abdullah Abu Bakar, the leader of the protest that forced the removal of a cross in front of a church in Petaling Jaya yesterday, is the elder brother of the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Both Abdullah and Khalid expected to address the matter at separate functions today.

Abdullah is also an Umno branch leader.

Khalid is expected to explain the issue at an event he is scheduled to attend at 2.30pm.

Munaliza Hamzah, who was also part of the protest, told Malaysiakini that Umno was not behind their action.

"This has nothing to do with Umno. We were not representing Umno. We didn't get direction from Umno," said Munaliza, who was the BN candidate for the Taman Medan state seat in 2013.

She said this in response to PKR's Petaling Jaya Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian, who implied that the protest was orchestrated by Umno.

"We weren't representing Umno, we represented the people in Taman Medan, particularly Medan Cahaya," Munaliza said.

"So, that was a wrong statement. Just tell Hee to shut his mouth," she added.

Munaliza said Muslims there have no qualms with those professing different faiths.

However, she claimed that the cross was an issue because it was put up "high and in a big size".

"This hurts the Muslims, we don’t want Muslim youngsters to be disturbed by the red cross.

"They can place it in the front or inside (the building) but not in a high place," she added.

She also called on all quarters not to blow this issue out of proportion or politicise it.

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