As the red shirt rally dubbed Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu kicks off today, MIC president Dr S Subramaniam said it is better to control the rally than allowing it to run wild.

Subramaniam said this in defence of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who decided to allow the rally despite having voiced MIC's opposition with the premier at the BN supreme council meeting on Monday.

“(Najib said) in view of too many people who have already made a stand on it, if you don’t do it in a controlled manner, there is a risk of this group doing so in an uncontrolled manner.

“He (Najib) said in view of the need for safety, it would be good to do it in a controlled manner, which (I think) makes sense,” the health minister told a press conference after launching MIC Youth Malaysia Unity Ride 2015 in Brickfields this morning.

Prime Minister Najib had said that BN supreme council meeting took the stand to “agree to disagree”, but there was no prohibition on coalition members from joining the rally.

Asked whether the Indian-based party had opposed the red shirts rally during the BN supreme council, Subramaniam replied in the affirmative.

“We have said it (the rally) is not done in the spirit of uniting Malaysia nation. (Instead) it focuses on a particular race.”

Subramaniam said the rally chose a bad day as Malaysia Day should be a celebration, not for voicing a particular community’s concern.

“I think Prime Minister (Najib) understood those who were openly against and respects our opinion. I think the government will try to ensure the rally goes on and is done in a peaceful manner,” he added.

'Kamalanathan’s explanation bona fide'

On Hulu Selangor MP P Kamalanathan’s allowing his service centre to distribute the rally’s red shirts, Subramaniam said Kamalanathan had clarified the matter.

“I take (Kamalanathan’s) explanation in good faith.”

After landing in hot water, Kamalanathan explained that his officers had allocated resources for the T-shirts and his office space without knowing what the event was about.

“In the spirit of helping NGOs, my service centre officers allocated resources and the office space, based on goodwill and without knowledge of the event.”

Meanwhile, Subramaniam vowed to make the Malaysia Unity Ride as an annual event.

This, he said, is to foster unity among the races.