![\"http:\/\/buletinonline.net\/http:\/\/buletinonline.net\/v7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/anwar_ibrahim.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/buletinonline.net\/v7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/anwar_ibrahim.jpg\")
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders today flayed Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia for \u201cfuelling the fires of hatred\u201d by spreading \u201clies\u201d that the Penang chief minister\u2019s name had replaced the Yang di-Pertuan Agong\u2019s during Friday sermons at several mosques in the state.<\/p>\n
PR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed the accusations against Lim Guan Eng were made out of BN\u2019s sheer desperation to remain politically relevant, pointing out that he had personally read the text of the sermon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally monitored the situation… I read the text that was distributed and found that the allegations were unfounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were merely lies spread for the political gains of politicians who are getting increasingly desperate,\u201d he said in a statement today.<\/p>\n
He said that allegation, made by Penang Umno chief Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, was a reflection of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak\u2019s failure to understand the people\u2019s desire for a peaceful nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are confident that Umno\u2019s ploy will not end here. They will surely use more slanderous lies to destroy the understanding and peace in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are aware that Malaysians are committed towards seeking for change and justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang then slammed Utusan Malaysia for its front-page headline today, claiming the Malay daily had committed the most \u201cirresponsible act in the history of Malaysian journalism\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said that the headline, which read, \u201cNama Guan Eng ganti Agong \u2014 Disebut dalam doa khutbah Jumaat: Umno Pulau Pinang bantah\u201d, was \u201cutterly baseless, a mischievous and dangerous incitement of religious hatred, tension and discord in plural Malaysia\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes against all the principles and values espoused by 1 Malaysia,\u201d he said in a statement today.<\/p>\n
Kit Siang reminded Malaysians that Merdeka was just around the corner, and called on a complete halt to the recent series of racially-charged incidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith National Day only 11 days away and Malaysia Day in 27 days, there must be a complete halt to the recent series of irresponsible and crazy statements which are incitements of race and religion.<\/p>\n
\u201cOtherwise, the country is heading in the direction very opposite to the 1 Malaysia proclaimed by the prime minister,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Last week, a Johor school principal was accused of uttering racially sensitive remarks during a school assembly speech when she told the Chinese students to go back to China and said the Indians looked like dogs when they wore their prayer strings.<\/p>\n
Today, another school principal in Kedah was accused of telling her Chinese pupils to \u201creturn to China\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kit Siang said Malaysians should celebrate Merdeka by embracing the country\u2019s unity in diversity of ethnicity, religions, cultures and beliefs, the concepts of inclusiveness, social justice and the 1 Malaysia principles of integrity, culture of excellence, wisdom, humility, loyalty and the twin commitments of \u201cPeople first, performance now\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we have the opposite as illustrated by Utusan Malaysia\u2019s front-page headline of falsehood and dangerous incitement to religious hatred, discord and tension,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kit Siang noted that Abdul Malik Abul Kassim, the Penang executive councillor in charge of religious affairs, had already refuted Ahmad Zahid\u2019s allegations against Guan Eng.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbdul Malik said initial investigations showed no such incident had occurred as the text of the sermon, which is prepared by the state religious affairs department, never used Lim\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Abdul Malik said, whoever did such a thing was \u2018insane\u2019 as no right thinking person would do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kit Siang also called on both Ahmad Zahid and Utusan Malaysia to explain and apologise for showing disrespect towards Najib\u2019s 1 Malaysia concept.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Ahmad Zahid claimed that the use of Guan Eng\u2019s name had been detected a week ago during the sermon at several mosques in the Tasek Gelugor, Permatang Pauh and Jelutong areas.-MalaysianInsider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders today flayed Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia for \u201cfuelling the fires of hatred\u201d by spreading \u201clies\u201d that the Penang chief minister\u2019s name had replaced the Yang di-Pertuan Agong\u2019s during Friday sermons at several mosques in the state. PR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed the accusations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}