Ramkarpal: Umno’s silence over PAS racial remarks may be ‘sign of things to come’

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Umno’s silence over racial remarks by PAS leaders could set the tone for their new-found political cooperation in Negeri Sembilan, DAP’s Ramkarpal Singh said today.

The Bukit Gelugor MP said such rhetoric should be strongly condemned, as it had no place in multicultural Malaysia and could inflame racial tensions if left unchecked.

“The blatant disregard of racial insensitivities by PAS, coupled with Umno’s reluctance to reprimand it is a serious cause for concern and may be a sign of things to come, given their new found alliance, at least in Negeri Sembilan,” Ramkarpal said in a statement.

The former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) was responding to remarks reportedly made by Perikatan Nasional election director and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor at a campaign ceramah in Jempol.

Malaysiakini reported Sanusi as saying that Malays only had “Tanah Melayu”, while Indians had India and Chinese had China.

Ramkarpal said Sanusi’s remarks were insensitive to non-Malays and implied that Malaysian Indians and Chinese did not belong in the country because they could supposedly return to India or China.

He also linked the remarks to a July 16 statement by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, who had reportedly described DAP members as “pendatang brought in by the colonialists”.

Ramkarpal also called on MCA and MIC to state whether they were prepared to leave Barisan Nasional over PAS’ position, saying the matter could have far-reaching consequences for racial harmony.

He said MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran’s call for BN to contest elections on its own did not mitigate the situation, arguing that Umno had yet to condemn PAS over Sanusi’s remarks.

Ramkarpal further called on the authorities to immediately investigate Sanusi, saying failure to act risked similar remarks being repeated during the Negeri Sembilan election campaign.