KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng today said that PAS information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin should call for action to be taken against party president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang for extremist statements touching on the 3R (race, religion, and royalty).
The Islamist party is behaving like a “thief calling out a victim as a thief” in demanding action against DAP leaders for reacting to extremism against non-Muslims and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s statement that Kedah should claim Penang, the Bagan MP said in a statement.
“Hadi issues the most statements touching on 3R sensitivities, deliberately denigrating, humiliating, discriminating and bullying non-Muslims,” he said.
He went on to add that Hadi had accused DAP leaders of inciting Islamophobia by using the term “green wave”, which had been used by PAS since 2018.
“This is clearly another classic case of wrong when used by DAP but correct when used by PAS,” he said.
He pointed out that Hadi had called on non-Muslims who do not dress modestly according to PAS’s standards to not be so liberal as to be without shame like “senseless animals” and dishonour.
“Should action not be taken against Hadi for such a divisive and extremist statement against non-Muslims to the extent of even implying that they have no shame like senseless animals?” he said.
He went on to accuse Sanusi of racism as the latter had asked Lim whether he dared to talk about Malaysian history by asking which boat he had come to the country on after his defence of Penang’s right to exist as a state.
“This is not only extremist and racist but also irresponsible by ignoring the fact that not only I but both my parents were born in Malaysia,” Lim said.
Sanusi, who is also Perikatan Nasional’s election director, had earlier in May denied wanting to reclaim Penang for Kedah and claimed that he merely wanted to negotiate with the federal government for more payment to Kedah over the alleged lease of the state’s land to Penang.
National news agency Bernama had in 2015 previously reported that the Kedah sultanate had leased Penang island to the British in 1791 for 6,000 Spanish Dollars and Seberang Perai in 1800 for 4,000 Spanish Dollars, and that the federal government had continued to pay RM10,000 annually to Kedah after the states of then Malaya gained independence.
In 2018, the Cabinet agreed that the federal government would continue the RM10,000 annual payment to Kedah, but would also make an additional special contribution of RM10 million annually — starting from 2018 and with the additional amount to be reviewed once every 10 years or within a suitable timeframe.
In October 2021, Sanusi was reported demanding that Kedah be paid RM100 million every year for the alleged “lease” of its land to Penang, instead of the RM10 million that the federal government has been paying since 2018.
