By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 24: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) and Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand (SSRANZ), have voiced their strong condemnation of the incitement of hate based on racial and religious sentiments in relation to the ‘Allah socks’ issue.
According to a joint press statement, the two NGO presidents, Daniel John Jambun (BoPiMaFo) and Robert Pei (SSRANZ), stated that United Malays National Organisation’s (Umno) alleged politicisation and escalation of the ‘Allah socks’ issue has created a very tense and dangerous situation in Malaya.
The two NGOs also claimed that the police had not acted impartially by calling to prosecute the owners of the KK Super Mart business when they had not established that the owners had committed any offence under the law, as well as by failing to take action against those who incited racial hatred.
“From the published facts gathered by the police, the 14 sets of socks among 12,000 socks seem to indicate a lack of any intention to cause offence to Muslims and raises questions as to how the offending socks got into the system.”
The NGOs also urged further investigation into their origins, as well as how and why they were so easily discovered among 12,000 socks, before taking any action.
They alleged that on the surface, the facts suggest that someone had a motive to sabotage and incite further outrage among Muslims in the aftermath of ‘bak kut teh’ being listed as a heritage food of Malaysia.
The NGOs expressed their concerns about the potential consequences of allowing Umno to continue its campaign, fearing a repeat of the tragic events of May 13 and the harm it could cause to innocent non-Bumiputeras.
“If the party is solely focused on maintaining its power, it can be perceived as an anti-national party that disregards the well-being and security of the people. It acts recklessly, prioritising its own selfish political objectives over everything else.
“It is therefore jeopardising the harmony and foundation of the entire federation. The party should be banned,” they asserted.
The NGOs also questioned why the National Unity ministry has not acted quickly to de-escalate rising tensions which threaten interracial and inter-religious relations in Malaysia. — DayakDaily
