SHAH ALAM, 8 Feb: The former Co-Chairman of Bersih 2.0, Datuk S Ambiga, questioned why since Pakatan Rakyat (PR) began administering Selangor and Penang in 2008, the issue of racial and religious sentiments have been increasingly hot, to a point of being able to create an uncomfortable feeling within the communities of the two states.
He said that the concern has been previously voiced by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Strategy Director, Rafizi Ramli.
“I have always thought of this question; why are these things often happening in Selangor and Penang? We must be careful with those who often create these problems,” she said at the Kajang Move Forum which was held at the Empire Hotel Subang recently.
Ambiga said that she does not rule out the possibility that the issue was deliberately triggered to create disharmony within the society and administration in the two states.
“I do not ask the people of Kajang to vote for a certain candidate, but this is their chance. I ask the voters of Kajang to voice out in rejecting narrow racial and religious politics and avoid from playing with religious sentiments like this.
“Our stance is that we want free and fair elections. They still do not understand that the people reject dirty politics and if they still use the same methods, reject them,” she said.
Ambigs said that choosing the party that practices racial politics may give a wrong signal to unscrupulous parties that the voters in Kajang bless the politics of insulting other races.
Since PR began leading Selangor and Penang, several pro-Umno NGOs have been seen often over-reacting by relating most issues to racism.
One of the dangerous actions of pro-Umno NGOs is the latest incident of slaughtering chicken to smear blood in posters featuring pictures of DAP leaders, accompanied with words of racism.
In addition to that, they are also willing to reward RM1,200 to anyone who can slap the Member of Parliament of Seputeh, Teresa Kok, but until now, no action has been taken by the authorities to overcome issues involving the pro-Umno NGO.