GEORGE TOWN: April 27, 2008 By : Sharanjit Singh and Syed Umar Ariff
DAP national chairman Karpal Singh yesterday dismissed allegations that he was a bigot for continuously making a stand against the formation of an Islamic state.
Karpal, who has come under fire in blogs and also received death threats, said he had never insulted Islam and that Muslims should not turn him into another Salman Rushdie.
"I cannot understand why some people are saying that I have insulted Islam.
"What I have been against and will continue to be against is attempts by Pas to turn this country into an Islamic state," he said, adding he was just standing up for what was stated in the country's Constitution, that Malaysia was a secular state.
He said anyone who opposed his stand could be deemed to be challenging the constitution.
Karpal said he would continue to fight against the Islamic state issue despite being criticised in blogs, including a call to kill him on the Johor Pas website.
The comment, dated April 24, was listed on the website Shoutbox and was written by someone called Alif, who alleged Karpal had insulted Islam and that darahnya halal dibunuh (it is justifiable to kill him).
Karpal, who lodged a report yesterday about the comment, was surprised that Pas had allowed such writings on its website.
"They should not turn me into a Salman Rushdie, who was accused of insulting Islam through his writings in the Satanic Verses book, which led to a fatwa being issued to kill him.
"Killing me is not going to solve the problems faced by Pas," he said.
On the same note, he said DAP would demand that Pas give an assurance that its leaders would stop insisting on turning Malaysia into an Islamic state.
He said such a declaration would hurt Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and DAP would never allow Pas to use the newly-formed opposition grouping for its Islamic state agenda.
"Pas has gone to the extent of saying it is the backbone of PR and it is from that platform that it will launch its aim to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.
"What is being done by them may lead to the scuttling of PR."
Meanwhile, Pas has apologised to Johor DAP for allowing the comment to be posted on its website.
In a statement posted on the website pasjohorbahru.com yesterday, the party apologised and has removed the offensive post.
Earlier, Pas Johor commissioner Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamad said the comment did not reflect Pas' stand.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment