PETALING JAYA: Any form of racism in the country becomes more intense when it is coupled with religious sentiment, former Umno leader and CEO for the Global Movement of Moderates Saifuddin Abdullah said in an opinion piece in Sinar Harian today.
The Pakatan Harapan secretariat chief added that this race-religion narrative was being created by some leaders in Umno in collaboration with certain religious leaders, including a mufti or two.
“Making use of a siege mentality framework, they call on Malays and Muslims to defend Islam,” Saifuddin wrote in the Bahasa Malaysia daily.
He said that the result of such actions is the “outbreak” of controversial issues, including the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, the confiscation of bibles, the protest against religious symbols, the declaration of DAP as “kafir harbi”, and the latest issue over the “hot dog”. Read more