State your stand on Utusan, Pakatan tells Najib
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal , The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak must punish Utusan Malaysia for a report which has incited religious tension, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders said today.
Opposition lawmakers said the prime minister could no longer afford to maintain an elegant silence over an article which claimed the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the country’s official religion.
The DAP has denied this and accused the Umno daily of lying.
“If the prime minister fails to sanction Utusan Malaysia’s headlines today, it will prove that he is party to allowing divisiveness to take root in Malaysian society, which goes against any efforts to bring about unity.
“It would appear that we have a leader who has abdicated responsibility to safeguard the nation from extremism, bigotry and false and inciteful propaganda by keeping his silence and feigning ignorance,” said PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Nurul Izzah told The Malaysian Insider the Utusan article itself was dubious, and questioned its lack of proper sources in which it based its information on.
“What is the intention for such a headline, which smacks of cheap unethical journalism at best, especially considering the sources quoted.
“Enough is enough. Malaysians are peace-loving and loyal to the constitution, as are leaders of Pakatan Rakyat. I urge the prime minister to state his stand and answer the call of duty. Malaysians deserve much more than mere movement of the lips to mouth 1 Malaysia,” she said.
The Lembah Pantai MP said the Umno daily must be taken to task to ensure all published materials go through a thorough check before making it available to Malaysians.
PAS central committee member Khalid Samad echoed his PR colleague’s remarks, saying this was not the first time Najib had failed to act against Utusan.
“If the government stands back and does nothing… this shows a sign of indecisive leadership,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
“The fears that Utusan is trying to portray are unfounded,” the Shah Alam MP stressed.
Utusan had carried a front-page article today titled “Malaysia, a Christian country?” (Malaysia, negara Kristian?), based entirely on blog postings by several pro-Umno bloggers.
