DAP: Punish Ibrahim, Ali Rustam for attacking Ambiga

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — DAP today demanded that the government act against Perkasa’s Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam for demanding the revocation of Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan’s citizenship, claiming the move was seditious and racist.

Ibrahim and Ali Rustam accused Ambiga of committing treason against royal institutions when she went ahead with the Bersih rally.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should take “firm action” against the two politicians, saying the reason Ambiga was being targeted was because she was of Indian descent.

“We demand that action be taken in these most vicious remarks, which are not only a personal insult to Datuk Ambiga, but also an insult against all Malaysians in general and the Indian community in particular.

“We call upon the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to initiate firm action upon Ibrahim Ali and Ali Rustam for their seditious and racially inflammatory remarks. We also call upon Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to display commitment to his 1 Malaysia slogan by demanding the resignation of Ali Rustam as the chief minister of Malacca,” said Lim in a statement today.

Lim said such demands to revoke the Bersih chairman’s citizenship was “unconstitutional”, as there was no basis or proof that showed Ambiga was disloyal towards the country or voluntarily renounced her citizenship.

“The DAP therefore condemns such insidious rhetoric, which is both seditious and racist. Why is it that such demands are only made against non-Malays and never upon Malays?

“Just like those before them who have vilified other non-Malays as ‘pendatang’ (immigrants), likening Indians to beggars and Chinese women to prostitutes, these venomous remarks appear to be directed to Datuk Ambiga because she is of Indian ethnicity,” Lim added.

Bersih claimed a turnout of 50,000 for its Saturday rally, which went ahead without police permission after protracted negotiation with the authorities.

The coalition of 62 NGOs took to the streets despite previously accepting Najib’s offer to move the street rally to a stadium, when the government refused to allow the gathering to take place in Stadium Merdeka.