‘Nothing offensive in Salahuddin’s comment’
Why is MIC picking on PAS vice-president’s statement on Hindus when it ignored Umno maligning Indians, calling them ‘pariah and pendatang’?
(FMT) – Opposition MPs and NGO members today said that they were not offended by PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub’s comments linking Thaipusam to a street protest.
In fact, they said that since they found nothing offensive with Salahuddin’s statement, they have decided to ecxpress their support for him.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament today, Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy said: “I am a Hindu. If his [Salahuddin’s] comments were insulting, I would have voiced my discontent but there was nothing in his comments which were insulting to the Hindus.”
“The people who have made an issue out of this did not understand the context in which it was said.”
Last week, Salahuddin found himself in hot water when Hulu Selangor MP and MIC member, P Kamalanathan, took the former to task over his comments on Tuesday during a debate entitled “Street demonstrations: Does it build or destroy democracy?” organised by Malay daily, Sinar Harian.
Salahuddin reportedly said that thousands of Hindus gathered during Thaipusam peacefully without the intervention of the authorities.
The Kubang Kerian MP was also alleged to have said that some Hindus carrying kavadi were semi-conscious and yet they did not need tear gas to keep the situation calm.
Last Friday, Salahuddin told FMT that he merely mentioned Thaipusam as an example to show that Malaysians are capable of organising themselves in large numbers peacefully.
