‘Who will defend Malay rights if not Umno?’
When Umno leaders touched on Malay rights or issues, they are branded as ‘racists’ when their true nature is to talk about the plight of their own race or religion.
Hawkeye, FMT
Umno leaders on the election campaign trail should not be apologetic when dwelling on issues related to race or Islam because the party is founded on nationalism principles and to defend Malay rights, said supreme council candidate Musa Sheikh Fadzir.
Musa said nowadays when Umno leaders touched on Malay rights or issues, they were branded as “racists” when their true nature was to talk about the plight of their own race or religion.
“The tone may be seen by some, in particular opposition politicians, as racialism but the truth is that Umno is just defending Malay rights.
“If we do not speak out, who will do it? PKR is about justice and PAS is purely about Islam.
“We fought for Independence because we felt the Malay rights were trampled on under the colonial powers. Now, we are again fighting because we feel that in the economic aspect, the Malays continue to lag behind. Umno leaders come and go but our fundamental struggle is about Malay rights,” he said.
He added that it was therefore unbecoming for certain quarters to accuse Umno of becoming a “racist” party in the present political context.
Musa said the same principle applied to MCA and MIC, which were founded to defend the rights of the Chinese and Indians respectively.
“Umno cannot help, but champion issues, which are important to the Malays. The issues also happen to be part of the Federal Constitution, such as the special rights of the Malays, the official religion of Islam and our economic stake,” he said.
Musa said he was vying for a supreme council spot, not for personal pride, but on the need to voice out the plight of the Penang Malays.
“Even in the Barisan Nasional era (in Penang), the community is discriminated as they are the ones facing eviction due to shortage of land, poor job prospects and social ills which comes along with poverty,” he said.
