Mahfuz: PAS fears hidden agenda behind K-pop concert

(The Star) – The acts of hugging and kissing tudung-clad female fans by South Korean K-pop band B1A4 at a recent concert may be a ‘hidden agenda’ to tarnish Islam, claimed a PAS leader.

PAS information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar said he feared that the girls may be used by certain quarters to discredit the religion.

“I fear that the organisers may create an atmosphere deliberately to degrade Islam. I fear that the girls may be paid to wear tudung to do immoral acts on stage,” he told reporters here, Monday.

He then went on to compare the probability of the controversy taken place was akin to the theory where Israeli intelligence Mossad was behind the Paris shootings.

Mahfuz said although the party was not against entertainment, he said such concerts must be done with a guideline, which he believed under the purview of the Ministry of Communications Multimedia.

“We are disappointed with the ministry for giving greenlight to the organisers without providing a proper guideline.

“The ministry should explain this because from what we saw, there seems to have no guideline at all,” he said.

On Sunday, a three-minute video clip of the South Korean boyband’s members hugging and kissing female Malay fans on stage went viral on social media, courting criticism from netizens.

The concert organiser, TGM events, has since apologised for the incident and said in a statement that the female fans had gone on stage willingly.

The company also said it had never nor would it ever condone any form of sexual harassment or molestation during its events.

Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) also said event organisers have been told to abide by entertainment guidelines issued by the religious body.