Utusan backs Red Shirt rally ‘to reject extremism’
Awang Selamat asks police to ‘give them space’ because of claimed ‘overwhelming’ response.
(Free Malaysia Today) – The police have been urged by Utusan Malaysia’s editors to “give space” for organisers of the Red Shirt rally in central Kuala Lumpur on Sept 16 which opposition politicians have criticised for provoking racial fears.
Opposition leaders urged the police to take action against the Sept 16 rally, which is believed to be held in the predominantly Chinese areas of Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street in the capital.
However, Awang Selamat, the group pseudonym used by Utusan editors, wrote in Mingguan Malaysia today that the aim of the so-called Himpunan Maruah Melayu rally was to reject extremism. He believed the organisers would be better disciplined than organisers of the Bersih 4 rally last week.
“It is heard that even though time is running short, the response has been overwhelming. It is time to send the message clear — to reject extremism without fear,” Awang Selamat said, according to Malay Mail Online.
The Sept 16 rally has been referred to as both Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu and Himpunan Maruah Melayu, with participants being asked to be dressed in red. Bersih chose yellow as its colour and the streets around Dataran Merdeka were filled with demonstrators wearing yellow t-shirts.
Organisers of the rally have circulated posters and publicity images online, urging Malays to unite against the DAP and electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 and Awang Selamat said 85 percent of Bersih 4 participants were supporters of the DAP.
Awang Selamat claimed that there was a lack of Malay presence and that Malay rejection of Bersih 4 reflected a growing resentment of the DAP’s “thick chauvinist image”, the report said.
