Perhaps time for Kit Siang to shed gentleman image by just suing Hadi

With the animosity of both septuagenarian/octogenarian politicians having already scaled the peak of Mount Himalaya — as evident in their back-and-forth anti-Islam-cum-Islamophobia rants — perhaps it’s best that both veteran lawmakers settle their differences in the court of law once and for all.

(Focus Malaysia) – RECALL that towards end-January 2017, former PAS information chief Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi has challenged retired DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang to proceed with legal actions against his party president Tan Sri Hadi Awang after he (Kit Siang) was said to be mulling legal actions against the Marang MP for purportedly labelling him as “anti-Islam”.

Claiming that hundreds of thousands of Muslims and non-Muslims who respects Islam will rise to act as Hadi’s “defence lawyers”, Nasruddin went on to describe Kit Siang’s intention to sue Hadi as yet another of DAP’s strategy to allegedly destroy PAS, stressing that it would be doomed to failure.

Fast forward six years later – with the animosity of both septuagenarian/octogenarian politicians having already scaled the peak of Mount Himalaya as evident in their back-and-forth anti-Islam-cum-Islamophobia rants – perhaps it’s best that both veteran lawmakers settle their differences in the court of law once and for all.

After all, at their twilight years when the peace of mind matters the most, at least both Hadi and Kit Siang – not to mention their hundreds of thousands of loyal supporters – will have no better option but to finally bury the hatchets in respect of whatever outcome and regardless of in whose favour the court ruling goes.

In his latest rant, Kit Siang lashed out at Hadi for having sullied the good name of Malaysia in international society while challenging the former to prove that the Federal government and five state governments are promoting Islamophobia “or he (Hadi) should recant, admit his mistakes and retract his allegation that the DAP is promoting Islamophobia”.

“DAP has four Federal ministers, 40 MPs, a state Chief Minister, a state Deputy Chief Minister, 14 state executive councillors and 91 state assemblymen. It is part of the Federal government and five state governments,” argued the 81-yeear-old former Opposition leader who retired from active politics after a career spanning 57 years in March 2022.

“There should be no over-reaction to Hadi’s allegation that the DAP is promoting Islamophobia but there should be no under-reaction either.”

As former Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Middle East to two “backdoor” prime ministers – drawing RM60,000 a month – Kit Siang further claimed that Hadi has been terribly remiss in his former duties as a special envoy by not reporting Islamophobia in “Malaysia to the OIC Islamophobia Observatory.

“From the annual reports of the OIC Islamophobia Observatory on Islamophobia since 2007, there is no Islamophobia in Malaysia,” revealed the former Iskandar Puteri MP.

“If Hadi cannot substantiate his preposterous allegations that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam, communist, and promoting Islamophobia – and is not prepared to recant and retract his allegations – he is no more than an irresponsible and immoral political leader who is prepared to make all sorts of preposterous allegations to sully the good name of Malaysia to serve his own political ends.”