Hishamuddin asks for patience in Nasir Safar probe

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 11 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (picture) urged for public patience over Datuk Nasir Safar’s derogatory remarks, saying police are still investigating the incident that riled Malaysians.

He said the authorities have to be objective in their investigations that involve the former aide to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who resigned to take responsibility for allegedly uttering a racist statement — “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies” — at a 1 Malaysia seminar in Malacca.

“It is still under investigation. We have shown that in all cases that we are not emotionally driven, in the pig heads case, we are still unable to charge anyone, the case is also under investigation,” he said, referring to the incident in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur last month when wild boar heads were thrown into two mosques.

Over 40 police reports have been lodged against the former special officer to the prime minister, after he allegedly made that statement on Feb 2.

“So police reports have been lodged, so it is our responsibility to investigate, so just wait for the outcome,” Hishammuddin added.

Last Friday the Malacca police said they would call Nasir to have his statement taken over his remarks. Nasir, who resigned on the same day he allegedly made the remarks, has since issued an apology saying he had no intention of hurting anyone’s feeling.

The incident occurred at a time when Najib was working very hard to win over the support of the non-Malays and just days after his historic visit to Batu Caves temple during the Thaipusam celebration.

It also showed that, despite his intentions, his aides and political operatives have still not embraced his 1 Malaysia concept to bring unity and progress to the country.

Najib had distanced himself from Nasir, saying that his racist remarks should serve as a lesson to all Malaysians to be more racially sensitive.

But Malay nationalist group, Perkasa, defended Nasir’s outburst saying that it was a reaction to racially insensitive actions directed against the Malay community.