NUJ chief: Shut down Utusan Malaysia

(Malaysiakini) National Union of Journalists chief and sacked Utusan Malaysia reporter Hata Wahari has called for his former employer to be shut down and its editors left to suffer for publishing a religiously charged article earlier this month.

Hata (left), who was in Penang for a forum on press freedom organised by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), said this was the only way to make its editors and reporters take responsibility for the unsubtantiated front page article on May 7, and the following ruckus across the nation that ensued.

He added that there were existing laws like the Sedition Act and the Printing Presses and Publication Act, which could be wielded on Utusan.

This would show that the government was not practising 'double standards' when dealing with an errant newspaper, he added.

Hata said the editor-in-chief of the Umno-owned newspaper could have said 'no' to their political masters bidding to play up this potentially explosive religious issue., which alleged that the DAP was plotting with a group of pastors in Penang to install a Christian prime minister.

The duo were also accused of planning to call for the amendment of the Federal Constitution to install Christianity as the offical religion of the federation.

Based on postings from two pro-Umno bloggers, the controversial article which attracted more than 20 police reports across the country, has been refuted and condemned.

Feel the pain

"In order to make the paper responsible, something must be done to the editors and reporters...similar as what happened to The Star, Sinchew Daily and Watan during Ops Lallang in 1987," he said, in the forum titled 'Media and Ethnicity: Overcoming the Challenges'.

"When they feel the pain of how others felt (during the time of shutdown), they might think two or three times to publish what they did...we must at least shut them down for once," he added.

Hata said the Utusan had never before embarked on a religious controversy of this scale, but focussed more on 'Malay' issues since the 1960s.

He added that the paper was indeed 'racist and fanatic' over Malay issues but never Islam, and it was bent on highlighting them in all sectors, be it the social, economic or political.

"It was a surprise for me and I felt strange they had started to play on religious issues...I can bet you the previous editors-in-chief would not had allowed this to happen," he said.

He conceded that Utusan was a 'closed' organisation, in that it would never accept any external opinion or influence which is different from its stand, except those that came from its political masters, Umno.

"Whatever we say or whoever says it, the editors in there will not listen...so the best thing to do is shut it down!" he urged, in his brief presentation.

When asked how he survived 16 years in the newspaper, before being sacked for criticising his bosses, Hata explained in a roundabout way that he mostly practised self-censorship to survive.