Stop bitching

This is my response to the Penang mosque committee fiasco where the opposition was forced to do a ‘U-turn’ after adamantly stating that it would go ahead with the elections of the mosque committees. This is also my response to HINDRAF’s announcement that it is boycotting the BERSIH rally to punish Pakatan Rakyat.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin
Aziz Bari is grumbling because Umno has dragged the Monarchy into politics and is using the Palace against the opposition (read his article in Bahasa Malaysia below). My response to that is: so what? Isn’t this what Umno normally does? Isn’t this what Umno always does? So, what else is new? It’s the same old story.

You mean the opposition did not suspect this would happen? You mean this is the first time this has happened and the opposition was caught off guard? How come the opposition was caught off guard? You mean Umno is cleverer than the opposition?

The opposition always seems to get caught off guard when it comes to issues concerning the Monarchy or the Palace. There must be some very stupid people in the opposition if they can get caught on the same issue again and again. There is saying: once bitten twice shy. Only fools get bitten 25 times and are still not shy.

Next time plan your strategy. Use preemptive strikes. Don’t get into a situation half-cocked like you always do. And stop complaining about Umno this and Umno that, especially when it comes to the Monarchy or Palace.

And to those Chinese and Indian readers, stop falling into Umno’s trap. Umno wants you to whack the Monarchy and Palace so that it can prove to the Malays that Pakatan Rakyat, in particular the non-Malays in Pakatan Rakyat, are anti-royalty. That will ensure Umno can win back Malay support. And you are doing exactly what Umno wants you to do.

Now, to the issue of HINDRAF. They want to boycott the BERSIH march because they are angry with Pakatan Rakyat. Why boycott BERSIH when it is Pakatan Rakyat you are angry with? I do not get that logic.

BERSIH is about the rakyat, not about Pakatan Rakyat. So, are you trying to punish the rakyat or punish Pakatan Rakyat?

The signal that HINDRAF is sending to the rakyat is that Pakatan Rakyat is behind BERSIH. Since Pakatan Rakyat and not the rakyat is behind BERSIH then this gives the government the justification to ban the BERSIH rally.

The government is saying that the opposition is the one really behind BERSIH. Now HINDRAF is confirming this. This means the government can legitimately clamp down on BERSIH and arrest or detain its leaders.

Maybe, after this, HINDRAF can proudly announce that it was they who made it possible for the government to take action against BERSIH and ban its planned march on 9th July 2011.

It would be good if the HINDRAF people can look at the two videos below. This is what I would call a quality Tamil leader. These are the kind of Tamil leaders that we want to see. Can you just visualise some of the HINDRAF leaders acting like this and demonstrating this type of class and quality?

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P'raya masjid: Nama Agong diheret, kata Aziz Bari

Meskipun mengakui Yang di-Pertuan Agong mempunyai kuasa dalam hal-hal berkaitan agama Islam di negeri-negeri yang tidak mempunyai Raja-raja Melayu, namun pakar perlembagaan Profesor Abdul Aziz Bari mempertikaikan cara nama Seri Paduka diheret setiap kali bagi membidas dasar-dasar kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang.

NONE"Hanya selepas Pakatan Rakyat mengambil-alih Pulau Pinang, tiba-tiba peranan Agong menjadi tokoh yang signifikan.

"Nama Baginda digunakan bagi menghalang sebarang tindakan yang diambil oleh kerajaan negeri,” kata pensyarah Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIAM) itu kepada Malaysiakini.

Abdul Aziz berkata prosedur atau peraturan yang betul mengikut perlembagaan adalah bagi pihak Istana Negara atau setiausaha sulit Yang di-Pertuan Agong bagi mengeluarkan kenyataan berhubung kedudukannya sebagai ketua agama dan bukannya oleh pihak-pihak yang lain.

"Pastinya bukan Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, yang merupakan sebahagian daripada kerajaan.

"Jadi beliau harus diam. Biarkan Baginda melaksanakan tanggungjawab yang diperuntukkan oleh perlembagaan - bebas daripada kerajaan sama ada peringkat persekutuan mahupun negeri,” kata Abdul Aziz.

Beliau juga membidas dakwaan 'mengarut' oleh kumpulan pendesak Melayu, PERKASA yang berkata adalah salah bagi mengadakan pemilihan jawatankuasa kariah masjid diadakan.

"Pertama, tidak ada fatwa mengatakan pemilihan itu adalah haram mengikut Islam,” katanya.Fatwa

Lagipun menurut profesor itu lagi, umat Islam, sama ada dari Umno, PAS dan PKR, semuanya pernah terbabit dalam pemilihan parti masing-masing.

azlan"Jika ini tidak mengikut Islam, majlis fatwa sepatutnya mengeluarkan hukum berhubung perkara itu,” katanya.

Semalam, hasrat Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (MAIPP) bagi mengadakan pemilihan jawatankuasa kariah masjid bagi sesi 2012-2013 dengan kaedah pilihan raya terpaksa dibatalkan.

Keputusan itu dibuat di Istana Negara di Kuala Lumpur apabila Yang di-Pertua Negri Abdul Rahman Abbas dan Yang Dipertua MAIPP Ellias Zakaria menghadap Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

Mesyuarat agung masjid-masjid di Pulau Pinang yang dijadualkan hari ini dan esok itu sepatutnya memilih jawatankuasa kariah di 151 daripada 200 masjid tetapi kini ditangguhkan sehingga notis lanjut.

Pemilihan ala pilihan raya yang dicadangkan itu bagi membolehkan anak kariah mengundi secara sulit untuk memilih pemimpin kariah yang sebelum ini dipilih oleh MAIPP.

Bantahan pelbagai pihak yang didalangi Umno begitu lantang kerana gusar pilihan raya kariah masjid akan menghakis sokongan kepada parti itu yang kini gagal menguasai kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang setelah ditumbangkan pada pilihan raya umum 2008.

Umno mendakwa pemilihan secara demokrasi itu akan hanya membawa perpecahan di kalangan umat Islam selain mengheret masjid ke kancah politik kepartian.

THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY A TAMIL LEADER HAS BEEN ELECTED INTO THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT