NST runs headline calling Nik Aziz 'father of kafir'

(Harakah Daily) - Hardly recovered from its libelous claim made against an Australian senator last week, UMNO-owned English-language daily New Straits Times today blasts a headline which says Kelantan Menteri Besar Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat "is father of kafir".

"Nik Aziz is father of kafir," reads the headline, which appears in single quotes without mention of its source. A smaller sub-heading however informs readers that the statement has been made by former inspector general of police Abdul Rahim Noor.

Kafir, the Arabic word for 'infidel', is a derogatory term used to describe those who reject God. A narrative attributed to Prophet Muhammad explicitly warns Muslims against labeling fellow Muslims as kafir, saying the label would return to the accuser.

Rahim is apparently peeved by Nik Aziz's argument defending those who participated at the mammoth April 28 rally for electoral reforms in Kuala Lumpur as fulfilling the Islamic obligation to enjoin good and forbid evil. Nik Aziz was responding to a statement Sunday by the government-controlled National Fatwa Council declaring anti-government demonstrations as haram (forbidden).

Rahim said the PAS Murshidul Am was misleading Muslims to believe that it was their religious duty to support Bersih 3.0.

In an immediate response, Kelantan PAS's legal bureau head Hisham Fauzi gave Rahim 24 hours to retract the statement or face legal action.

Last week, NST invited public anger when it used a fabricated statement to accuse Australian senator Nick Xenophon of being anti-Islam. The libelous story was also published on page 6.

Xenophon, who personally observed the events on April 28 and criticised the police's handling of Bersih 3.0 rally, has vowed to take legal action against the paper despite its apology.

 

'Father of dog'

Rahim (above), who resigned as the police chief in 1999, is best remembered for the infamous Black Eye incident involving former deputy prime minister-turned-parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Rahim said he "lost his cool" and delivered karate-like blows on a blindfolded Anwar who was detained at a cell in the Bukit Aman police headquarters on the night of September 20, 1998.

In comic exchanges with Anwar's counsel Karpal Singh at a Royal Commission of Inquiry set up amid public outrage over the 'black eye', Rahim claimed that he was provoked by Anwar who called him "bapa anjing" (father of dog). Karpal however pointed out that Anwar was blindfolded, and questioned if Anwar could have possibly made such remarks, unless he smelt the canine in the room.