Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic) defended his tough anti-crime stand which has been strongly criticised by politicians and civil society.In a live 20-minute interview with news channel Astro Awani today, he said, his tough, no-nonsense stand was based on "universal humanitarian" grounds.
Ahmad Zahid explained that "humanitarian" in his context meant safeguarding the rights of both civilians and policemen, who were victims of violence.
The minister, who is under fire for endorsing a "shoot first" policy, added that the amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA), another sore point among politicians and rights groups, were because he is "answerable to Allah".
"Shootings every day, murders almost every week. This needs to be dealt with," he said.
"If I don't do something, not only will the public question my credibility, but on Judgement Day, Allah will question me. My biggest responsibility is to take care of the rakyat."
Ahmad Zahid, however, did not comment on his "shoot first" policy which he had made in a statement at an Umno function in Malacca last week.
He said he respected all opinions but questioned why was the focus only on legal aspects.
"What about humanitarian aspects?" he asked.
"Has any opposition MP or human rights activist visited the family of a police officer who died while on duty recently?"
On the PCA, Zahid said the critics were afraid that it would replace the repealed Internal Security Act, Emergency Ordinance and Restricted Residence Act.
"Those are for criminals, who should be the enemy of all, opposition or not, NGO or not," he said, insisting that the PCA will not be used against political opponents and that there should be "no fear over differing opinions".
1 comment:
Please don't bring Allah into your political territory. Leave him alone.
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