Malay rights group Perkasa said today that it was prepared to take Putrajaya to court if the government drops the "race" column in official forms.
Its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali (pic) said the NGO will hire law firms if the suggestion is taken up by Putrajaya, and will prove that it was contradictory to the Federal Constitution.
"Perkasa will bring this to court to declare that the removal of race identity goes against the Constitution.
"We are in the midst of researching the matter in-depth and carefully," he said in a statement.
Ibrahim said the Cabinet was free to make any decisions but it should not violate the Constitution.
"Perkasa will fight this through legal means till the end," the former Pasir Mas MP said in response to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun’s announcement yesterday, that the government had studied the matter and decided to do away with the "race" column in stages.
Belaun had said that for now, the column would be dropped if it is found not adding value, such as forms for the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) and housing loan scheme for the low-income group.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, however, has denied this, saying there was no plan to drop the "race" column in official forms.
"The statement is inaccurate. We did discuss it in the cabinet but our decision was to let it remain," he told reporters in Taiping today.
Najib reportedly said the column for race was needed to ensure "every community is given fair consideration" and not left out from government policies.
Malay daily Berita Harian quoted Najib as saying that Joseph will release a statement to correct his statement. – May 8, 2014.
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