'The blame goes to Najib and Hishammuddin. As leaders, they issued statements that effectively encouraged the demonstrators. For now, they have to answer for the church-burning fiasco.'
PM: Don't blame Umno over attacks
Hibiscus: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said that fingers should not be pointed at Umno for the attacks on three churches in Kuala Lumpur. If Umno is not to be blamed, then who is?
With suggestive statements by Umno leaders indicating to Muslims that it is okay to be confused and feel threatened, one does not need much intelligence to see where the subsequently berserk behaviour on Friday morning came from.
That no Umno leader issued any warnings against acts of hooliganism in the days leading up to this dark Friday suggests tacit approval from Umno leaders.
THE: The blame goes to Najib and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. As leaders, they issued statements that effectively encouraged the demonstrators. It was the same during the cow-head incident .
If they cannot act as leaders, they should let other more capable ones lead this country. For now, they have to answer for the church burning fiasco.
Gk: Najib and Hishammuddin said the government cannot stop people from airing their protest by having demonstrations. Now Najib said, "Don't blame Umno over attacks." Then, who is to be blamed? Are you both not from Umno and part of the government?
AkuMelayu: I am with you Mr PM, sir. Don't be disheartened if you read most of the comments here are against you and Umno. Not many of your supporters subscribe to Malaysiakini . There are many more of your supporters out there. We are behind you. Be strong. Allah sentiasa bersama orang-orang yang benar. AllahuAkbar! AllahuAkbar! AllahuAkbar!
Doc: Mr PM, most Malaysians are fully aware that Umno blew the ‘Allah' issue out of proportion for political mileage, which has come to three churches being attacked. Congratulations are in order, Mr PM. As party president, you have elevated Umno status from a racist party to a terrorist group.
CTTEO: The buck stops with you, Mr PM. If you had shown better leadership and not allowed extremists to hijack the controversy over the A-word ruling, I doubt that things would have led to this.
Khairy: 'A sad day for Malaysia'
Wong Chee Kong: Well done, Khairy Jamaluddin, for being there and making the right statements. At least you are seen to be responsive to this despicable act. Meanwhile, there is still dead silence from all the other top leaders. Why? Is it really so hard to say the things that KJ said?
SusahKes: Khairy, I can't say for certain at this point whether you're play-acting or really mean what you said. But here are the facts: This is the Malaysia that Umno has created, of which you are a part of and gave a contributing hand in creating.
When you stood gleefully behind Hishammuddin when he raised the keris you helped create today's Malaysia. When you criticised Indian newspaper vendors for taking time off on Deepavali, you helped create today's Malaysia. And when you told Umno to be careful lest the Chinese take advantage of a ‘weakened' Umno/Malays, you helped create today's Malaysia.
It's easy to stand on the battle ground and scream, ‘who gave these terrorists the bombs?' when it was you who helped fuel their purported discontent.
Louis: Khairy, please do not pretend to be the good guy by trying to be of help to the burnt church. You are hoping promote your image as a moderate person. We can read your move clearly.
When the Allah issue was a hot topic, none of the Umno leaders come forth to mellow the issue. Instead some of them even went further fanning the flames of anger among the Muslims. And being the Umno Youth chief, you should have told the youths to respect the court's rulings and never to resort to violence.
Now the damage is done. If we were to donate to help the building of the church, bear in mind that it is not due to your urging. We do it on our own.
Maslina: Read the message, not the messenger. Khairy has done his fair share of mistakes in the past, but of late, he's been the sole voice of reason in Umno (apart from Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah).
It's all more significant that he's doing so in his position as Umno Youth head. Khairy had also stated that the court decision should be respected even before yesterday's incident. And I'm sure if he wanted to, he could've gotten more than the paltry 200 people who showed up for the protests in the masjid earlier. But Umno Youth never sanctioned those protests. It was, instead, Ibrahim Ali's stupid Perkasa movement.
Give the guy some credit. If we can forgive Anwar Ibrahim and see him for what he is now and not for the sins he committed as deputy prime minister and finance minister, why can't we do same for this young chap?
Tkc: Let's give Khairy the benefit of the doubt since he is trying to re-invent himself. At least, he has enough guts to criticise the people who might decide his future in Umno. If he continues in this vein, I do not mind voting for him because he has a lot of grey matter in his head, unlike his predecessors.
Wira: ‘Before taking the microphone, Suhaimi walked to the crowd and shouted ‘bakar gereja' (burn down the churches).' I think the police should again invite this person for a cup of coffee in the police station and slap him with sedition and abetting an arson.
Kee Thuan Chye: I would like to know why Suhaimi has not been charged with sedition for his inflammatory remarks. By saying that "appropriate action" would be taken if the Appeals Court decision was not in favour of Islam, he has in effect issued a threat.
By telling people to burn churches, he is inciting violence. Are the police and the government going to stand and let him get away with it?
Rooney73: I'm a Malay Muslim but I am deeply embarrassed by what I'm seeing. My view is shared by the majority of Muslims in Malaysia. It's very unfortunate that the government is made up of a bunch of aristocrats who are only interested in making as much money as possible through corruption.
Their agenda can only be achieved if the society is weak, disunited, disgruntled and our attention is diverted away. We, the Muslim majority of Malaysia, will never condone what premier Najib Abdul Razak and his troops have done.
I'm running out of words to describe how sorry I am looking at the churches that were torched. One day they will pay the price. To borrow words from Malaysia Today blogmaster Raja Petra Kamarudin, 'Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell!'
ISA can be used against 'Allah' protesters
Jaminkhan: Attacks on places of worship is serious. The home minister and inspector general of police should not just pay lip service to their insistence on taking action against the attackers. Immediate and serious action should be taken against them and those behind the attackers.
The home minister must distance himself from the purported statement that he will allow protests to carry on. We all want a peaceful Malaysia and all of us should never allow any small minority to threaten our peace.
Samasama: Mr Home Minister, why issue the warning only now? You should have made it loud and clear two days ago. Now you are also saying that you did not say that the "demonstrations can go on'.
You may not have uttered the exact words, but please take note that all right-thinking Malaysians and the public at large are not as dumb-headed as you might think. Prime Minister Najib's statement that the protests cannot be stopped imply exactly the same meaning that the protest can go on.
Richard F Sindra: The important thing here is that Najib, Hishammuddin and IGP Musa Hassan have given clear warnings to the demonstrators that they can be apprehended under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Are they going to keep that promise?
