'Mr PM, you keep drawing examples from the past Umno. That is dead and gone. The new Umno is racist and tramples on the rights of the minorities.'

Umno not 'racist or extremist party': Najib

Daniel Tan: Umno WAS not racist. I hold my respects to the founding fathers of Umno, such as Hussein Onn, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, who treated all races fairly. That is not the case now.

Magnus: I know my Malaysian history front and back, thank you very much. I know for a fact that from the late 60s and 70s onwards, Umno turned into a racist, fascist bully. It progressively worsened until it became the nasty, abysmal, corrupt and rotten quagmire of politicians that it is now.

It is said that one should be careful of the monsters one creates or helps to create, as that monster might one day turn against its creators.

Short of a miracle - such as the emergence of real political leadership - only spending time out of power and in that meditative political dog-house of evolutionary wilderness known as ‘political oblivion' can perhaps help to change/reform Umno back to how it was originally

As John Lennon wisely said, ‘Life happens to you while you are busy making other plans.' So, too, it seems with history.

Al: Umno used to have respectable, gentleman leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman. Its founding members were humble patriots who wanted to improve the lot of their communities and the country.

Today Umno Baru is filled with greedy opportunistic businessmen who enter politics to acquire lucrative contracts, who seek not to foster understanding and goodwill but to appeal to the bigotry and fear of their support base. The sincere leaders of calibre in Umno are long gone.

Your attempt at damage control has failed, dear Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. It's all empty rhetoric.

Maroondah: Mr PM, you keep drawing examples from the past Umno. That is dead and gone. The new Umno is racist and tramples on the rights of the minorities.

Chee Hoe Siew: I definitely agree with Najib that Umno is not a racist party. Nor are they extremists. They just know how to use race and religion to achieve their goals. Just look at how effective they are in using race and religion to fan chaos throughout Malaysia.

The only reason Najib is starting to talk otherwise is because things have gotten out of hand under his watch - his strategy has backfired and he wants out.

Samasama: When a party president for more than two decades had said that his own party Umno is a racist party; Najib, what have you done to help erase that negative perception from the mind of people outside of Umno? Nothing.

Instead, we witness one incident after another which remind us again and again that Umno is getting more racist each day. The cow-head incident, the handling of demonstrations, the calls for ' bakar gereja ' , ' pendatang ' , etc.

You need not have to say that Umno is not racist. Just act to prevent these racist acts and refrain from being seen as blatantly condoning those acts. The resources and power are available and in your hands.

Of course, it would be quite easy to say that you condemn those despicable acts after the damages have already been inflicted. The physical damages can be repaired, but the negative impression made by those acts will be very difficult to forget. Not with any amount of ringgit and apologies.

Doc: If Umno is not a racist party, then why is Umno's membership only restricted to people from a certain race/ethnicity?

Ong Guan Sin: Besides the incitement in the current 'Allah' row, what has Umno done in relation to the cow-head incident? What about Penang Umno chieftain Ahmad Ismail , who is now back as full member of the party?

Kumara: Najib, don't distort history to justify your party's racist image. The other races were not willingly invited to share power - it was a precondition stipulated by the British colonialists. If there is anybody we need to be thankful for, it's the Brits. But you and your kind keep telling us how grateful we should be to Umno.

Artchan: Umno is racist when its leaders, such as Mukhriz Mahathir and Hishammuddin Hussein behave like racists. Even former Umno president Mahathir has said that Umno is a racist party.

The reactions of party leaders aside, you yourself chose to play to the gallery . For this, you have failed as a leader of the country.

Robert L: What absurdity. Umno is synonymous with racism. It has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Ask any five-year-old who can access the Internet.