Khairy Jamaluddin has agreed that the behaviour of former premier Najib Abdul Razak's supporters should be condemned.
Responding to a tweet regarding the altercation between the supporters and a group of Universiti Malaya students in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, the Rembau lawmaker said: “Agree. Umno must condemn this thuggish behaviour.”
However, Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam, who was leading the group of supporters, appeared unrepentant.
On the contrary, he said UM Association of New Youth (Umany) president Wong Yan Ke should be grateful that Umno members "rescued" him from a beating.
During the incident, a man held Wong in a headlock and attempted to drag him over the railing.
Umno had said they did not know who the man was and claimed he was a passerby.
Lokman said the fracas erupted after the student leader tried to stop him from tearing up a clown-caricature of Najib.
"The DAP supporter (student) had tried to stop me. He was then stopped and pulled by several individuals at the site of the incident.
"The student should be grateful because Umno leaders were there and stopped him from being beaten by members of the public who were pissed off by their rudeness," he added in a statement.
Earlier, Najib told Malaysiakini that Umno is in the dark regarding the man who assaulted Wong, who was protesting with a group of students across the road from a restaurant where the former premier was holding a talk.
“He is not a party member nor was he involved in the ceramah. He, according to what I was told, was a passer-by who decided to join in when the fracas happened,” said the former premier.
Lokman said he would have respected the students' right to protest had they not displayed the Najib caricature.
"We would be cowards if we allowed this uncouth bangsa DAP (DAP race) to continue with their rude behaviour towards our leaders," said Lokman who referred to DAP five times in his statement.
Lokman said he had asked the person holding up a cardboard cutout if it referred to Najib.
"When he did not respond I told him that this (caricature) was an insult to Najib, so I snatched it and tore it up," he said.
On criticisms by PKR Youth over the incident, Lokman said PKR Youth should instead ask why the student protestors didn't join the student dialogue with Najib.
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