The late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat would not have approved of PAS' alliance with Umno as he was a far-sighted Islamic leader keenly aware of Malaysia’s multi-cultural composition, according to those who knew him.

He would also have been horrified at the proliferation of racist and anti-religious remarks that are now commonplace in the Malaysian cybersphere, said former Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism president A Vaithilingam.

“When I watched PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang announce on television that the late Tok Guru (as Nik Aziz was fondly known) would have approved of the Umno-PAS charter, I laughed and said out loud 'what rubbish'...