BURNING OF PM ANWAR’S CARICATURE SLAMMED AS “EXTREME AND DISRESPECTFUL”
According to local media, the rally was mostly uneventful but took a turn on Sunday when the students set fire to the hand-drawn caricature of Anwar, which sparked concern among several leaders of parties within the ruling coalition.
Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) youth chief Kamil Munim in a statement on Monday slammed the burning of the prime minister’s caricature as “extreme and disrespectful”, which does “nothing to help resolve the issue being fought for”.
“It cannot even be considered a peaceful protest as it posed a danger to the individuals and the public,” he said on Instagram, in a post which was also shared by the party’s youth wing page.
“It fails to convey any meaningful message to the public … it is just an empty act meant to appear bold to grab public attention.”
Akmal Saleh, youth chief of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which is part of the ruling coalition, has also criticised the student activists, saying that while they needed to be bold in fighting for a cause, it did not mean they had to be “stupid and rude”.
“Being courageous (in speaking up) does not mean decency has to take a back seat,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday evening, as quoted by FMT.
“Just as we were enraged when images of our past national leaders were treated with such scorn, we must too be upset with those who do the same with our current leaders, even if they are from opposing parties,” Akmal added.
While Akmal did not specify past incidents, FMT noted that posters of former UMNO president Najib Razak and leader of Malaysia’s Islamic party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia Abdul Hadi Awang were reportedly stomped on by participants of the Bersih anti-corruption rally in 2015.
In September the same year, effigies of DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang and his son, then Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng were burnt at an event in Kelantan to counter the earlier Bersih gathering.
