Nik Aziz: Umno oppresses Malays

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat hit out at his political foe Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today and accused Umno of continually oppressing the Malays through undemocratic means.

The PAS spiritual leader claimed that Umno’s governing methods were unIslamic, saying that the country’s largest party had never emphasised Islamic teachings, only secular nationalism.

“Initially, we see Tun Mahathir as a person who loves Malay unity. Does Tun Mahathir realise that Umno has been the one oppressing the Malays?” said Nik Aziz (picture) in a statement.

The Kelantan mentri besar was responding to Dr Mahathir’s recent blog posting where the latter had accused Nik Aziz of “dividing” the Malays and Muslims in the country.

Dr Mahathir had described Nik Aziz’s brand of Islam as worse than that of Umno nationalists.

“I want to ask Tun Mahathir, what is the basis of Umno’s struggles? Has Umno in any way put Islam as the basis of its struggles ahead of national struggles? Practically can Umno even call themselves pious?” asked Nik Aziz.

The popular PAS leader listed down events which showed that Umno did not care about the rights of the Malays or even Islam, bringing up examples like the federal government’s now-aborted plans to award gambling licences, the government’s abolishment of the Jawi script in schools back in 1968 and also a reduction of national funds for Islamic schools during the Mahathir administration.

Nik Aziz also accused Umno of using undemocratic means to stay in power, claiming that Umno had “kidnapped” PAS assemblymen and MPs back in 1961 just to deny the Islamist party a win in Terengganu and Kelantan.

According to Nik Aziz, Umno had also ordered the mass killings of Malay followers of Ibrahim Libya in Memali.

“Till this day Umno continues its undemocratic practices. In Perak, they topple the government from behind. In Selangor, they appoint the state secretary without any prior discussion with the mentri besar. Strangely, it is this same ‘ketuanan Melayu’ party which had opposed an amendment to return the powers of the Selangor Sultan.

“In Kelantan, they (Umno) deny us oil royalty rights and instead set up a federal development department (JPP). This is not democracy, federalism and a far cry from being Islamic,” he said.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir called Nik Aziz an opportunist who was willing to forsake his Islamic beliefs for political mileage.

“It is because of Malay nationalists our country is now governed by Malay-Muslim leaders. These leaders instil Islamic practices in the government administration and build mosques and banned the national lottery... how bad can these nationalists be?” said Dr Mahathir, who stayed in office for a record 22 years.

Comparatively, he said, Nik Aziz’s and PAS’s only contribution to the country was dividing the Malays into three splinter groups, with no hope for Malay unity.

“This is Nik Aziz’s contribution... He ignored one of the most important Islamic concepts, that is brotherhood among Muslims,” added the former prime minister.

Seemingly unperturbed by Dr Mahathir’s scathing remarks, the PAS leader said in response that Dr Mahathir was suffering from the “Melayu mudah lupa” (Malays easily forget) syndrome.

“Tun Mahathir labels me and PAS as the reason for the division among the Malays. Perhaps it is me then who caused Umno to be banned in 1987 which lead to the formation of Semangat 46. Perhaps it is me who caused the deputy president of Umno to be sacked in 1999 and eventually formed PKR.

“I am worried... Tun Mahathir has already contracted the ‘Melayu mudah lupa’ disease which he talked about some time back,” said Nik Aziz.