23-07-2025
PAS, you are not fit to lead the rally for a better Malaysia
PAS is turning the Turun Anwar rally this Saturday into a religious crusade against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The Islamist party wants all Malaysians to hit the streets to express their disgust with this cruel leader.
In their exhortation, the ulamas in the party have described attendance as a moral obligation to get rid of this Madani (truth and trustworthy) government.
These religious leaders think Malaysians will turn out in the tens of thousands in answer to this spiritual call and, with one thunderous shout, bring down the walls of Putrajaya.
One PAS MP even confidently predicted the rally will be mother of all rallies, with 500,000 expected to show up.
By putting the fear of God into the people, PAS thinks this would do the trick: they will run out and join the rally for fear God will send thunderbolts on them for disobeying this numinous injunction.
But does PAS really think this religious gambit will work?
The notion that religion is an effective tool to stir the conscience of the people into action is a fallacy, especially when it is used for political purposes.
In the past, thousands of Malaysians had poured onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur to fight for electoral reforms under the aegis of Bersih.
There was no need to fan religious sentiments to get the people to participate in the series of Bersih rallies.
The rally in 2016 was significant because it saw a massive turnout of protesters demanding the resignation of the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (now a jailbird) over the 1IMDB scandal.
Now PAS thinks it can rekindle the same Bersih spirit to pressure, this time, Anwar to step down in protest against his leadership.
What is PAS griping about? Plenty of issues ranging from rising costs of living, poor governance to electricity tariffs and broken promises of reforms.
Seen through PAS lenses, the people are now suffering and they are desperately crying out for help. They cannot stand anymore. The situation needs urgent remedy.
Let's survey the scene before us and if we believe the country is in a terrible shape as seen through the 'alarming window' of PAS, then this is what our society will look like: People starving at homes and on the streets because they have no money to buy food;
Emaciated children with swollen bellies lying in the arms of helpless mothers;
Long lines of hungry people rushing for food aid;
Hospitals overflowing with indigent patients who cannot afford to purchase medicines in private clinics;
Homeless people sleeping on the pavements because they cannot settle their housing loans or rents;
Unemployed youths turning to crime;
Daily spontaneous violent demonstrations against the government;
Businesses suffering heavy losses due to failed economic policies; and
The whole country grinding to a slow halt because the 'bus driver'in Putrajaya is incompetent.
But this 'large-scale wretchedness' never happened. Life goes on as usual. People are not dying of hunger. There's still plenty of food to go around. There are still roofs over their heads.
And Anwar is still behind the wheels driving cautiously through the many obstacles and roadblocks put up by PAS and its allies in Perikatan Nasional.
If there are cruel leaders inflicting pain and misery on the people, they would have been toppled a long time ago. People would have rushed out to the streets to vent their fury without the religious prompting of PAS.
Come July 26, Malaysians can send a different message to all the bigots and extremists in PAS: we are not interested in your religious-fuelled rally because you are not fit to lead Malaysians in the fight for a better, brighter, fairer future. ‒ July 23, 2025
Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image : Harakahdaily
