3 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
13MP debate descends into shouting match once again over "kafir harbi" remark
KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat debate on the 13th Malaysia Plan was once again thrown into a shouting match this afternoon when an opposition member of parliament called RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) "kafir harbi" (non-believers who are against Islam).
It all started when Datuk Awang Solahuddin Hashim (PN-Pendang) accused the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) of failing to deliver aid.
He claimed that despite RM100 million being allocated for Mitra, "not a single cent" had been released and accused some board members of doing nothing for the Indian community.
Following Awang's allegations, Rayer rose and interjected, citing the standing order and accusing him of making a malicious assumption regarding Mitra's allocations.
"How does he, or Batu and Segamat, together with Indian MPs and other non-Indian MPs, know that this matter has not been brought to the prime minister's attention?
"How does he know the prime minister does not care about this matter? Don't make accusations or malicious assumptions. I don't want to waste time with Pendang... I am fed up with him," he said.
The heated exchange between the two continued before being stopped by Syahredzan Johan, who was presiding over the session.
Awang later resumed his debate and took a jab at Rayer, saying that Pas had remained calm even when the party was previously labelled "Parti Ajaran Sesat."
"They even called Pas 'Parti Ajaran Sesat,' but we stayed calm. One of them is a kafir harbi who called us that. He said it just now in Parliament. But we stayed calm," he said.
Tensions escalated further after Chong Zemin (PH-Kampar) interjected in defence of Rayer before being muted by Syahredzan.
Syahredzan later instructed Awang to withdraw the "kafir harbi" term, which he did, and the session subsequently resumed.
