"We, from Federal Territories PAS, hope that Karpal retracts his statement and makes a public apology, especially to PAS. We do not want to jeapordise our relations in Pakatan Rakyat," said its Youth chief Kamaruzaman Mohamad in a statement Wednesday.
Kamaruzaman, who is also PAS Youth deputy information chief, said Karpal should not equate PAS to other race or religion-based political or professional bodies.
"One bad apple spoils the barrel. This idiom can aptly describe the DAP chairman's statement. PAS, being the only religious-based political party left, is inevitably being implicated in this," he added.
Karpal, a long-term Bukit Gelugor MP, on Tuesday lashed out at the Muslim Laywers Association (MLA) for warning the Bar Council against supporting for Catholic weekly The Herald. He said such associations should be de-registered.
The veteran lawyer also called for the de-registration of all political or professional bodies which operate along racial and religious lines, saying that the move would work in the interest of unity.
"This applies to all parties, including PAS, unfortunately," he was quoted saying.
Earlier Wednesday, PAS information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man also hit out at Karpal, describing the statement as "serious, dangerous and unfounded".
"PAS is very disappointed with this baseless statement which seems to show that he (Karpal) has failed to understand PAS' struggle," he said in a statement.
"What is the danger of PAS to multi-racial Malaysia?" he asked, adding that the party should be judged based on its track record as a state government.
"The people should evaluate for themselves how PAS has ruled Kelantan for over 23 years, Terengganu in 1999 and Kedah in 2008 and how it promoted unity and protected the rights of Muslims and non-Muslims. Were there any non-Muslims sidelined?" asked Tuan Ibrahim.
He said the statement should not be coming from a Pakatan leader at a time when the public was beginning to have faith in the Opposition.
"Karpal should have been more wise and not come out with a statement that could affect the good relations in Pakatan and the people's support.
"This type of statement also does not benefit DAP," he said, adding that he would leave it to DAP to take action against Karpal over the statement.
Karpal's call also drew criticism from other non-governmental organisations, such as Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), whose objectives are to fight for Malay rights.
Its president Azwanddin Hamzah said Karpal was kurang ajar (insolent) and no longer respected the majority of the country.
"He should apologise publicly to us because he has no right to interfere in the business of such organisations like ours.
"If he did that, we could also interfere in DAP's business by calling the de-registration of the party," he said.
By Rahmah Ghazali
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