KUALA LUMPUR - Former Wanita Umno leader Rafidah Aziz has run down a planned rally on Sept 16, asking: “Just what are they proving by trying to get some Malays, especially from Umno, to be brought to KL to demonstrate in red shirts?”
Rafidah said the Red Shirt 16 rally, being dubbed Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu or Himpunan Maruah Melayu, was counter to the theme of unity in diversity for Malaysia Day celebrations.
She wrote in an online posting that the planned street demonstration in Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street was an instigation to racialisation, by calling on Malays, especially those from Umno, to unite against the DAP and electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 which organised the mammoth Bersih 4 rally in Kuala Lumpur last weekend.
“September 16 is Malaysia’s Day…a day to celebrate our unity in diversity and the planned demonstration goes totally counter to that and has the potential to create more chasms and divisiveness,” she wrote.
She said the country’s current problems were not racial issues and there was no purpose for a counter rally with a strong racial undertone.
Her remarks run counter to a column by Utusan Malaysia editors today when Awang Selamat urged the authorities to approve the rally on the grounds that it was to fight extremism.
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