SHAH ALAM, 13 Dec: The PAS Information Chief, Datuk Mahfuz Omar, cynically said that the claims against the Deputy President of PAS, Mohamad Sabu, or better known as Mat Sabu, for bring a follower of Shiite is ‘an entertaining circus of the century’.
He said that the issue will be brought around the country as a way to divert the anxiety of the people who are oppressed with various price increases on goods.
“The claim is the top circus show in this century. Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamisi, as the circus boss and the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) are the circus clowns. In fact, after this, they can tour throughout Malaysia because yesterday, the show just started in Putrajaya.
“They can entertain the people of Malaysia, who are plagued by the increase in price of goods. After this, they can forget the high cost of living,” he said.
Yesterday, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA), Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi, in a press conference, revealed 10 evidence linking Mat Sabu with Shiaism.
MOHA, in a press conference, also submitted arguments linking Mat Sabu with Shiaism, such as reciting the Shi’ite version of “selawat” (invocation of the Holy Prophet) and admiring its leader, Ayatullah Khomeini.
However, this was denied by Mat Sabu and he is considering taking legal action on the allegations.
Meanwhile, the PAS Vice-President, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, said that the allegations linking him with the Shiite faith is another of Umno’s superficial jokes.
He stressed that the allegations are intended to tarnish the people’s image of PAS.
He said that all these while there are leaders who travel to countries that have different ideologies, but do not profess the faith,
“The alleged evidence is superficial and embarrassing. I thought that it is a laughing matter for various quarters when he linked someone with Shiaism simply because the individual is impressed by a figure and has visited Iran many times.
“The reasons given are very shallow and for PAS, this will only be ridiculed by the public. In the context of the country, there have been leaders who have visited and met with communist leaders, but did not become communists, and this is also the same for leaders who have visited Socialist countries.
“The admiration of someone of a figure does not mean that he has embraced the sect of the leader,” he said.
If the allegations were only thrown because of Mat Sabu’s admiration for Khomeini, then some BN leaders can also be linked to the Shiite faith due to their meeting with the Father of the Iranian Revolution.
Based on a photo spread on the internet, among the BN leaders who have met Khomeini are; the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad; the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and the President of PERKASA, Ibrahim Ali.
