Kurup ready to meet Perkasa in court
Published on: Thursday, January 29, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup pledged to do "whatever is necessary to defend Malaysia's unity".Shrugging off a defamation suit by Malay rights group Perkasa, he said he is ready to face Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali in court."I must have done something right for Ibrahim Ali to sue me. I will do whatever is necessary to defend Malaysia's unity and am prepared to face Ibrahim Ali or anybody else in our courts. Truth and justice will always prevail," he said in a statement.
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He said peace and stability are the nation's "invaluable" wealth and the Barisan Nasional-led Federal government always strived to preserve these two pillars, which he described as "national treasures". Failure to protect, preserve and strengthen the nation's unity would lead to the destruction of the country's economy and development, he added."As a Minister overseeing national unity, I made a stand to not tolerate racial and religious bigotry tearing apart the fabric of this harmonious society. It is both my responsibility and mission to see such incidents of extremism nullified," he said.In its suit, Perkasa claimed that Kurup had allegedly labelled the group as extremist.Perkasa is seeking an apology from him over his remarks as well as damages.
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In its statement of claim, Perkasa claimed that in two statements made on December 24, 2014 and on Tuesday, Kurup had allegedly accused Perkasa and another Malay non-governmental organisation Isma of being bigots who must not be tolerated.He had also allegedly said "we must not condone their extremist voices and actions".
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Perkasa said the statements implied that it was an extremist group that used religion to spark violence and cause unrest in the country. The alleged statements also suggested that the group had caused fear and disunity in the country.Ibrahim said because of such statements, Perkasa's reputation has been damaged and the Malay rights group was viewed negatively by the public.However, Kurup said he did not mention Perkasa nor did he refer to a specific group when dubbing extremists who play up racial and religious issues as "public enemy number 1"."The simple logic is that if these extremists are instilling fear in our society, jeopardising our painstakingly built unity and trying to hijack the Malaysian way of life, they are, therefore, the nation's public enemy No. 1," he said.Ibrahim also alleged that Kurup might have had a personal vendetta against him as the minister had asked Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail to reopen the file against Ibrahim over the "Bible burning" issue."A-G has found no case to charge me in court. Why is he (Kurup) now trying to put pressure on A-G to reopen the case. The attack is now personal. I have repeatedly said that my statement was twisted," said Ibrahim.He said politicians have been using Perkasa as their punching bag, accusing it of being extremist and racist as they have no issues or new things to highlight."They want political mileage and using Perkasa will give them just that. Let me tell you that Perkasa is a legitimate organisation. We are not racist, we are not extremist. Have you seen any of us on the street being violent?"We acted within the laws to uphold the Federal Constitution and I know what I am talking about when I speak about something," said Ibrahim, referring to the "Bible burning" comment he allegedly made in January last year.Adnan said Perkasa will also be filing similar suits soon against several individuals.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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