Nazri: Dr M is ‘father of all racism’
December 10th, 2009 | 
Author: By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani from The Malaysian Insider
Minister in the Prime Minister Department’s Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz attacked Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad again and called the former Umno president the “father of all racism” as the row between the two men over the controversial National Civics Bureau (BTN) continued.
Nazri criticised the former prime minister for being a hypocrite and said: “Who does Mahathir think he is?”
“If he can comment on others, why can’t I comment on him? Who is he? People kept telling me that he’s been in the government for 22 years. Yes but that’s not right for him to abuse people the way he abused the former PM. You mean to say he was the former PM for 22 years he can do anything he likes? I cannot agree and he’s no longer in the government.
“Last time he told us you must support the government. He was a perfect PM, I never complained. It was only after he retired, he started to attack us. He used to tell us, if one day we become a candidate and if we are dropped, we should not be angry because once that person supported us, now it’s time for us to support them.
“What is he doing now? We all supported him before through thick and thin and yet when he retired, he attacks us even worse than the opposition. Today the opposition doesn’t need to do work. Dr M is the only one attacking us. Everything is not right. During Tun Abdullah’s time, everything was not right but he’s a gentleman, he didn’t argue. Now with Najib, there is something wrong. Does he (Mahathir) want to become a PM?” Nazri told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
Nazri said he would never resign because of Dr Mahathir.
“When he wanted to resign before, we told him not to but he wanted to step down. Now he has stepped down, he’s asking me to resign. What for? I’m not going to give him the pleasure of resigning to make him happy because I’m not stupid to fall into his trap,” he said.
Nazri pointed out that if he belongs to a racist party, then Dr Mahathir is the “father of all racism” because he was the president of Umno.
“He’s saying I’m in a racist party so he confirms what I said about him. If he says I’m in a racist party because I’m a member of Umno, then he is the father of all racism, he was the president of Umno for 22 years. It confirms that I said he was a racist. Please give him some other argument lah. As the ex-PM, he should give better suggestions. I feel sorry for him but I will continue,” he added.
Nazri maintained that he was not being disrespectful of Dr Mahathir but pointed out that the former premier should accept that he is also open to criticism.
“This is democracy and free speech. I meant no disrespect to him. It’s just counter-argument to his criticism. There is no need to write to papers to say I’m disrespectful. This is a way out of the argument. Although he is an old man, he got himself involved in a matter that invites criticism from others. Don’t say when I criticise him, I’m being rude,” he said.
He added that Dr Mahathir also criticised the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.
“When he criticised Tunku Abdul Rahman, that’s not rude? He taught me. If he does it is OK, but if we do it then it’s rude? In the 1960s he criticised the then PM, so if people do it now, don’t get angry. He’s my teacher,” he said.
Nazri also wondered why Dr Mahathir did not like him since the former premier was the one who appointed him a minister.
“I didn’t force him, I didn’t put a gun to his head and force him. He knows I’m a good minister and I’ve been a minister for three terms. Each time a new PM takes over, there are rumours that I’ll be dropped. I’ve been a minister for 10 years. I only serve the rakyat,” he said.
The former premier and the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department have been at loggerheads over the need to revamp the BTN, which critics charge with cultivating racism instead of its original purpose of nation building.
Nazri had earlier called Dr Mahathir a “bloody racist” for defending BTN courses while reasserting the Cabinet’s earlier decision to overhaul the programme in line with the policy of 1 Malaysia mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Nazri also lashed out at Dr Mahathir yesterday and described the former premier’s call for his resignation from the party as the “most stupid statement” that he has ever heard.
Dr Mahathir said that Nazri should resign from Umno because if he was against racism, he should not be in a racist party. – The Malaysian Insider
Republished from The Malaysian Insider on 9 December 2009
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all said .i still feel that the bumiputras in Malaysia still
frown at us like we owe them something…
singaporeans really too nice a people,got bullied by own gahmen and civil servants who openly whack us and favor the foreign talents and when we wanna take a breather with the little spare cash in our pockets,we hop over to malaysia but still get “cornered”.
talk about racism and xenophobia,the FTs are really ungracious.
i beckon them just walk across the causeway and feel the difference before they insist on talking cock about singaporeans!
“pun-tee-nang”(locals),we need to stand together for our future!
Mahathir himself shd resign from UMNO because he’s an Indian (Mamak).
As I see it…Are we seeing catalysts of change?
Perhaps the ebb and flow of political rhetorics, economic uncertainties and social “upheavals” that have tainted the Malaysian landscape on a broad front, since the last general election, are signs that profound winds of change will rip through the country.
Most of us who have felt hard done by under the dictatorship (that’s correct) of Dr Mahathir Mohammad for more than 20 years believe the catalysts of change will be like a crescendo, building up steadily to reach a point of no return.
For the rest who are still locked in the mind frame of the ‘ancient regime’, they continue to harass and intimidate the so-called “pendatangs” and “traitors,” resorting to jingoism and caveman tactics to cow those who are not of their kind, or so they think.
The Umno-owned newspapers such as Utusan Melayu, Berita Harian, NST, and their blogheads are never lost for words in their tirade against anyone who steps on Umno’s toes and tail. Propaganda and sometimes incitement is the name of their game.
Who will come out on top in this socio-political struggle? You can form your own conclusion depending which side of the fence you’re on. But look at other world events and trends of the past and one can see a pattern – nothing stays on forever.
It all boils down to staying power but surely the end must come – sooner or later.
Remember the Soviet Union and communism? If not for Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev and perestroika, Russia would not have seen a rebirth and all other Soviet states would not have attained their independence and freedom.
Remember South Africa and apartheid? If not for F. W. de Klerk, South Africa would have remained an international pariah and not become a multi-racial democracy.
Remember the Iranian monarchy under the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi? The Iranian Revolution in 1979 saw the monarchy overthrown and the rule of the ayatollahs began under Ayatollah Khomeini.
Remember a divided Germany – East and West and the Berlin Wall? Well, the Wall is no longer there and a united Germany has moved on to become one of the economic powers of Europe.
Remember all the world’s dictators from Franco of Spain to Pinochet of Chile, the rise and fall of dictators in Africa and Asia, and the rise and fall of ancient empires?
Yes, someone will point out that North Korea’s Kim Jong-il still holds sway as the “Supreme Leader” but don’t you think his time will come eventually?
So will we be able to realize a dramatic change in government in this country, say by the next general election? Let’s hope so.
Thanks to events that have been unfolding in our midst in the last few years that tell those with eyes wide open that this country deserves better than the corruption, discrimination, double-speak, underhand tactics, religious bigotry and racism that have permeated this society and manifested itself in the ruling party’s psyche.
We should be able to look back and say:
Remember the days when an Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition conducted its political supremacy and hegemony over most of the country’s populace with arrogance and deceit. Where the people were made to feel they owed the ruling government a living and not the other way round. Where only the few reaped rewards while the majority were given only crumbs or none at all.
Remember Teoh Beng Hock and his mysterious and untimely death while under questioning by the MACC.
And remember that Dr Mahathir had admitted that Umno is a racist party and therefore, he is a racist, too. Could anyone doubt him based on his many utterances since he stepped down as PM that this is Malay country?
Surprisingly, Minister in the Prime Minister Department Nazri Aziz dares to call the former prime minister the “father of all racism” and for that, this minister is now under fire by these zealots or stormtroopers who may have gone through the indoctrination process at a place called BTN.
And where does the PM and DPM stand? One on the left side of the fence and the other on the right. That’s the “Great Divide” in the present Umno.
One thing that cannot be denied or swept under the carpet is that racism continues to be the bugbear of our society.
Remember the day when it’s dumped onto the scrapheap of history.