Sanusi’s decision sending chills to all minorities, says MIC

PETALING JAYA: Kedah Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor is being ignorant of the country’s political landscape with his “rude and arrogant behaviour”, says the MIC.

Taking issue with the PAS leader for cancelling the Thaipusam public holiday in Kedah, Senator Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari said the festival had been observed as a holiday in the state since 2017.

The former MIC secretary-general said Sanusi should know that the PAS central leadership was trying its best to portray the party as being inclusive.

“Sanusi’s bullying attitude in Kedah sends a negative signal about PAS to all minorities in the country, ” said Vell Paari.

“He has planted the seed of fear in the minds of all minorities in the country, ” he added.

The Kedah MB announced last week that Thaipusam was as an event holiday (cuti peristiwa) and not a gazetted holiday.

Last week, MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan criticised Kedah’s decision in not retaining Thaipusam as a public holiday.

The MCA has also described Sanusi’s decision as being illogical and disrespectful of the rights of the country’s minorities.

Vell Paari said Malaysians often looked forward to their public holidays and that cancelling the Thaipusam public holiday in Kedah would affect all other communities too.

He also criticised Sanusi for saying that MIC did not support PAS during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018, and that many MIC members had instead backed Pakatan Harapan.

He reminded Sanusi that during GE14, PAS was not a component of the Barisan Nasional and that it had also contested in Barisan strongholds.

“So how could MIC support PAS when PAS was contesting against Barisan?” he said.