Khir Toyo Falsely Accused MP Teresa Kok With the Aim of Creating Racial and Religious Hatred Against DAP and the Chinese Community

We Say,

Former Selangor Menter Besar Khir Toyo implicated Selangor Senior Exco member Teresa Kok on the "azan" issue as part of his concerted effort to incite racial and religious hatred by the Malays/Muslims against the Chinese community in Selangor.

The Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Malaysia did not check the facts prior to publication of the false allegation made by Khir Toyo, instead Utusan Malaysia raised the tone of the allegations to a more dangerous level.

Both Khir Toyo and Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Malaysia had malicious design in falsely accusing Teresa Kok. It is apparent that both of them aimed to achieve a wider objective of fanning racial and religious discontent and hatred by Malay/Muslims against the Chinese community, which in our view, seriously endangers our national security.

Khir Toyo and the Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Malaysia must be arrested and brought to justice for falsely accusing Teresa Kok on the "azan" issue.

If Syed Hamid Albar wants to use the ISA, he should instead go out and arrest the 189 residents who had politely written a letter to UMNO State Assemblyman Mohamad Satim Diman to talk to the mosque officials to help resolve their concerns about lowering the loudspeakers at the mosque during the long hours of the religious sermons.

The residents' petition was made BEFORE the March 8 election when Khir Toyo was the Menteri Besar and when UMNO was ruling the state.

Teresa Kok had nothing to do with the petition. She only received a copy of the petition as an MP of her constituency AFTER the March 8 election.

Teresa Kok is innocent. She must not only be released immediately without conditions, but that Khir Toyo should be arrested under ISA for attempting to incite racial and religious hatred against the Chinese community in Selangor.

Justice must be SEEN to be done.

And nothing less than the arrest of Khir Toyo (more so because he is an UMNO leader) including the incarceration of the racist Ahmad Ismail , will ever satisfy Malaysians that justice HAS BEEN done, and SEEN to be done, to address this highly charged incident.
-Malaysian Unplug

Background of the scandalous "Azan issue"

This is what Utusan Malaysia reported and quoted Khir Toyo: (read here)

September,8: Kerajaan campuran negeri Selangor diingatkan agar bersikap tegas dengan tidak melayan mana-mana pihak mendesak yang mahukan azan solat di surau dan masjid di negeri itu tidak lagi menggunakan pembesar suara.

Bekas Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo membuat desakan ekoran ada usaha pihak yang dipercayai didalangi salah sebuah parti yang membentuk kerajaan negeri itu, MEMBUAT petisyen MEMBANTAH azan di Puchong dan Kota Damansara.
[Khir Toyo implies DAP had petitioned to disallow "azan" broadcast]}

"Bagi UMNO, kita mahukan kerajaan negeri bertegas, JANGAN MUDAH MENGALAH kerana apa yang kelihatan ketika ini PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) seolah-olah mengalah membiarkan sahaja perkara itu berlaku, manakala Pas pula tidak memainkan peranan. Ini sesuatu yang menghina Islam sedangkan Islam adalah agama rasmi, mempunyai peruntukan menggunakan Kumpulan Wang Disatukan untuk pembangunan," katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini hari ini.

Beliau diminta mengulas beberapa laporan mendakwa azan di Masjid Seksyen 5, Kota Damansara yang baru siap dan digunakan menjelang Ramadan lalu, tidak menggunakan pembesar suara dipercayai mempunyai kaitan dengan bantahan penduduk kawasan berkenaan.

Selain itu, katanya, usaha menyediakan petisyen membantah azan seperti itu juga pernah dilakukan sekumpulan penduduk di Puchong sejak Mei lalu.

"Di Puchong dan Kota Damansara, ada pihak mahu azan di kawasan itu DIHENTIKAN atas alasan menganggu penduduk. Tetapi saya percaya kalau penduduk yang membuat petisyen itu, mesti ada pihak-pihak yang mendorong mereka untuk berbuat demikian. Sedangkan kita mengamalkan kebebasan beragama, apabila ada penganut agama tertentu meraikan perayaan mereka sehingga membawa kepada penutupan jalan, orang Islam tidak membantah," ujar beliau.

Khir Toyo further stoked the fires of racial and religious hatred against Teresa Kok and the the Chinese community when he wrote on July 9th 2008, in the Pembela Melayu blog to respond to a commenter,(read below). He alleged that Teresa Kok supported the petition.

"Pembela Melayu" Blog Admits Mistake and Apologises

The racist-Malay blog called "Pembela Melayu Sejati" website disappeared/deleted after it was reported to the police . Search on this link: http://pembelamelayu.com/.

Googling "Pembela Melayu" leads to this heading with deleted postings,

"Kami berikrar dan berjanji akan mempertahankan Hak Keistimewaan Melayu, Ketuanan Melayu dan Kedaulatan Agama Islam yang hendak dihapuskan oleh DAP Kafir Harbi" --Pembela Melayu Sejati

Another website called: "Pembela Hak Keistimewaan Melayu" at http://pembelamelayu.blogspot.com/ came out with another posting by Pembela Melayu entitled "Penjelasan Isu Azan" (Sept.12th). Read here

The racist Pembela Melayu blog after Malaysiakini reported on the azan issue following the arrest of Teresa Kok apologised to the Muslim community, (note, NOT to the non-muslims he had antagonised) and he said he hoped this is a lesson for himself in the future.

Excerpts of "Pembela Melayu"s posting (read here)

Sebenarnya, saya hanya menyiarkan maklumat yang saya fikir penting untuk diketahui oleh umum yang saya temui di sebuah forum (saya ada letak screen shot pada artikel sebelum ini).

Saya akui bahawa saya tidak menjalankan penyiasatan yang terperinci mengenai perkara ini. Ini mungkin kerana saya tidak mempunyai pengalaman sebagai wartawan ataupun polis.

Jadi, sempena bulan Ramadhan yang mulia ini, saya memohon maaf kepada semua umat Islam sekiranya penerbitan artikel dilaman web saya ini telah menimbulkan keresahan di kalangan umat Islam. Sememangnya, saya sepatutnya membuat lebih banyak kajian dan semakan sebelum menyiarkan artikel yang amat sensitif ini.

Saya mohon maaf pada umat Islam kerana menimbulkan keresahan kerana menyiarkan artikel bersifat "hearsay". Ini tidak bermakna isu ini tidak betul-betul wujud.

Saya yakin Dr Khir sebagai orang yang mempunyai maklumat "first hand" dan wartawan Utusan (Malaysia) telah menyiarkan berita ini telah membuat penyelidikan dan penyiasatan mereka sendiri.

Begitu juga dengan pihak Polis yang professional dalam menjalankan tugas menyiasat perkara ini.

Saya harap saya akan dapat menjadikan pengalaman saya ini sebagai satu pengajaran untuk saya lebih berhati-hati apabila membuat sesuatu keputusan.
-"Pembela Melayu"

The Facts on the Scandalous "Azan " Issue

Now, here are the facts which Khir Toyo and Utusan Malaysia failed to check and then maliciously distorted aimed at inciting racial hatred at DAP, and religious hatred at the state Government of Selangor under Pakatan Rakyat and PAS. Read here and here on Malaysiakini.

In February, 2008 (BEFORE the March 8 election when UMNO/BN was governing Selangor)189 residents signed a petition to UMNO State Assemblyman Mohamad Satim Diman to appeal for help to talk to mosque officials to REDUCE the volume of the loudspeakers during religious sermons with a copy given to the mosque authorities.

The petition was sent to Mohamad Satim with hope that he could be the mediator between the residents and the mosque authority to solve the problem.

After the March 8 elections, a copy of the petition was given to Teresa Kok as the Kinrara State assemblyman. A copy was sent to Teresa Kok was because she was the nearest state assemblyperson there apart from Mohamad Satim.

Steven Ee, the person who presented the mosque with the petition on behalf of the residents in the area, said the volume on the loudspeaker when the mosque performed the ceramah caused disturbance to them, especially on Sundays when most of them would want to "wake up late for extra rest after a long week's work".

While the azan lasts a couple of minutes, religious ceramah could go on for more than an hour.

"You can't be expecting us to move away. I believe the Muslims here understand our concerns," said Ee, who added that he was not against Islamic activities in the area.

According to Ee, his wife had met with a BN component party leader to discuss the matter and was advised by the person to draft the petition and have it sent to the relevant people.

"As advised, I started collecting signatures from the residents there and handed it over to Mohamad Satim through one of his officers at his office," explained Ee.

Ee then said he noticed that the loudspeaker's volume was lowered for about two weeks but then returned to its original pitch after that.

He also expressed hope that the Muslim residents there can cooperate with the non-Muslims on the matter for the benefit of all.



Secretary of the three-week-old mosque Ahmad Redzuan Samsudin said:

“Last Saturday (Aug 30), lightning during a thunderstorm had struck and damaged the PA system.

Thereafter, we borrowed equipment from the SMK Kota Damansara in Section 10, but problems with the wiring further delayed us from sounding the azans through the loudspeaker.

There was NO pressure from non-Muslims.”

The mosque officials have lodged a police report against former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo for claiming pressure from non-Muslims and a state exco-backed petition had forced them to stop making the azan through the loudspeaker.

We ask,

That the Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar and the Special Branch Police should now question Khir Toyo on WHY he BLATANTLY distorted the facts and falsely accused Teresa Kok which led to her arrest under ISA.

The same should be ask of the Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Malaysia, a newspaper with the history of publishing racially charged articles against non-Malays/non Muslims.

Shouldn't Khir Toyo and the Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Malaysia be arrested under ISA for the false accusation against Teresa Kok which had large implications on racial and religious harmony in the country?

Why the double standards in the pursuance of justice?

And why should the law makers and law enforcement officials make a mockery of the law of the land?
-Malaysian Unplug

COMMENTARY

From The Aisehman Blog : Read here

Teresa Kok Is Innocent

Excerpts:

The Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) and the Islamic NGOs, Heritage Associations, Malay Cultural Organisations and Related Bodies Cooperation Network (Pewaris) have lodged police reports against Selangor state executive councillor Teresa Kok.

The reports were made by Pewaris advisor Rahimuddin Md Harun and PPIM Complaints Officer Mohd Nor Imran Yusuf at the Sentul district police headquarters at 11am on Sunday.
The reports were lodged over an allegation by former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo that Kok had tried to prohibit the “azan” call to prayer at mosques and surau in Kota Damansara, Sri Serdang and Puchong Jaya. [The Star]

These people are obviously ignorant of the facts.

Let’s get this straight, once and for all:

1. The complainants in Puchong were NOT complaining about the azan, they were complaining about ceramah broadcast.
   
   
2. The complainants fowarded their complaint in February to Satim Diman, when BN was still in power in Selangor.
   
   
3. Teresa Kok had nothing to do with the complaint or the complainants
   
   
4. No one complained about the azan in Kota Damansara. The mosque in Kota Damansara did not broadcast the azan for a while because its PA system was down, not because there were complaints.

Teresa Kok is innocent.

IF ANYONE is guilty here, it is Khir Toyo.

Free Teresa Kok.

From Muslims Professionals Forum Website: Read here

PRESS RELEASE - ISA ARRESTS

Excerpts:

"... It is clear to all that the arrests of MP Theresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng are COMPLETELY WITHOUT justification.

In the “Puchong Azan Issue”, MP Theresa Kok was arrested over what is clearly a FALSE allegation.

We urge the authorities to immediately release the two and bring to book those responsible for fomenting racial and religious hatred

The use of the ISA is excessive, inhumane and runs counter to Islam’s principles of justice.."