AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Tens of thousands of banner-waving Muslims dressed in white rallied in the Malaysian capital on Saturday demanding protection of their rights, at a time of growing racial tensions in the multi-ethnic country.
About 55,000 people dressed in white flooded a historic square in downtown Kuala Lumpur, according to police, chanting "God is great" and waving banners that read "Long live the Malays".
Large numbers of police were on the streets and major roads were closed for the event, which was the first major rally since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad won a election victory in May.
Race and religion are sensitive in Malaysia, which is home to sizeable ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, and the Muslim Malay majority appears to be feeling increasingly insecure under a new government that is more representative of minorities.
The rally was originally intended as a protest against a plan by the government to ratify a UN convention which aims to eliminate racial discrimination.
Authorities abandoned the plan after opposition from conservative politicians and Malays, who feared the treaty could erode privileges they have long enjoyed.
But Muslim groups pushed ahead with Saturday's demonstration, which alongside the convention has become about the bigger issue of defending Islam and decades-old affirmative action policies that benefit Malays.
"If Islam is disturbed, if race is disturbed, if our rights are disturbed, then we will rise," opposition leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose United Malays National Organisation (Umno) was ousted at this year's election, told the gathering.
"I hope the other races don't challenge the rights of the Malays," protester Arif Hashim, 26, said. "As a Muslim, I want Islam to be the first [priority] in Malaysia."
After Malays, the Chinese form the largest minority in the country with 24.6 percent of the population, followed by 7.3 percent Indians and 0.7 percent from national origins.
Muslim Malay majority generally appears to be feeling increasingly insecure under the new Malaysian government, which is claimed to be more representative of minorities.
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source : AFP
Saturday
8 December 2018
1:05:22 PM
919806
Tens of thousands of banner-waving Muslims dressed in white rallied in the Malaysian capital on Saturday demanding protection of their rights, at a time of growing racial tensions in the multi-ethnic country.