Akmal hits out at rally-goers who set PM's caricature on fire
PETALING JAYA : Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh has hit out at rally-goers who set a caricature of the prime minister on fire at a gathering held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, over the weekend, labelling such acts disrespectful.
'Just as we were enraged when images of our past national leaders were treated with such scorn, so too must we be upset with those who do the same with our current leaders, even if they are from opposing parties,' he said in a Facebook post this evening.
While Akmal did not elaborate on the past incidents, posters of then Umno president Najib Razak and his PAS counterpart, Abdul Hadi Awang, were reportedly stomped on by participants of a Bersih rally in 2015.
And in September the same year, effigies of DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang and his son, then Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, were burnt at an event in Kelantan, to counter the Bersih 4 gathering.
Akmal criticised the students involved in the Sabah incident, saying that while they needed to be bold in fighting for a cause, it did not mean they had to be 'stupid and rude'.
'Being courageous (in speaking up) does not mean decency has to take a back seat,' he said.
The Gempur Rasuah 2.0 rally, organised by several Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students over the weekend, ended with the burning of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's caricature.
Earlier tonight, a Sabah PKR leader said he was puzzled over why the participants protesting the water woes plaguing UMS had resorted to such action.
Razeef Rakimin pointed out that Anwar had previously announced an allocation of RM3 million to resolve the water supply disruptions at the university.
He also labelled the burning of Anwar's caricature a 'desperate stunt'.
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