Cops pull plug on peaceful gathering to protest GPS-PN-PAS alliance

KUCHING: The police have pulled the plug over a peaceful gathering that was scheduled to be held in the city yesterday to protest the proposed alliance between Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS).

Social activist Peter John Jaban said he was met by police officers who advised him that the gathering should be halted to protect the state’s peace and harmony.

“I respect the police advice for now. We Sarawakians are lawabiding citizens. However, do not try to push us to a corner,” he said when contacted yesterday.

He added the next gathering was still in the works and would be announced when the time comes.

“However, we are calling on Sarawakians to wear red T-shirts on Sundays and white T-shirts on Fridays as a protest. If you do not have yellow or red T-shirt, you can wear yellow on both days,” said Peter.

He said the protest was not intended to create chaos among the people but to defend Sarawak which is a non-Muslim majority state from Islamic extremists.

“We are just trying to defend ourselves, our rights, our unity and our culture in a state where we have been living among people of different races and religions,” he added.

He believes that PN was being ‘controlled’ by PAS by virtue of the number of seats won in the recent general election.

“PAS holds 49 seats in the 73 PN coalition. When they are in the federal government, the first thing they want changed is the education system and there goes our English and History subjects,” he claimed.

“We are not Anti-Islam, Islam is a good religion. Otherwise how come most of my family members and siblings are Muslims? There are also many Dayaks in Sarawak and Sabah who are Muslims.”

He added that the comments on social media were showing that the Dayak who voted for GPS were disappointed that they had put their trust in the party.

“Just bear in mind that the Dayak voters might make a big Uturn in the coming election. This would also include the Chinese who are Christians,” he added.

Peter also said during the campaign period, politicians and candidates should instead focus their agenda on development and how to save the nation’s economy.

“They should not touch on race and religion,” he added.