Bring about unity among the Malays/Muslims

Despite the allegation made by Nik Aziz, that Nasharuddin or Hadi Awang was being used by Umno, for its political gain, Lebai believe Nasharuddin and Hadi did not mind as long as the Malays were united.

When someone gives his views, especially with regard to solidarity, we should not brush him aside as a leader. Furthermore, Nasharuddin was elected by the party itself and not by the Kelantan Menteri Besar

For me it was normal for differences of opinion and group identification to exist. However, such differences and group rivalry should be seen in the proper context. We must not take our Malay unity for granted. We must always act wisely. When group identification and rivalries increase, they can get out of hand. We must not let this happen as then it will disrupt our unity.

Differences of opinion should not be worked up to such an extent that disunity results. We should not take such differences and rivalries to the extent that we berate, indict and condemn others. We should not go to the extent that we don't even respond to a salaam (greeting) offered to us by another.

Differences can exist. However, we should approach differences of opinion in the right manner and in the right spirit. We should be fair. We should not go overboard and say or do things that will cause disunity.

Yes, Pas can never be an alternative to Umno as a Malay party because some of Pas leaders like Nik Aziz and his supporters refusal to accept the views of others. If Pas had claimed that they were practising true Islam teachings, then it would not have any problem with Umno but they had chosen to become sectarian.

For a fact Nik Aziz and his supporters was the cause of disunity among the Malays. In this case, would Malay society have remained loyal to its leadership on such asensitive, emotional issue.

Nik Aziz know, the Pas-led Kelantan Government would not be able to bring development to the State without the Federal Government's support. No State Government including Penang, Selangor and Kedah can develop their States on their own without the backing of the Federal Government, lead by Umno.

Today, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he wanted the talks to materialise because he feared that if the matter was allowed to prolong it would create disunity among the Muslims.

"We will not impose any conditions and we accept whatever terms set by PAS. As far as I'm concerned, we have to be open," he said.

The Umno deputy president urged PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to forget about the conflicts between PAS and Umno in the 70s when both parties cooperated to form the Kelantan state governemnt but PAS later pulled out because of internal problems.

"As Muslims we are encouraged to forgive. That was in the past," he said.

REMINDER:

Any constructive criticism and comment that would contribute to fair, frank and informed discussion on this posting to help achieve our national objective will be most appreciated. We need to have more open exchange of ideas on this sensitive but important subject in the context of the national vision and security.