PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must step up and cool rising tensions stemming from the KK Mart “Allah” socks controversy, said a Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader.

The party’s deputy chairperson S. Arutchelvan said there are two options for the premier, whom he said was not ready to “douse the fire” on the issue.

The first option, said Arutchelvan, was to convene a Madani coalition meeting to put forward a united stand on the issue, which he said could put UMNO in its place.

“UMNO only contributes 26 seats, which is less than 12% of seats. In election terms, if a candidate obtains less than 12.5% of the total votes, they would lose their deposits.

“Today UMNO is fanning all the racial tensions and it is tolerated,” Arutchelvan said in a statement on Tuesday (March 26).

For context, UMNO Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh has been a strong voice for boycott against KK Mart despite convenience store chain’s management conducting measures by retracting the socks from its shelves, publicly apologising and terminating its contract with the supplier.

This comes after images showing a pair of socks bearing the word “Allah” allegedly being sold at a KK Super Mart shop in Bandar Sunway.

The UMNO Supreme Council had, in turn, expressed support for Akmal, with party secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki reaffirming UMNO’s steadfast commitment to upholding the sanctity of Islam.

Tensions escalated further when a petrol bomb was hurled at a KK Mart outlet in Bidor, Perak at 5am yesterday (March 26).

However, the petrol bomb which landed at an empty area in front of the Jalan Bruseh outlet did not ignite and no one was hurt.

Meanwhile, Arutchelvan in his statement said the second option for the prime minister to ease tensions is to make a televised address to the nation.

“Go on the national TV and plead for calm and harmony to prevail. I am sure the majority of people will appreciate these efforts,” he suggested.

“When Anwar doesn’t take a strong stand, it reminds me when ICERD (The International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) was under attack by PAS and its allies, the prime minister then (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) just kept quiet and let things accelerate.”

Yesterday former UMNO information chief Shahril Hamdan had also expressed disappointment with Anwar’s lack of involvement in the issue.

In the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast, Shahril said Anwar, who is “one of the greatest orators” in Malaysia should have issued a statement reflecting his understanding of the nation’s complex diversity.

“He should have come forth and said, ‘Look. I am a Muslim, and I can resonate with how you feel. But this is how we should react as Muslims in a multiracial Malaysia’.”

On March 20, Anwar said it was time to move on from the incident, which he said had been made out to be a “huge disaster”. He also called on all parties not to be “narrow-minded” and to stay away from extremism. - March 27, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/step-up-to-douse-kk-mart-allah-socks-controversy-fire-pmx-told/