A GROUP of protestors has threatened to demonstrate at the mosques where Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is breaking fast with Muslims during Ramadan.

Jalan Mengkuang PAS branch chief Azmi Jaafar said Lim had no business joining Muslims in breaking fast when he did not fast like they did.

“We are warning him. If he dares to break fast in any mosque in his parliamentary constituency – Bagan – we will demonstrate in front of the mosque.

“We will ask him if he also fasted. Don’t politicise Islam for DAP’s interest in Penang,” he said during a protest at the Abdul Kader Mosque in Butterworth this afternoon.

More than 10 protesters shouted “Hancur kufar” (Destroy the unbeliever), “Hidup Islam” (Long live Islam), and “Hancur DAP PRU14” (Destroy DAP in GE14).

The leader, Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Nordin, who is chairman of the Muslim welfare organisation Jaringan Muslimin Pulau Pinang, said the group would continue to protest against Lim and his administration.

He urged Muslims in Bagan and Penang not to vote for Lim and his party and its allies in the next elections.

“Muslims should not vote for them because the state has meddled in Islamic affairs and blocked a few edicts (fatwa),” he said.

Hafiz claimed the former state mufti Hassan Ahmad had admitted this, counter to the state religious exco Abdul Malik Abul Kassim’s denial of such a thing.

“We have the information. We have brought this up many times. There is interference by the administration in Islamic and fatwa matters.”

Hafiz said his group would also continue to explain this to the people so that they would know not to trust Lim and the DAP-led government. 

He said DAP and its leaders such as Lim, who is party secretary-general, had opposed Islamic matters, such as RUU355 (PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act).

“We have no authority to bar him from such events but if he is opposed to Islamic matters, why does he want to buka puasa with Muslims?

“Is that not making fun of Islam practices, which includes fasting? If he wants to attend, he should also fast.”

Hafiz and his group organised a similar protest after Friday prayers at the Simpang Enam Mosque in George Town last week.

During the protest, they were reported to have said that Lim should convert to Islam if he wanted to buka puasa with Muslims. Their remarks were criticised by many Muslim politicians, namely those from Pakatan Harapan.

The protesters also alleged then that the Penang government interfered in Islamic affairs and blocked a few fatwa. When Lim’s information officer Zaidi Ahmad, who was at the scene, asked Hafiz to explain his accusation, one of Hafiz’s supporters slapped him.

Hafiz played down the slapping incident today, saying that it was not planned and his supporter was “provoked”.

He claimed that the supporter who slapped Zaidi did not know that he was a former Royal Malaysian air force major.

Zaidi is known for lodging a police report during the last general election over the indelible ink. He was court martialled for speaking to the media over his report and lost his job. 

“Is there a slapping incident today? That is because Zaidi is not here. That means there was provocation on his part.

“We didn’t expect him to be there. He was the one who came up to me, pulled my arm and spoke in a raised voice,” Hafiz said. – June 2, 2017.