GOING by PAS president Hadi Awang’s logic, fisticuffs would be breaking out in parliament every other time a minister provides an unsatisfactory reply during question time.

Hadi blamed the fracas at the Nothing To Hide 2.0 forum on Sunday squarely on his nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying the veteran leader’s unsatisfactory answers had sparked the incidents of flares, water bottles, slippers and chairs being thrown at the event.

“Everyone is pointing fingers, blaming the other party and forgetting that what sparked the chaos (at the forum) was the explanation on the Memali incident, which was not satisfactory,” he said in a statement filed in party mouthpiece Harakahdaily today

The PAS president said the youths detained over the fracas should not be the only ones held responsible for the violence on Sunday.

“To those who cannot give a satisfactory answer, you should not be angry. Then, others would not be fired up to cause trouble.

“The young people alone should not be blamed. We should also blame the one who caused it all,” he said.

To put it plainly, Hadi is saying that an unsatisfactory answer is a legitimate reason for violence. 

He appears to be cut from the same cloth as Umno leaders who say Dr Mahathir and his Bersatu deserve the violence as they want to be street fighters.

Hardly surprising then that Hadi also thinks that nothing is amiss with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). 

In other words, he blames the victims rather than the perpetrators.

That should not be the case. The people who wanted to cause pandemonium by throwing flares, chairs, water bottles and slippers were doing it without thinking twice after Dr Mahathir gave his answer.

They were there to incite and cause trouble. Hadi would have known that if he did attend the forum. 

But he wasn’t there. And his words are that of a man who has an axe to grind, and is willing to apportion blame without evaluating what is right or wrong. 

Violence is not a reply to poor answers. Using your fists is the wrong answer if you are not happy with any reply. 

Hadi should know that. His faith teaches him to use his brains, not his hands, to settle arguments. If he doesn’t know that by now, someone should remind him – because there is nothing sadder than a man who believes violence settles everything. – August 15, 2017.