PAKATAN Harapan should abolish the National Civics Bureau (BTN) as it is a propaganda unit that promotes racism and is political in nature, said PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

The Setiawangsa lawmaker said he had personally attended one of the bureau’s courses as a student, adding that it was detrimental to Malaysians as it incited the Malays against other races.

“The camps were meant to incite Malay participants to go against other Malaysians from different races and religions, attacking opposition parties and praising the ruling party of the time,” Nik Nazmi posted on Twitter today.

He urged for Putrajaya to do away with the bureau as part of its cost-cutting measures for the debts it inherited from the previous Barisan Nasional government.

“Seeing that PH is committed to its agenda of reform and is cutting costs in the government, I believe that BTN should be abolished,” said Nik Nazmi.

The PKR youth head also called for civil servants in BTN to be reassigned to other government departments after the division is shut down.

According to BTN’s official website, it was a government organisation formed in 1974 under the Youth Programme and was put under the Prime Minister’s Department in 1982.

BTN currently has 14 branches and 17 nation-building camps nationwide.

In 2015, leaked BTN slides came under fire from Malaysians for being racist in nature and painting BN in a good light.

Themes for the slides include promoting racism for a “good cause”, blaming independent book publishers as masterminds for anti-establishment movements, and portraying opposition parties as racist and radical. – May 27, 2018.