Malay rights NGO Perkasa's police report against columnist Helen Ang has been described as "a knee-jerk reaction" that proves its "sheer laziness and shallowness"on important issues faced by the country.

"Their knee-jerk resort to incitement and instigation is sheer laziness and does them no credit," said Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI) director Lim Teck Ghee.

"On the other hand, it only reveals the shallowness of their intellect and poverty of mindset on the important public issues facing our country."

Instead of engaging with writers in a rational fashion through reasoned NONEarguments, Lim (right) said in a media statement today, Perkasa as well as pro-Umno "ultra" bloggers have seen it fit to fan crude racial and religious sentiments.

Perkasa on Aug 4 lodged the police report against Ang over her article titled Enforcing NEP on minority religions, which was published in CPI website.

Lim said anyone who cared to peruse her article would find no mention, or even the faintest allusion, to the King or the state rulers.

"How Perkasa came to its baffling conclusion on this purported instance of ‘arrogance' directed at the Malaysian head of state is a mystery," he said.

Stretched the imagination

He said Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifah, who lodged the police report, had stretched the imagination by claiming the article was "clearly written with bad intentions", "capable of creating tensions" and "a threat to national security".

Arman had also made a similar police report on the article in his capacity as an Umno Youth divisional office bearer, and his wild allegations against Ang and the CPI portal were widely reported by Utusan Malaysia and other Malay newspapers.

Evidently, Lim added, Perkasa and its backers in the Umno-controlled media "see threats to Islam and challenges to Malay rights everywhere".

This was also not the first time that columnists writing for CPI and other Internet websites on issues of public concern such as religion, the special position of the Malays, the New Economic Policy and education have been harassed by right wingers and "those elements of our society inclined to fascism".

The police reports made were aimed at intimidating Ang and other writers from exercising their right to freedom of expression in the national interest, Lim said.

"The preference of Perkasa and their ilk is obviously to use the instruments of the state to censor differing views on contentious national issues.

"CPI would like to reiterate that the centre fully stands by the rights of its columnists and contributors to write critically and without fear. We call on the authorities to curb extremist factions who want to silence our independent intelligentsia."