Negri Sembilan Perkasa has threatened more protests against PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu if he holds any ceramah in the state.

The state's Perkasa chief Mohd Noor Nordin Abdullah said he would personally lead protests against Mohamad, or more popularly known as Mat Sabu, if he refuses to apologise for his statement on the Bukit Kepong incident.

"I guarantee that there will be protests against Mat Sabu... the participants in these protests will not just be the state Perkasa but also other NGOs that are disappointed with Mat Sabu’s statement,” a Sinar Harian report quoted him as saying.

NONEThe warning comes after a scuffle broke out at Mat Sabu’s ceramah in Seremban last Saturday, duing which two PAS supporters were injured after they tried to prevent a Perkasa protest from advancing on the ceramah venue.

Mat Sabu generated controversy after he had, in a speech on Aug 21, praised Mohamed Indera, an insurgent leader who led an assault on the Bukit Kepong police station in 1950, as a freedom fighter.

The statement has caused fierce debate over the country’s independence history, but Mat Sabu has justified his statement by claiming that those manning the police station at that time were serving the British crown.

‘Perkasa tried to inflame situation’

Responding to last week’s fracas, PAS Youth wing information chief Riduan Mohd Nor in a statement today accused Perkasa of trying to inflame the situation.

“Perkasa deliberately allowed its members to act wildly, inflaming the situation to prompt a reaction from PAS supporters...”

Riduan said that “arguments should be countered with arguments, not violence”.

NONE“PAS Youth reiterates that disrupting PAS’ programmes and assaulting PAS supporters is a cowardly act by those who do not want to seek the truth.”

Meanwhile, Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said it is hypocritical of the opposition to complain when Perkasa members stage protests at their events when the opposition themselves do the same.

Using what he described as a favoured argument of the Pakatan coalition, he said it is their right to hold such protests.

However, Ibrahim avoided giving his direct endorsement of the warning issued by Perkasa Negeri Sembilan, saying it is entirely their decision to make.

"It is their right to do so. We cannot stop them, and we must respect their decision," he said after attending a briefing on the abolition of the Internal Security Act by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

Mat Sabu unfazed by Perkasa warning