PAS today denied that the setting up of separate tents for men and women at its Negri Sembilan Hari Raya open house was intended for gender segregation.

Instead, PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali claimed that this was intended to make it convenient for visitors.

"We have never segregated men and women at our functions... it is not segregation but to allow ease of movement in the tents.

"If husbands and wives want to sit together it's not a problem," he said after chairing the Pakatan Rakyat secretaries meeting in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

When pressed on what he meant by "convenient", Mustafa said the arrangement made it easier for visitors to take their food.

He added that such arrangement has been a norm for PAS and claimed that the Negri Sembilan open house had been misrepresented by the media.

DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh was quoted by The Star as saying today that the setting was "unnecessary and wrong".

Asked to respond on this, Mustafa said it was a non-issue.

"I don't know what information Karpal got but I think the reporting on the Negri Sembilan open house was inaccurate. This has always been the norm," he said.

Negri Sembilan PAS held its Hari Raya open house at Dataran Senawang last Saturday.