Gabungan NGO-NGO Malaysia chairperson Jamal Md Yunos has confirmed that the organiser of the Sept 16 red shirt rally is indeed the Persatuan Silat Kebangsaan (Pesaka).

“They are the organisers and they have made applications with the police and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to hold the rally,” Jamal told Malaysiakini .

“Gabungan NGO-NGO Melayu received an invitation from Pesaka (to join the rally) and we will give our utmost support to ensure that the rally becomes a success.”

A meeting on the rally will be held at the Sultan Sulaiman Club tomorrow at 3pm, with more than 200 NGOs attending, Jamal confirmed.

“At 4.30pm, there will be a press conference held jointly by myself, Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM) activist leader Nadzim Johan, and Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) president Azwanddin Hamzah,” he said.

Numerous WhatsApp messages have been in circulation, with one claiming that the organiser is Pesaka, which is headed by former Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam.

Malaysiakini has contacted Pesaka for further confirmation on the matter and is awaiting its response.

Meanwhile, Jamal ( photo ) is confident that both Perkasa and PAS members will participate in the Sept 16 rally.

The Sungai Besar Umno division chief said this when asked to comment on Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali distancing his organisation from the rally, saying Perkasa was not involved in it.

Jamal - whose group members are known to be clad in red shirts and are anti-Bersih - however believes that it was Perkasa’s stance as leaders of an organisation.

“I am confident that Perkasa members will be involved in the rally. Perkasa has a very strong Malay spirit among its members.

“I was also informed that there will be Perkasa members who will join us, maybe not under Perkasa’s name but as individuals,” he said.

'T-shirt sales show rally is widely welcomed'

Yesterday alone, said Jamal, 400 T-shirts for the rally had been sold to a representative from Negri Sembilan Perkasa.

Elaborating further on the T-shirt sale, Jamal believes that his group will be able to sell 5,000 T-shirts today.

“We are selling the T-shirts using a pick-up truck outside the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) today.

“Up till 2am today, we managed to collect RM50,000 from the sales of the T-shirts. This shows how widely the rally is being welcomed,” he said.

Jamal added that other rallies organised by political parties in particular usually gave out T-shirts for free.

“Even though we don’t profit from the T-shirt sales, we want to see the extent to which the rally is welcomed by the Malays,” he said.

As for PAS, which has also distanced itself from the rally, Jamal said it was up to PAS to attend the rally or otherwise.

“But if they feel that the rally is one that intends to show the spirit of the Malays, they will come.

“I believe PAS members will come with their own identity, whereby they will come in green instead of red,” Jamal said.

The rally, reportedly planned to be held at the Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street areas, is meant to counter the Bersih 4 rally held on Aug 29 and 30.

It is backed by 500 Malay NGOs to show Malay unity and defend Malay dignity, Jamal had said earlier.

The group expects 300,000 people to turn up for the rally.