Opposition party DAP was forced to call off its forum on race relations yesterday, when permission to use the venue was withdrawn the night before.

Speakers and a crowd of 60 milled about Wisma Tun Sambanthan in Kuala Lumpur for almost an hour, before sitting down in the lobby for a short session of impromptu speeches.

Party leader Lim Kit Siang described the withdrawal of permission as a "last minute act of sabotage by irresponsible parties".

"We don't need a police permit because even Tun Mahathir's (function) in Kota Bharu did not require a permit," he said in reference to the former prime minister's visit to Kelantan to meet Umno delegates over the weekend.

Lim then slammed the contents of Universiti Putra Malaysia's guidebook on ethnic relations, which had been a source of contention in recent weeks until it was withdrawn on the instructions of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"A highly objectionable point is that the textbook speaks of assimilation when we should strive for integration. To say Malaysia is an Islamic state will cause non-Muslims to feel that they don't belong," said Lim.

He also said a free discussion must be held by putting this up on the Internet to gather feedback.

"All Malaysians must have a look at it and give input to put the country in the right direction and not leave this task to some committee. We must refuse any attempt in our universities to brainwash the new generation of Malaysians," he said.

"We are going to make this a big issue. We will conduct road shows even. They cannot stop such important discussions from the public,"

He then said DAP would apply for a police permit for the rescheduled forum next Sunday at the same venue.

Party secretary-general Lim Guat Eng challenged the MIC-linked Yayasan Strategik Sosial executive director Denison Jayasooria to take part in the open forum.

"I will write a letter and invite him to come and speak to the Indian community. We can ask why he blamed his own community for the Kg Medan incident (in 2001). He should have the courage to come and meet all of us here," he said.

Jayasooria has initially been accused of providing distorted information on the incident, but had later clarified that the information had been taken out of context by the authors of the guidebook.