Dutch Lady condemns 'Fitna' amid boycott

A top Malaysia-based Dutch food company today condemned an anti-Islamic film as locals began to boycott products from the Netherlands.

The 17-minute film 'Fitna' by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders was released on the Internet last Thursday, triggering widespread condemnation.

In full-page advertisements in local newspapers, Dutch Lady Milk Industries, a leader in the multi-million dollar milk industry here, distanced itself from the film.

"Like all right thinking persons, Dutch Lady wishes to strongly denounce and condemn the opinions and statements made in the film Fitna," company chairman Kamarul Ariffin Mohammad Yassin said.

Dutch Lady is a public-listed company that is 50 percent owned by Malaysians, he added.

Boycott call

The company's statement follows a call by a local Muslim-owned supermarket chain on Tuesday for a boycott of Dutch products.

All 30 stores in the Mydin chain have tagged Dutch goods with red labels to warn customers against buying products from the Netherlands.

But Mydin Mohamad, the supermarket's founder said it would keep Dutch products on its shelves.

"The fight over the film is actually over there in Europe and so here, although we are protesting, it is not fair to penalise local companies who are selling Dutch products," he said.

While shelves in a Mydin store in Kuala Lumpur were stocked with Dutch Lady milk and Phillips lightbulbs, some customers began boycotting them.

"I think we should not support anti-Islamic films and so I will be buying other products for my family," said housewife Nurhayati Kassim.

"We must stand united as Muslims," she added.