From Malaysia Kini

By Terence Netto

Even as Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim took his case to the courtroom of public opinion – increasingly riveted judging from the size and composition of crowds during his two-stop tour of southern Perak on Friday – the bile of his detractors was equally a match.

‘Anwar khianat Melayu Islam’ spewed one banner at the junction where the road from the town of Tapah meets the narrower turn-off that heads for Sg Manik, the second and more well attended location of the PKR leader’s two-stop swing through southern Perak.

Clearly, Anwar’s unequivocal condemnation of the outrages against mainly non-Muslim places of worship in recent weeks had drawn the ire of quarters wanting to exploit last month’s High Court decision in favour of non-Muslim use of the term ‘Allah’ as a rallying point to regain Malay support and put Pakatan Rakyat on the defensive.

These quarters see the ‘Allah’ decision as a lighted match thrown into a powder keg. (more…)