GEORGE TOWN: A senior DAP leader has called for an investigation into Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammed Sanusi Md Nor for calling non-Malays corrupt.
Dr P. Ramasamy said there seemed to be no end to Sanusi's nonsense.
"He (Sanusi) refuses to see that corruption afflicts all sections of society, immaterial of ethnicity or religion.
"At least Hadi mentioned that while the givers of bribes are non-Malays, the receivers are Malays, but the givers of corrupt money are more guilty than the receivers. Hadi at least qualified his remark about corruption with a strange illogical twist.
"But Sanusi, knowing his crudity in public engagements, found it necessary to argue that non-Malays are more prone to corruption, whether they are givers or receivers. I suppose if he is pushed to the wall, he might say that giving bribes is a bigger sin than receiving them.
"Can Sanusi back up his claim or provide the statistics about non-Malays being the most corrupt? A mere political or populist statement without the corresponding facts renders it shallow and racist," he said today.
When it comes to corruption, Ramasamy said, he did not think DAP had ever made a racist statement about only Malays being involved in corruption.
"I don't think DAP leaders, unlike the racists and extremists in Perikatan Nasional, would ever make such racist statements.
"It is engaged by persons who have no sense of guilt or moral upbringing.
"Race or religion is not the determinant of corruption.
"I think that Sanusi, wanting to be popular before the state elections, is looking to be a hero at the expense of non-Malays. It is highly irresponsible for a state leader to make such an allegation."
Ramasamy said there was a clear directive from the police that forbade incitement involving race, religion and royalty.
"The police have sufficient grounds to investigate Sanusi for casting aspersions on te non-Malays."