THE Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club lodged a police report against DAP chairman Karpal Singh yesterday for questioning the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah's decision to reinstate Datuk Jamry Sury as head of the Perak Religious Department. Seven members led by its chairman and Bintulu MP, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, did so at 4.15pm at the Brickfields police station. Tiong, in the report, said he was acting to protect the rights and sovereignty of the Malay Rulers under the Federal and state Constitutions. A similar report was lodged almost simultaneously by Umno secretary-general and Putrajaya MP Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor at the Sentul police station. Karpal was reported to have disputed Sultan Azlan's decision to reinstate Jamry to his former position after the latter had been asked to immediately vacate his post by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin. The Bukit Gelugor MP had said in Parliament on Monday that state governments had the right to move civil servants without consulting heads of state. He had also said that state governments should not feel intimidated by the rulers as they were not answerable in matters concerning civil administration. The next day, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said that Karpal had "disputed" the provisions of the Constitution by questioning the sultan's prerogatives as the Perak head of religion. He had also said that it was up to Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to determine if Karpal could be charged under the Sedition Act. In another development, a coalition of more than 300 Malay non-governmental organisations lodged a police report against Karpal for "disrespecting the Malay rulers". Council of Malay Solidarity president Osman Abu Bakar, in his report, claimed that Karpal had on separate occasions "insulted" the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan and Sultan Azlan Shah. "Karpal Singh is biadap (rude)," Osman told reporters outside the Brickfields police station where he had lodged the report five minutes before Tiong. Met at the Parliament lobby, Karpal asked why Tiong had lodged the report when a similar one had been filed on the same matter. "Are they very free? Have they got nothing better to do?" asked the opposition strongman who added that he would stand by his statements. Perak Umno youth had lodged a police report on Sunday (May 4) which claimed that Karpal's statements were seditious in nature. In Ipoh, the youth movement submitted a memorandum to Abdul Gani yesterday urging legal action against the DAP and Karpal for questioning Sultan Azlan's decision on the matter. Its chief, Zainol Padzi Paharudin, said action should be taken to prevent the situation from turning ugly. "We hope to avoid any untoward incident which might place a black mark on state history. "The act of continuously challenging the Sultan of Perak's prerogatives can be construed as an attempt to incite anger among the Malays," he said at the state Umno headquarters. Zainol said the movement would continue to defend and uphold the rights of the monarchy, the Malays and Islam in Perak. Earlier, Zainol, accompanied by three other representatives from the movement, handed a statement to a palace aide at the Istana Kinta about 11.30am, pledging their undivided loyalty to Sultan Azlan Shah.
