KOTA BARU: Pas believes that Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau has other intentions when the paper made the decision to publish a cartoon depicting Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia as monkeys recently.
Its secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said he also believed the newspaper had published the cartoon on purpose.
"Pas regards this issue as a serious matter as it has tarnished the image of the party's president who is also Dewan Rakyat president. The cartoon was published by the newspaper on April 8 on its B2 page," he said in a statement today.
The Kota Baru Pas MP said Pas found that the publication on the cartoon has insulted not only the president but also Muslims as well as the Islamic law.
He said Pas would not compromise with this insult doled out by Nanyang Siang Pau and would take legal action soon.
The cartoon, published by the newspaper, titled "Monkey Act", featured one of the two monkeys sporting a songkok and labelled as "speaker". The other monkey was wearing a turban and named "Hadi Awang", was sitting on an "Act 355" tree, clutching a wand in its left hand.
Since then, the daily had yesterday issued an apology following the publication and retracted the cartoon from its website.