KOTA BHARU: There is no need to question or make an issue out of Kelantan declaring Dec 9 a state holiday in conjunction with the rally against the International Convention to Eliminate all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the holiday was a signal that people in Kelantan were at the forefront in the fight to uphold Islam.
He said this following various remarks that have been made after Kelantan declared this Sunday a public holiday for the state, a day after the rally which is set to take place in Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.
"I would like to thank Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob for declaring Sunday a public holiday because Kelantan is a stronghold for the religion and strength of the Malays.
"This is because we feel ICERD is a big challenge.
"All parties must take it from a positive aspect, not question the approach taken by the Kelantan government," he said at a press conference, here, last night.
In announcing the public holiday earlier this week, Ahmad said it was meant to make it easy for people in Kelantan to attend the rally in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan expressed his confidence that the rally would see 500,000 supporters attending.
Takiyuddin who is also Kota Bharu MP also gave his assurance that the rally would take place peacefully with no untoward incident.