Calling Zahid’s response “a mess”, Kula said it was impossible to make head or tail of what the government was trying to convey regarding the basis for axing the Better Beer Festival, planned for Oct 6-7.
“All that the public can infer from the confused government stance is that terrorists can dictate what events can be or can’t be held, and that police provision of security within a controlled public space cannot be guaranteed,” he said in a statement today.
The beer festival was cancelled last month after Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said Bukit Aman had received intelligence indicating that a militant group was planning to sabotage the event.
“We also received information that a few parties planned to cause trouble during the event, and that it might also turn into a serious security matter,” Fuzi said.
The event’s organisers had previously said they were told by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) that they could not hold the event as it was a “politically sensitive” matter.
At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Kula asked Zahid if the police had identified the number of people involved in the security threat and what action had been taken, if any.
Zahid, who is also home minister, said three people had been arrested, and that police were in the midst of collecting more information.
“I hope YB will understand that the police are colour-blind. We are really colour-blind and what was done was for the good of all,” he added.
According to Kula, Zahid went on to say that Oktoberfest was not part of Malaysian culture.
Kula said this suggested that reasons other than security were behind the cancellation.
“For years, Oktoberfest has been held in Kuala Lumpur and other cities in Malaysia without any incident caused by revellers or by elements supposedly hostile to the event.
“Because the Oktoberfest event is held within a controlled space, the argument that security considerations factored in the cancellation indicates that we are now at the mercy of terrorist elements who can force the cancellation of events organised within controlled premises.
“This means that police are hard put to ward off alleged terrorists from inflicting their nefarious designs on events and people in Malaysia,” the DAP national vice-chairman said.
Calling it “a pathetic state of affairs”, Kula questioned Prime Minister Najib Razak’s recent assurances to US President Donald Trump that the Islamic State (IS) would not be allowed to gain traction in Malaysia.
Kula said the Oktoberfest event in Penang had been held without any disruption, but in Kuala Lumpur and Klang, “alleged members of IS, if the deputy prime minister is to be believed, have bored holes in the security assurances rendered by Najib to Trump”.