“Do not underestimate (threats to our unity). There are great nations that emerged as powerful countries, with magnificent civilisations. However, they ended up being destroyed due to mismanagement, corruption and also because they played with ‘fires of ethnic and religious fanaticism’.

“Just look at other developing countries and even advanced nations. The (racial and religious) differences can be either a strength or a destructive force within society and the nation,” he said in a speech in conjunction with the 66th National Day, at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).

Anwar said there was no real decision to be made as to whether Malaysians must unite or remain divided along racial and religious lines.

“For those with sound minds, unity is imperative and a necessity,” he added.

“We can choose to continue sowing doubt and suspicion, political animosity, and ethnic division, or we can choose to say enough is enough.”

He said Merdeka did not simply mean being free from our colonial masters.  It also calls for freedom of “mind, body and soul”.

“We must produce Malaysians whose souls are also ‘free’, who will not stand by when this country is made a tool for the personal gain of the elites,” he said.

He also said Malaysia was no longer fighting to gain independence but to preserve it while maintaining peace.

“This would be impossible without the strength of our defences, the army, and the police, such as when we faced the incursion in Lahad Datu, as well as in the past, like in the confrontation with Indonesia, and against the communist threats from Parti Komunis Malaya,” he said.

He added that the country may still face threats to its sovereignty.

“But God-willing, we will defend every inch of this country that we love.”