PETALING JAYA: Army veteran Mohd Ali Baharom, or better known as Ali Tinju, has called off the protest on Saturday at Taman Melaka Raya to respect the Yang di-Pertua Negri’s birthday, which falls on that day.

“Authorities told us to cancel the protest. I respect their advice because on that day, it is the Yang di-Pertua Negri’s birthday and we will respect his birthday,” he said when contacted by The Star Online Thursday.

Mohd Ali said he had received calls from politicians and the police, urging him to call off the rally.

“I did not know that it was the Yang di-Pertua’s birthday on that day. If I had known, I would not have planned the rally,” he stressed.

Mohd Ali, who now heads a non-governmental organisation dubbed Gerakan Merah 1Malaysia, had threatened to organise the protest at an entertainment enclave following an incident in which three Immigration Department enforcement officers were assaulted on Sept 30.

State Immigration Department deputy director Abu Bakar Sidek Hassan had told the former soldier not to use the incident as an excuse to hold his planned rally on Saturday.

Abu Bakar said his men had accepted the incident as a job hazard and brushed off any racial element, which saw some 40 thugs assaulting his officers during a raid at a karaoke outlet in Taman Melaka Raya.

He said none of his men had voiced any grievance to Mohd Ali over the assault, adding that the raid at the outlet was conducted following a tip-off that there were a number of foreign guest relation officers without valid documents.

In response, Mohd Ali said that authorities did not know what was happening around them, adding that they should not be making hasty statements.



“It looks like they do not care for their officers’ safety. I would like to ask the Immigration, why a police report was not lodged when the officers were assaulted,” Mohd Ali questioned.



He alleged that his group were the ones who pushed for the arrests of the thugs, and if they did not pressure the Immigration, no action would have been taken.



“To me, everyone has his or her way of solving things. When we pressured and used the media to convey our feelings, we see there are more arrests being made over the incident,” he claimed.

Police had arrested 11 people over the assault and more arrests were expected.