September 7, 2022
PETALING JAYA – Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s eldest son – Datuk Nizar Najib – should not compare his father’s imprisonment to that of the late Nelson Mandela, says an activist.
North-South Initiative executive director and co-founder Adrian Pereira said that Nizar’s use of Mandela in his comparison shows a lack of understanding of what Mandela fought for.
“To insinuate or make a comparison to Nelson Mandela shows that Nizar may not understand the anti-racism struggle of Mandela compared to Malaysian policies which are still race-based,” he said, adding that it seemed Nizar was living in another universe.
Pereira suggested that if Nizar truly believed that his father (Najib) was wronged by the system, he (Nizar) should work towards changing the system from the inside through a fair election process.
“Nizar is welcome to join politics, become a policy maker and reform the system which he feels did injustice to his father,” Pereira said.
Meanwhile, others took to social media with similar comments
“Which Mandela did this guy read about? Mandela only became President after serving 27 yrs in prison. Najib was the opposite. He was in power first, but got thrown in prison,” said Twitter user @farahzain9.
“What an utter insult to compare Najib with Mandela. Mandela fought for the end of apartheid & inspired billions across globe on freedom,” added another Twitter user – @amir1611_