Many of us warned the Umno-Baru Youth leader, Akmal Saleh, that his unrelenting attack on KK Mart, in the socks issue, had the potential to ignite the ‘politics of hate and division’ in Malaysia; but he ignored us.

Fueled by his huge ego and stubbornness, the firebrand Akmal, dismissed the apology of the KK Mart owner, KK Chia, and refused to think about the consequences of his foolhardy actions.

We reacted with horror at his intransigence and yesterday, what we feared most, an arson attack, occurred.

A petrol bomb was hurled at a KK Mart store in Bidor Perak, at 5 am.

The Molotov cocktail failed to ignite, and no one was injured or killed; but the point is that Akmal should be held responsible for fanning this hatred.

He failed to acknowledge the seriousness of his actions, he failed to show leadership, he failed to act responsibly and he endangered the lives of many people.

He should resign as the Umno-Baru Youth leader.

KK Mart has severed ties with one of their suppliers. Workers in KK Mart and the factory which supplied it with socks, are anxious about the boycott which Akmal heavily promoted.

A boycott will have dire consequences on their employment prospects. A boycott will result in reduced sales, possible shop closures and redundancies. There will be no Raya joy or Raya celebrations if a worker loses his job because of Akmal’s folly.

A few days after Akmal’s dangerous hate speech,  vigilante groups started to emerge and take the law into their own hands. They threatened those with whom they disagreed.

Malay vigilante silat groups demonstrated their skills in a show of defiance, like a bully showing his victim how hard he can hit.

Factory workers’ lives were at risk when it was revealed that arsonists were targeting their factory.

Personal details of key individuals were released on social media and KK Mart’s workers were verbally assaulted.

Then, came the petrol bomb, hurled out of nowhere.

So, when will Akmal desist? Will he only stop making incendiary comments when people are injured, or worse still, lives are lost? Will he cease when KK Mart and other associated businesses are razed to the ground?

He is prepared to risk the safety of the nation and destroy our peaceful co-existence just because of five pairs of socks. How will he react when more serious issues affect the nation? Will the non-Malays get the blame again?

Akmal is a cheap political opportunist who will sacrifice the harmony of our multicultural nation for his few seconds of infamy.

By prolonging the issue, Akmal has sparked an arson attack, but even more disappointing is his denial to accept responsibility that his actions over the past ten days had dire consequences.

He put the nation on tenterhooks. He rendered meaningless the true spirit of Ramadan. He put Muslims in a bad light and made others think of them as heartless, intolerant people.

Last week, a few ministers, like the Transport minister, Anthony Loke, Housing Minister, Nga Kor Ming, and Tourism Minister, Tiong King Sing, unsuccessfully urged Akmal to move on especially after KK Chia’s apology.

Most decent people would have graciously accepted Chia’s gesture and act of humility, and moved on especially as the nation has more important issues to consider.

However, the stubborn Akmal refused to budge. Former ministers, like Rafidah Aziz and Khairy Jamaluddin also urged Akmal to exercise restraint, as did  Ameer Ali Mydin, the boss of Mydin hypermarket. Instead of acknowledging Ameer’s wise words and guidance, Akmal also turned on him.

Akmal proudly boasted that he was willing to risk his position to ‘defend Islam’.

He is too narcissistic to realise he is promoting mob violence.

Most Muslims are aware that he wasn’t defending Islam. He is a cheap political opportunist, who is willing to sacrifice the well-being of our multicultural nation for a few seconds of infamy.

His dangerous rhetoric struck at our democratic values. He failed to put the interests of the nation first, but was only thinking about himself. He was desperate to portray himself as the defender of Islam and protector of the Malays.

His choice of words like ‘needing to teach KK Mart a lesson’ expose his true character. He is a bully.

He accused KK Mart of deliberately insulting Islam. What proof did he have? As it is there have been many allegations of sabotage or business rivalry, especially as KK Mart was going public on Bursa Saham Malaysia.

He glibly told KK Chai that after the boycott he could venture into other businesses. Is Akmal that daft? It takes many years, possibly decades to identify a niche and build a market and business. It takes a lot of investment, not just in money but also time and building good relationships with suppliers, traders, the local community and government departments.

From the outset, why would Chai jeopardise his business empire?

Our religious leaders refused to condemn this descent into mob-rule. Why?

More importantly, the Prime minister, his deputy who is also the Umno-Baru president, the Home Minister, the Communications Minister, the Minister for National Unity, the Minister for Religious Affairs and the IGP lack leadership. All failed to promptly discharge their duties.

Akmal was treated with kid gloves. Whilst our leaders sit on their hands, the country burns.

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)