“What he did is one of the many things he should do in his capacity as prime minister.
“By holding a demonstration, he is gauging and showing Myanmar the level of support Malaysians have for the Rohingyas in Myanmar,” he told FMT.
Nazri was responding to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had criticised Najib’s participation in the rally, saying he could have settled the Rohingya crisis more diplomatically with a “government to government” approach.
Opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail made similar remarks, saying if the government was genuine, it must first acknowledge Rohingya refugees as war refugees.
Nazri, who is the tourism and culture minister, fired back at the duo whose criticism he said was not surprising.
“Mahathir opposes anything and everything Najib does, while Wan Azizah is extremely naive in a lot of issues and government procedures,” he said.
Nazri said Mahathir dug his own “political grave” when he chose to attend the DAP national conference while Najib turned up at the rally for the Rohingya cause.
“It is political suicide for any Malay politician to do what he (Mahathir) did. (Soon) we will be able to actually read his obituary in Malaysian politics.”
Nazri also labelled Myanmar de factor leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi a hypocrite for abandoning the Rohingya community.
“She is a racist hypocrite and she has used her gender to gain sympathy.
“She has clearly abandoned the Rohingyas when they need her support, especially when she is in an influential position.
Malaysia has been increasingly critical of Myanmar’s handling of the crisis in the northern Rakhine state that has caused thousands of people to flee the country.
On Sunday, more than 10,000, mostly Rohingyas, attended the rally organised by Yayasan Dakwah Islam Malaysia and other NGOs.
The rally saw Umno and PAS leaders sharing the stage, including Najib, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS president Hadi Awang, deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor and PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.
According to Amnesty International, the Rohingyas have been oppressed by the Myanmar military since 1978. The United Nations describes them as “one of the most persecuted minorities in the world”.