PETALING JAYA: A group of about 30 Hindu NGOs lodged a police report against controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik today for inciting hatred and degrading non-Muslims in a series of lectures in Kelantan last week.
A spokesperson for the group, Federal Territories Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force) head Shashi Kumar, said they wanted the authorities to arrest and investigate Zakir under Section 298 and 298(A) of the Penal Code, and subsequently deport him from the country.
Section 298 deals with those who utter words with deliberate intent of wounding the religious feelings of others, while 298(A) is in relation to causing disharmony, disunity or hatred on grounds of religion.
“We only want him to be arrested and sent back to India, no negotiations, nothing. The longer we keep him here, the worse the country will get. He’s a pest here,” Shashi told theSun after lodging the report at the Sentul police headquarters today.
In his speech in Kota Baru, Zakir had compared the Hindus in Malaysia with the Muslims in India, claiming the Hindus here enjoyed more than 100 times the rights than Muslims in India.
Shashi said Zakir, being only a permanent resident, had no right to speak on the country’s political affairs and make any comments on its history and multiple races in Malaysia.
He added he and several NGO representatives had met with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad prior to the general election last year and the latter had given an assurance that Zakir would only be allowed to stay in Malaysia if he was on good behaviour.
Shashi said now that Zakir had committed a misconduct, Mahathir should stick to his promise and deport him from the country.
“Unfortunately, Mahathir now is saying no countries want to accept Zakir. That just means something is not right with him. If he’s a good person, then every country won’t mind accepting him.”
More than 20,000 people showed up for Zakir’s first lecture in Malaysia in April 2016. He spoke on ‘Islam – Problems and Solutions to Humanity’.
Earlier, he was meant to speak on similarities between Hinduism and Islam, but this drew protests from the Hindu community in Malaysia, forcing a change in the topic.
Zakir is being sought by the Indian authorities on charges of alleged money laundering involving about RM115 million.
