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Friday 1 February 2013

‘MIC insensitive to Indian Muslims’

Two groups claim the party's efforts to get the ban on Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam lifted shows it does not care about the Indian Muslim community.

KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC, by pushing for the ban on Tamil movie “Vishwaroopam” to be lifted, shows its lack of sensitivity towards the Indian Muslim community, claimed two groups.

The movie, scripted, co-produced and directed by South Indian film star Kamal Hassan was banned in Malaysia after just one day of screening, following protests.

“Vishwaroopam” is a thriller portraying international terrorism and has Kamal Hassan in the starring role, tackling three different characters.

Majlis Madrasah India Muslim Malaysia and the Malaysian Muslim People’s Coalition submitted a memo to the government asking for the movie to be banned.

The movie also faced protests and political controversies in India for seemingly portraying Muslims in a negative light.

“It is not right for a movie to portray the whole Muslim community as terrorists,” said Amir Amsa, pesident of Malaysian Muslim People’s Coalition.

Kamal Basha of Majlis Madrasah India Muslim Malaysia, said Malaysians are more sensitive and fragile compared to the west.

“The nation should be more sensitive towards the feelings of the Muslim community instead of commercialising or politicising the matter,” he said.

“The MIC should look at the issue from all angles as it represents the entire Indian community and not just non-Muslim Indians.

“Why is the party trying to push for the movie to be screened in local cinemas without considering the sensitive elements in the movie?” asked Kamal.

In another development, MIC central committee member KP Samy had sent letters to both Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein urging them to immediately reconsider the ban on Vishwaroopam.

“As a Malaysian Indian and an ardent fan of Indian movie icon Kamal Hassan, I am appealing to you to reconsider and uplift the ban on Vishwaroopam,” he said in his letter, which was sighted by FMT.

He also said that the government can show its goodwill to the Indian community by allowing the movie to be shown in cinemas as soon as possible.

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