KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — MIC, MCA and some Indian groups rejected today Islamic preacher Shahul Hamid’s apology for his wanton insult of Hinduism and called for the PAS member to be charged with sedition.
MIC vice-president Datuk M. Saravanan said action must be taken against Shahul to discourage people from insulting other religious beliefs in future.
“Don’t ever touch religion,” Saravanan told Malay Mail Online when contacted today.
“If you forgive and just let go, you’re going to open the floodgates for someone else to condemn religions, like Islam and Christianity, and to simply apologise,” added the leader in the Barisan Nasional (BN) Indian component party.
Shahul issued a public apology earlier today after controversy erupted when a video clip of his speech made several years ago, in which he told Muslims not to buy curry powder from “Hindu companies” like Alagappa’s and Baba’s, was uploaded on social media sites recently.
“If you go to the Alagappa’s factory near Permatang Pauh, you will a statue at the entrance, and the tongue is out. Why is the tongue out? Because the goddess must taste all the curry powder before they sell it,” the Indian-Muslim man was heard saying in the video.
Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk R. S. Mohan Shan said Shahul’s offensive remarks amounted to a “criminal offence”.
“Some kind of action must be taken by the government. He should be punished as another person condemning Islam would be punished,” Mohan, who heads the group representing Hindus, told Malay Mail Online.
Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (Mipas) secretary-general S. Barathidasan said an apology cannot not undo the damage caused by Shahul.
“He should be charged under the Sedition Act. Punish him. This will be a lesson for others,” he told Malay Mail Online.
Barathidasan said police inaction against former Perkasa vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin for his racial remarks had emboldened people like Shahul to make offensive statements.
“They think police will not take action against them,” he said.
Zulkifli sparked outrage last year when a video of him questioning the purity of the Ganges River in India, which Hindus consider sacred, was uploaded on social media.
MCA deputy secretary-general Datuk Wee Jeck Seng said in a statement today that Shahul had violated the Sedition Act.
“Despite his excuse that the insensitive statement was made at a closed-door meeting, the fact of the matter is that he had instilled hatred and racism. Thus, action must be taken to show that a ‘closed-door’ meeting is no excuse to speak against religious harmony,” Wee said.
A DAP representative also expressed similar sentiments at a separate news conference today.
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