PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad,

My humble appeal to you, sir, is not to wait until “nasi sudah menjadi bubur” before coming to your good senses about the radical, racist agenda of Zakir Naik.

Your misplaced love, affection and defence of Zakir have given him so much face, that he is now freely trampling over non-Muslims in this multiracial country, where people of different faiths have lived peacefully for ages, like those in Sabah and Sarawak.

Emboldened by your vehement defence of him, he continues to brazenly attack Indians, and has now started attacking the Chinese, saying if Malaysians want him out of the country, they must first get the Chinese to leave. Who is he, who knows not the history of Malaya and Malaysia, to make such an arrogant call? So, he wants Malaysia to become a single-race/religion country? He makes his radical jihad crystal clear!

Dear PM, you are acting like an overprotective father in denial of the misbehaviour of his favourite child, unable to control his tantrums. Instead of disciplining the child, you give in to the child’s demands and further spoil him, thus putting him, through the tacit approval of his behaviour, on the road to becoming a troublesome person. A thug and criminal, even.

Zakir’s latest attacks on Malaysia’s Indians and Chinese are a direct result of your stand that he will not be deported. He takes that to mean you have given him a free hand to do what he wishes, and he will continue to be treated as a VVIP permanent resident.

Dear PM, you are human and not infallible, just like everybody else. But, you harbour the attitude that, being the PM, it is up to you, and you alone, to decide on any matter. This reflects pride and arrogance, which Islam says a leader should not have.

You feel that when you have made a decision, it must be defended to the hilt, no matter how wrong it is. Look at what you did in the Bukit Merah radioactive waste debacle, for example. You subscribe to the theory of “tell a lie and repeat it often enough, and the people will believe it is the truth”.

So, you keep defending Zakir, saying he will not get a fair trial in India, therefore, he cannot be extradited from Malaysia. You want people to accept this as the truth.

He is said to be a citizen of Saudi Arabia. So, can Saudi Arabia refuse to take back its own citizen? Yes, you need not send him back to India, but why not to Saudi Arabia, or any of the many other Muslims nations that should be happy to receive him with open arms?

Please put aside pride for the sake of the Malaysia that you are going to leave behind. Don’t leave us with a Malaysia torn by racism as a result of Zakir’s jihad. There are already a few locals trained by him, and who are following in his footsteps.

What use would Malaysia be if all its people are of a single race or religion, but it is a broken country, like some in the Middle East?

Bear in mind that you were given the mandate to serve the people – Malaysians of all races and religions, without distinctions between them. This is in accordance with the federal constitution, isn’t it?

The single most important matter in a multiracial, multireligious country such as Malaysia is that peace and harmony exist between all its people. Peace and harmony were not built in a day, like Rome was not built in a day. So please, don’t let jihadists like Zakir destroy this nation.

Take a lesson from Humpty Dumpty. It is very easy to destroy the country’s peace and harmony by allowing just one “VVIP” to go around giving incendiary talks, making disparaging claims and calling people names, in the name of religion. Once destroyed, like the fallen Humpty Dumpty, it will not be possible to restore what we enjoyed in the good old days. – August 14, 2019.

* Ravinder Singh reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.