HEALTH Minister Dr S. Subramaniam should resign if he disagrees with the government’s decision to grant Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik permanent residency, says Malay rights group Perkasa. 

Its president Ibrahim Ali urged all parties to be fair in the matter as non-Muslim preachers were also allowed to promote their religions in the country, so long as they did not propagate to Muslims. 

“He (Subramaniam) is a Cabinet minister; the decision (to grant Zakir PR) was made by the minister of home affairs. If he doesn’t agree, he should resign,” he said in a press conference today after Perkasa’s round table discussion on China’s investment. 

He said Zakir was no different from non-Muslim preachers who came to Malaysia as Zakir only addressed Muslim audiences when he talked about comparative religion. 

On Wednesday, Dr Subramaniam said Zakir’s contributions towards advancing Islam have not benefitted Malaysia. 

“We can do without Zakir Naik as he is doing it outside the Malaysian context. Here, if you are Buddhist, you are doing it in a Malaysian context… if you are Hindu, you are doing it in Malaysian context,” Dr Subramaniam was quoted as saying in the final address at the National Transformation initiative (TN50) dialogue. 

Ibrahim said it was the government’s prerogative to award PR status or political asylum to anyone, such as when Malaysia had given asylum to people from Brunei. 

“And as to why he (Zakir) has refused to go back (to India) voluntarily, it is because he is afraid that he will be ill-treated.

He said just like in Malaysia when Maria Chin Abdullah and others were arrested over Bersih, there are others elsewhere who were also worried that police would ill-treat them,.
Last week, Perkasa honoured Zakir with its star  award, “Anugerah Bintang Pahlawan Pribumi Perkasa Negara”, for his contributions towards the struggle of Islam. – April 22, 2017.