IT has been more than a month since thousands of reports were lodged against controversial preacher Syakir Nasoha for making deprecatory comments against non-Muslims, yet there has been no action from police, activist S. Shashi Kumar said.

The Global Human Rights Federation president said this delay is a clear sign of double standards by the authorities.

The state of affairs will be much different if the matter is flipped, he added.

Shashi said if no action is taken against the preacher, a peaceful protest will be held at Bukit Aman on December 8.

“This is a clear sign of double standards,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“If non-Muslims had made such comments against Muslims, swift action would have been taken, where a person could be arrested within 24 hours.

“Are police afraid to arrest Syakir because he is an ustaz (religious teacher)? It looks like that to many of us.”

Some 3,000 reports were lodged against the Islamic preacher nationwide on October 3, after a video showing him making deprecatory comments against other religions and the Dayak community went viral.

In the one-minute clip, the preacher is heard saying that “at the end of time, disciples of non-Muslim religions will be scrambling together to kill Muslims in the world”.

He claimed that the assassination of Muslims in India and Thailand are carried out by Hindus and Buddhists.

He also made similar statements against the Dayak community, alleging its members have butchered and raped Muslims in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Syakir has since said his speech has been misunderstood.

However, another wave of reports was filed against the preacher after more videos of him making deprecatory comments surfaced online.

Shashi said non-Muslims are fed up and calling for Syakir to be arrested and charged.

He urged police to act on the matter as there is substantial evidence against the preacher.

“If they (police) want to say that they are still investigating, it is unacceptable as it has been more than 40 days since the initial reports were made.

“When we lodged the reports, I gave them the complete video. So, they cannot say that it has been altered or edited.”

On the latest case updates, Shashi said he was informed that the case has been transferred to Bukit Aman from Kuantan last month, and is now handled by the classified crime investigation unit.

Unrest among non-Muslims

Shashi said the authorities’ lack of action despite having evidence is causing unrest among the non-Muslim community.

Their failure to apprehend the preacher even after more than 5,000 reports were lodged has eroded trust, he added.

“To date, more than 5,000 reports have been made against the preacher. Yet, there is no action. What else must be done?

“Sarawakians are calling me for updates, but I do not have any because police have not arrested him.

“That is why many are coming forward to lodge reports because they are fed up. They feel that nothing is being done and it is a waste of time. This is the perception of the public.”

He said police must arrest Syakir by December 7, failing which a peaceful protest will be held the next day.

“If no arrest is made by December 7, then we will go down for a (peaceful) demonstration at Bukit Aman on December 8.

“I will hand in a memorandum of protest… to ask why there are double standards in enforcement. It should not take this long; this guy has made several videos and is still out there.”

Shashi reminded police to adhere to the Keluarga Malaysia concept in carrying out duties – a policy introduced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“If police are following Ismail’s Keluarga Malaysia (concept), then they have to prove they are not taking sides. Arrest Syakir immediately.” – November 18, 2021.