MIC wants the Home Ministry to act against “rogue” Muslim preachers who continue to make inflammatory remarks against other religions in the country, party deputy president M. Saravanan said.

Saravanan, the sole Indian minister in Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s cabinet, said he has brought up the issue with Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin for urgent action. 

He added that the ministry was already compiling details on the offensive preachers. 

“There are one or two characters who keep making such insensitive remarks. 

“In fact this is not new. I’ve been talking to the home minister for some time now, and in most cases, it is not easy to charge them. 

“Anyway, the Home Ministry is gathering all the details about these characters,” Saravanan, who is the human resources minister, told The Malaysian Insight.

He however said that he would not be raising this issue in the cabinet for now. 

“It is a bit too early (to bring it to the cabinet). 

“Unless I’m not happy with the Home Ministry, I won’t raise it up in the cabinet. 

“So far, I think the ministry has been very supportive,” the Tapah MP said. 

In recent months, Hindu organisations have lodged numerous police reports against preachers over their offensive remarks on their religion. 

Some of the preachers who have police reports against them include Firdaus Wong Wai Hung, Zamri Vinoth Kalimithu, Ahmad Iqram Mohd Noor and Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah. 

There are also other preachers such as Syakir Nasoha, Idris Sulaiman and Abdul Halim Abdullah who have insulted other religions. 

One of them, Syakir, had accused Buddhists, Hindus and Dayaks of killing Muslims. 

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

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

He also claimed that the killings of Muslims in India and Thailand were being carried out by Hindus and Buddhists. 

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

In the case of Idris, he caused tension by telling Muslims they were prohibited to clean other houses of worship, even during flood relief efforts. 

Idris likened the act of cleaning other houses of worship to cleaning gambling dens and discotheques, adding that temples were houses of the devil. 

Independent Islamic preacher Halim also made disparaging comments during the recent floods, saying “temples are worst than brothels”. 

The comments came after a group of multiracial undergraduates from the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak helped clean up a Hindu temple in Taman Klang Utama, which was affected by flood-waters. 

Saravanan, a devout Hindu, said he condemned such acts.

He said only a small number of irresponsible individuals were involved in such activities. – February 23, 2022.