Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin again attacked Hindraf, and asked his followers and voters to not give votes to it in the upcoming polls, after the group made an
alliance with the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH).
In a Facebook post, the influential Muslim leader claimed that Hindraf was a threat to the nation and religion, and their candidates should be rejected.
“Whichever party makes them a candidate, that party is a threat to the peace that the country has had all this long.”
Malaysian Hindus have rallied behind the Hindraf as it has been successfully raising voice for the minorities. This seemed to have rubbed Asri the wrong way.
It should be recalled that on Zakir Naik, Hindraf was under attack from Asri as the group had even taken the issue to court. Asri is a vocal supporter of Zakir Naik’s stay in Malaysia and he has attacked Hindus in a very crude poem where he opined that:
When those who idolize the cows as God unite, and call for our preacher (Zakir Naik) to be fettered, to hand him over to an evil government that worships the fire,
practices the sati, burning widows, in that continent, a teaching that divides humans into castes.”
Hindraf: Why impose Islamic laws on non-Muslims?
Later, as the criticism mounted he apologized but said that this was not against Hindus but at India’s Narendra Modi government.
But later, he again reiterated that no rational Malaysian would find cows sacred and revere them indirectly attacking Hindus again.
HINDRAF: Tombstone erection part of Islamization of Malaysia
He was severely criticised by another Hindu leader Prof. Dr. Ramasamy of the Malaysian community who made it clear that Hinduism cannot be undermined by the likes of Mohd Asri or Zakir Naik. This time too he has openly stated that Asri should not involve himself and asked him that when the Indian community is still respectful of Hindraf’s past contributions, who is Asri to advice the Indians against it?
You can read the full critique of Asri by Ramasamy here.
Namta Gupta
