Instant PR for an Indian, red ICs for some Malaysians

YOURSAY | ‘The police in Zakir’s own country want to talk to him. Why do we want to protect him?’

Perkasa: Critics of Zakir Naik's PR need lessons on gov't rights

David Dass: The issue is not about government's power and discretion to grant permanent residence to anyone. The issue is whether the power was exercised rightly.

Someone argued that freedom of expression meant that no one should be restrained from expressing his opinion on anything, including the religious beliefs of anyone. That would be true as a general proposition but it is certainly not true in the Malaysian situation.

People do not publicly make derogatory statements or critical statements of the religious beliefs of others. Publicly there is respect for one another’s beliefs.

Indian preacher Zakir Naik, a self-proclaimed expert on comparative religion, demonstrates his expertise by 'proving' the invalidity of other religions by quoting from their holy books.

This he does to the delight of followers who do not really have the knowledge to know whether what he is saying is true or false.

It does not matter that he has been shown time and again to have misinterpreted or misquoted the holy scriptures of others. Now the charges of money laundering and of inciting or inspiring others to terrorism.

The police force in his own country want to talk to him. Why do we want to protect him?

Negarawan: Any God-fearing man will not run away from the law.

The Umno government has done further damage to the reputation of Malaysia by harbouring a fugitive wanted by the government of India for Islamic extremism and money laundering.

It seems like Malaysia has become a safe haven for criminals, ranging from 1MDB perpetrators, North Korean spies and racketeers, and Islamic extremists.

There is no doubt that Zakir Naik easily mesmerises a gullible and unquestioning audience with his seemingly photographic memory, but on close scrutiny, his speeches are laced with factual errors and distortions.

His quotations from the Bible and Vedas are taken out of context, with the sole intention of belittling non-Islamic faiths. Muslim fanatics with inferiority complex are proud of him as he gives them an ego boost.

However, this is not what true faith is about. True faith does not incite hatred of other religions.

Vijay47: I wonder what exalted class of beings Zakir Naik comes from. Surely it must be close to or even faintly above the divine since he’s up with nobles and royalty, has islands allegedly donated to him, and is granted permanent residence almost upon arrival.

Is he perhaps an Islamic scholar who has discerned for the betterment of the faithful hidden facets within his religion's teachings? Or leads his flock to closer adherence to the rewarding stipulations of Islam so as to achieve more intimate communion with God?

Or maybe at a secular level, Zakir Naik has composed music to soothe savage breasts or discovered mathematics theories to aid humankind?

Or like Vivekananda, Confucius, or Mother Theresa, he has shared with the world priceless elements of enlightenment, compassion and charity.

Alas, Zakir Naik is none of the above, he excels only in crude ignorant traits given to hate-mongering and offence to other faiths. And this is the renegade being honoured as an icon of Islam. How sad.

Pas Is Past: There are thousands of Indians who have been living in Malaysia for far too long and are still awaiting their blue IC and permanent resident status.

They are productive members of the society and deserve PR status far better than this Indian preacher from India who is wanted by Interpol.

Gaji Buta: Zakir appears to 'win' in comparative religion lectures as he does not open his arguments to other possibilities where Islam is brought into question.

Taking something as the truth from the start, and not budging, leaves no room for any other scenario. This aside, any publications which are deemed as being critical to Islam is also banned in Malaysia.

So, his lectures and debates in Malaysia are a one-sided argument, where he can attack but not be attacked.

Anonymous 2458911487665792: "Berita Harian reported Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin as saying that the Home Ministry would cancel the permanent resident status given to two Indonesian nationals who now lead two terrorist groups, Jemaah Islamiah and Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM).

“The two are Hambali @ Nurjaman @ Riduan Isamuddin and Abu Bakar Bashir @ Abdus Samad, who were given PR status by the Home Ministry about 10 years ago.

“Both Abu Bakar and Hambali had been described by inspector-general of police Norian Mai last Friday, when announcing the latest batch of 13 KMM arrests under the Internal Security Act between Dec 9, 2001 and Jan 3, 2002, as two of the three ‘directing figures’ of the KMM."

We are not learning the lessons of history. This was in 2002.

RKR: Perkasa vice-president Hassan Basri's statement is not worth commenting as it beneath what is considered as a stupid remark.

Wake Up: To escape from the laws of the land, it looks like sometimes you need to be rich, involve in money laundering, be a criminal or a drug lord or create problem among people living together and at the same time preach unity.

There are many people living this way simply because there are always people who extend shelter for reasons best known to them.

Clever Voter: Indeed, Malaysia has already the potential to become the finishing school for money launderers, paedophiles, child marriage, gay bashing, religious bigotry, peeping tom, etc.

Soon we be the breeding ground. That's the beginning of an end. All these a result of a rotten governance that places little emphasis on moral and ethical values.

It’s about time we review whether we have the right people in place. Probably not.

Ssa: My sympathy for thousands of foreign spouses who live in Malaysia with children for years and their applications are always in the Home Ministry for safe keeping.- Mkini