Malaysian Politician’s ‘Satan’ Remarks Leads To Attack

A senior politician’s office in Malaysia’s Penang state was victim to a petrol bomb attack on Tuesday, following his description of preacher Zakir Naik as “Satan”.

According to state officials, there was no one hurt and no damage resulted from the early-morning attack after the fire-bomb found its way to the centre’s metal shutters.

P. Ramasamy, State Deputy Chief Minister voiced out his belief that the attack may have been as a result of his Facebook post during the weekend regarding Dr. Zakir Naik.

“It could possibly be related to my comment on Zakir as Satan,” he told AFP.

Zakir, of Indian descent, was accused by Ramasamy of granting speeches that incite hatred for other faiths.

The Facebook post, he said was only directed towards “this particular person” and not against any particular religion.

“I regret the use of the word ‘Satan’ which has caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia,” Ramasamy said, adding that the word was later deleted.

Aged 51, Zakir is an Islamic preacher on comparative religion.

Ramasamy, a chairman of the Penang Hindu Endowment Board, had opposed a programme by Zakir’s son, also a preacher of Islam on April 15.

After complaints by minority groups, police prevented Zakir from granting a lecture at a university in the southern state of Malacca, on Sunday.

He intended to speak on “Similarities between Hinduism and Islam”.

Khalid Abu Bakar, the national police chief, commented in a tweet on Monday that Zakir was prevented in order to maintain public order.

The purpose was to ensure “public order and religious sensitivities in Malaysia”, he wrote.

Race, religion and language are deemed sensitive issues in Malaysia, which was a target to severe riots primarily between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1969.

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Posted by modousarr on Apr 12 2016. Filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.