PETALING JAYA: MIC has condemned Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin for a poem in which he allegedly insulted the Hindu community.

Party youth chief Datuk Sivarraajh Chandran (pic) said the Islamic scholar should apologise for belittling the Hindu practice of worship.

“It is shameful to see that a professor who teaches Islamic religion at Universiti Sains Malaysia could easily pen a poem that could stir disharmony and incite hatred among non-Muslims,” he said in a statement Friday.

Dr Asri, who is popularly known as Dr Maza, had posted the poem written in Malay on his Facebook page on Friday.

It was believed to be in response to the Indian community’s opposition to the permanent resident (PR) status granted to controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik.

“A renowned Islamic scholar usually understands and respects other religions. They never belittle other religions.

“MIC Youth demands that Dr Maza publicly apologise and retract his insensitive remarks towards the Hindu community,” Sivarraajh said.

Sivarraajh also hit out at PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi for defending Dr Zakir, who recently said that a coalition government of Umno and PAS would be good for Malaysia.

“Dr Zakir’s remark asking a Muslim to vote for Muslims only is against the Barisan Nasional spirit. We sternly warn him not to interfere in Malaysian politics.

MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said on Thursday that Malaysia did not need Dr Zakir as the country’s own Islamic scholars were more adept at advocating the faith to Malaysians.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed that Dr Zakir had been awarded PR status by the Government five years ago.-thestar