Hundreds protest ustaz's 'Hindu' curry powder jibe
Malaysiakini – 1 hour 39 minutes ago
Hundreds of people gathered in Brickfields today demanding action be taken against an Islamic preacher, Ustaz Shahul Hamid, for insulting Hinduism in a speech at a surau in Shah Alam in February this year.
The protest, organised by MIC Youth and several other NGOs, also saw MIC vice-president M Saravanan ( left ) demand clarification on whether Shahul Hamid, a Penangite, is actually a PAS member.
"If it's true, PAS must take action against him," Saravanan said.
A video clip of Shahul Hamid's speech has gone viral, in which he is heard telling Muslims not to buy curry powder products from what he deemed as "Hindu" companies, such as Alagappa's and Baba's.
"If you go to the Alagappa's factory near Permatang Pauh, you will a statue (goddess) at the entrance, and the tongue is out. Why is the tongue out? Because the goddess must taste all the curry powder before they sell it," Shahul Hamid says in the video recording.
He subsequently posted a short apology on his Facebook, saying that he made the remarks in a closed-door event and he did not anticipate anyone uploading the video.
'Action must be taken'
But Saravanan said action must be taken against Shahul Hamid and vowed that Indians will not forget about this matter after mere weeks, like how they did with Zulkifli Noordin, the former Perkasa deputy president, who was also captured on video insulting Hindus last year.
However, no action was taken against Zulkifli, who has also apologised for his remarks, and he was even subsequently named as BN candidate for the Shah Alam parliamentary seat in the previous general election.
Saravanan said a group will protest in front of Shahul Hamid's house in Penang if no action is taken within a week.
As of this afternoon, the organisers said more than 400 police reports had been lodged against Shahul Hamid for his insulting speech.
The crowd of about 150 people gathered at the fountain near Little India about 1.15pm and protested for over 40 minutes at the venue.
Among the other prominent personalities who attended were MIC youth chief C Sivaraajh, and National Indian Action Team (NIAT) chairperson Thasleem Ibrahim.
Thasleem said that people like Shahul Hameed would not be making statement such as these if action was taken against Zulkifli Noordin for his remarks.
"I was the first one to make a police report against Zulkifli. I hope this time, action is taken," Thasleem said.
Thasleem said that even though he was Muslim by religion, he was still an Indian and would stand up for the community.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (Mipas) also lodged a police report against Shahul at about 1.30 pm at the Sentul police station.
In its report, Mipas chief S Bharathidasan urged the police to investigate Shahul under the Sedition Act.
Meanwhile, MIC president G Palanivel also weighed in on the controversy with a statement today, saying that Shahul "should not" have criticised the Hindu religion.
"This is not his job. Everybody must respect each other's faith," Palanivel said, while asking Shahul to "apologise to everybody".
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