Act on Ridhuan or face music, minister warned

RK Anand | February 19, 2013

MIC's S Vell Paari wants the home minister to act against the Muslim academic for hurting the feelings of Hindus.

PETALING JAYA: Livid over the insensitive remarks of a Muslim academic, a vocal MIC leader has warned Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to act or face the repercussions.

S Vell Paari said that he would put forth a proposal to MIC’s all-powerful Central Working Committee (CWC) on this issue.

If the proposal is rejected, the MIC strategy director stressed that he is prepared to quit MIC and even call on the Indians to vote for Pakatan Rakyat in the next polls.

“If the CWC disagrees, then I would resign and take it to the members directly. Don’t underestimate my influence in the party,” he added, declining to elaborate on the proposal for now.

Vell Paari was responding to an article penned by Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, who is an associate professor with the National Defence University.

In the article titled “The patience of Muslims has limits” published in Sinar Harian yesterday, the academic criticised MIC for seeking to lift the temporary ban on the Tamil movie Vishwaroopam.

He also made derogatory remarks regarding the Thaipusam festival and complained about the proliferation of Hindu temples and shrines since the 2008 election.

‘A cheap imitation’

Launching a vitriolic salvo on Ridhuan, a Chinese Muslim convert, Vell Paari labelled the former as an imitation product.

“When one wants to get cheap imitation products, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘Petaling Street’ and the biggest problem in ethnic relationship in Malaysia now is ‘Petaling Street’ Malays like Ridhuan.

“These are products of a ruling that states if one speaks Malay, embraces Islam and follows the Malay culture, one is considered a Malay. I think this condition must be re-looked,” he told FMT.

Numerous individuals, Vell Paari said, exploited this ruling to become “Petaling Street Bumiputeras” and used the New Economic Policy to enhance themselves while the majority of true Malays remained in the doldrums.

“With more than 30 years of NEP and billions spent to uplift the socio-economic status of the Malays, how many true Malays are in the top 10 richest list in Malaysia.

“Taking into account the number of imitation Malays and the number of legalised illegal Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, I wouldn’t be surprised if the true Malays are now a minority like the Chinese and Indians,” he said.

Vell Paari also recalled how Ridhuan had wept during a television programme several years ago, saying that his mother and siblings were bound for hell for not embracing Islam.

“In my book, any person, no matter what religion he practices, who says that his or her mother would go to hell, would for sure rot and burn in hell instead. I won’t be surprised if he is making these comments with the hope of being an election candidate,” he said.

Stern action need

Training his guns on Hishammuddin, Vell Paari asked the minister what actions he would initiate against Ridhuan.

“You banned a movie deemed fit for viewing by the Censorship Board of Malaysia as it was said to be insensitive to the feelings of Muslim. But not only have Ridhuan’s remarks hurt the feelings of Indians but he has also insulted the Hindus,” he said.

Stressing that a slap on the wrist would not suffice, the MIC leader urged the home minister to take stern action against the academic.

“I know police reports have been made against him. And if the government truly believes in the sprint of 1Malaysia then Ridhuan must be barred from all government-related assignments and all media-related assignments on all government-controlled media that normally invite him to host or to be a guest on their shows,” he said.