An Indian could be cause for Dr Asri's dislike of Indians

FMT- Mufti joins GE14 fray by telling voters to reject Hindraf candidates (extracts):

PETALING JAYA: Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has renewed his attack on Hindraf, urging voters to reject its candidates at the coming polls, following the pressure group’s alliance with opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Asri said Hindraf was a threat to the nation and religion, and their candidates should be rejected.

“Whichever party makes them a candidate, that party is a threat to the peace that the country has had all this long,” he said in a short Facebook post.

Asri has been on a warpath with Hindraf over the Indian rights group’s opposition to controversial preacher Zakir Naik.

In April last year, following a suit by Hindraf and others against the government for allowing Naik to be in Malaysia, Asri who is a staunch supporter of Naik launched a veiled attack on the group in a poem on his Facebook.

“When those who idolise cows as God unite, and call for our preacher to be fettered, to hand him over to an evil government that worships the fire and practises the sati, burning widows, in that continent, a teaching that divides humans into castes,” he wrote.

Following criticism from civil society and Hindu groups, Asri apologised to Hindus, and said the poem was directed at the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of violence by Hindu extremists against Muslims over the slaughter of cows.

This bloke has a very serious issue in his seemingly perpetual stoush with Indians and Hindus.

For him to assert that Hindraf was a threat to the nation and religion, and their candidates should be rejected.and that

Whichever party makes them a candidate, that party is a threat to the peace that the country has had all this long.

I have to say he has lost his sense of balance.

Re immediate above 2 highlighted statements, his first statement would be considered as a joke but politically okay (candidates should be rejected), whilst his second statement has to be considered a threat, an election blackmail, that Whichever party makes them a candidate, that party is a threat to the peace that the country has had all this long - what f**king balderdash.

I personally wouldn't support Hindraf because it's a religious based party in the way I wouldn't support PAS and Amanah for the same reason, though I must confess my admiration for some Amanah politicians for their ethical responsibility in a multiracial society and intellectualism of a higher order.

Hanipa Maidin 

Khalid Samad 

Zulkefly Ahmad 

But alas, Dr Asri has gone too far in his dislike for Hindus, probably because he resents their aggravation against Dr Zakir Naik, an Indian wanted by the Indian authorities but who seems to specialise in anti-Hindu rhetoric.

On 18 Feb 2018 I posted Bad blood between Dr Asri and Hindus? in which I penned (extracta):

On Feb 15, Asri uploaded a picture of Ramasamy with the Thaipusam golden chariot in the background.

Dr Ramasamy, DCM II Penang
Chair, Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB)

He also included a statement casting doubt over the country’s peace and harmony among races if Ramasamy held an important political position in the country in future.

“We are not sure what is going to happen to the future of our country’s harmony among races and religions if individuals like the DAP deputy secretary-general like this held an important political position in Malaysia.

“The harmony among the people of our country needs to be maintained.

“One wrong move and we stand to lose all the peace we have been enjoying thus far. ‘Jangan yang dikejar tidak dapat, yang dikendung berciciran’ (a Malay proverb which roughly translates to one being too greedy, despite having a lot, and later being left with nothing).

“We must strengthen our relations harmoniously, courteously, while understanding our country’s history. We are very worried about the enmity and tensions shown by some of the people when it comes to issues related to religion.

“Dear Allah, please save this country from the enmity between its people without a right cause,” Asri said.

A year earlier, in February 2017, Dr Asri showed his dislike for Thaipusam.

The Mufti said he didn't like the breaking of coconuts along Lord Muruga's procession from Koil Vedu, Little India in Georgetown to the Nattukottai Chettiar Temple in the Waterfall (Botanical Garden) area.

He had warned Ah Jib Gor: Perdana Menteri boleh pergi untuk meraikan acara keagamaan kaum lain tetapi jangan sampai menyertai program yang diadakan sehingga dilihat menjadi sebahagian daripada mereka.

Wakakaka, Ah Jib Gor - keep clear of nuts, coconuts that was.

In fact, as far back as 2013, he said of such Thaipusam processions:

notice the mainly Chinese crowd among the devotees?they have been the most ardent devotees of Lord Muruga 

"..... roads are not places for religious processions such as carrying idols and smashing of coconuts to the point of inconveniencing road users or messing up a public space, such as being carried out by followers of certain religions. If you want to streamline (the regulations), then do it for all." 

Then, Dr Asri was responding to Hindus' complaints about the Islamic ritual of slaughtering cows at a school in Selangor during Aidiladha that year (2013). He stated that while ... :

'... he agrees that schools are not appropriate venues for the Aidiladha cow sacrifice ritual, other religious acts in public places should also be similarly regulated.'

I had then replied on behalf of Hindus (wakakaka), saying in my post:

Come on lah, Dr Asri, where's the comparison between slaughtering live animals like cattle and sometimes even camels ... in front of young pupils and traumatising the kids, against the breaking of coconut fruits on roads which might have temporarily inconvenienced drivers.

Besides, all Thaipusam processions whether in Penang or Kuala Lumpur have been approved by the police who controlled traffic flows.

As for his claim that the ritual would mess up a public space (road), obviously, and strangely for a Penangite, he was not aware that once the Thaipusam chariot carrying Lord Muruga has passed, the so-called mess, namely broken coconuts on the road, would have been swiftly taken away by members of the public for their own use, like extracting santan (coconut milk) from the fruit, and even making use of the shells for fuel.

I didn't agree with Dr Asri on that Thaipusam issue, because we were talking about traumatising schools kids with the bloody slaughter of live animals (ones which additionally are sacred to Hindus) while the other merely broke coconuts on a road, which would not be insensitive to other religions, unless you're Raja Bomoh who I suspect might be worshipping coconuts, wakakaka.

Anyway, Dr Rama has consistently questioned the legitimacy of Dr Zakir Naik as a lawful guest here and who has allegedly been given VVIP treatment by the Malaysian government, when Indian authorities want Zakir Naik for questioning on terrorist-related issues.

Dr Asri also defended Dr Zakir Naik whilst on the sidelines of a forum entitled 'Moderation in al-Qur'an: Between two points of extremism' in Kuala Lumpur , stating:

"There's no proof that he [Zakir Naik] called for or incited people to commit terrorist acts, through a single word of his or his lectures".

"When there is, then we can talk."

In April last year, Dr Asri caused quite a stir when he composed an allegedly racist poem directed against Hindus. FMT reported:

Perlis Mufti Asri Zainul Abidin’s caustic poem about those who “idolised cows” has not gone down well with Malaysian social media users.

However the poem, posted on the mufti’s Facebook page this morning, was “liked” by almost 5,000 Facebook users, shared over 650 times, and commented on by more than 320 people at the time of this article’s publication.

While some expressed support for Asri’s poem, which they believed was directed at Hindus opposed to the presence of Mumbai-based preacher Dr Zakir Naik in Malaysia, others condemned it for being racist.

“Even the mufti is emotional in this ZN (Zakir Naik) issue. (But) as a mufti, (you) have to calm the situation down and not pour oil on the fire,” said Mukhlis Eddie.

“Don’t just because of him (Naik) alone, all Malaysians end up fighting with one another. (And) don’t forget that the continent has the largest Muslim population, larger than Indonesia.”

He was referring to a part of Asri’s “Friday morning poem”, which spoke about a continent that “teaches people to make castes, to the unfortunate point of being called pariahs”.

Another Facebook user, Tharmeni Narendran, called for Asri to learn about Hinduism first before making statements about the religion. She also said it was unfair of him to condemn Hinduism or any other religion being practised in Malaysia.

Trimurti of Hinduism
Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Preserver), &
Shiva (Destroyer) 

Undeniably there exists very bad blood between Dr Asri and Hindus, to the extent that now he shifts his mufti-sight from Dr Rama to Hindraf, wakakaka.

I used to admire Dr Asri but with each passing year, I regret my initial take on him, as I now regret my initial hero-worship of Lim Kit Siang.

But I hope Dr Asri does not ruin his high standing with non-Muslims in Malaysia because of a foreign asshole like Zakir Naik, who BTW is now subjected to an extradition request from India to Malaysia, and which I suspect will only be action-ed after GE14.

Perhaps we should take the advice of Tharmeni Narendran, [who] called for Asri to learn about Hinduism first before making statements about the religion and send him to Bali to learn more about Hinduism from the lovely Balinese.