After a video of his recent ceramah leaked online, preacher Ustaz Shahul Hamid of Penang has had to contend with hundreds of police reports and online outrage over what many have called his bigoted statements against people of the Hindu faith.
The leaked video depicts Shahul, speaking at a private ceramah concerning the issue of “halal and haram” in Islam, calling for the boycott of food products manufactured by what he calls “Hindu companies” – specifically, Alagagappa’s and Baba’s spices and food additives.
He called for Malaysian Muslims to instead support and buy food products made and marketed by Muslim-owned companies, and mentioned specifically Faiza and Adabi products.
Shahul then described the Hindu shrines placed outside the manufacturing factories owned by these Hindu companies, and derogatorily states that the statues of Hindu deities situated there had “their tongues sticking out, because they had to taste test” the curry powder produced before it could be marketed to consumers.
Online reaction to the video was swift and vehement, leading to more than 400 police reports being lodged against the preacher.
The youth wing of BN component party Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and several NGOs organised a protest in Brickfields today, calling for authorities to take action against Shahul for insulting Hinduism and Hindus.
MIC vice-president M Saravanan was quoted by Malaysiakini asking if Shahul was a member of PR component party PAS, and if he was, the Islamist party should move to take action against him.
Penang Putera MIC chief NG Senthelnathan also called on the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to initiate an investigation on Shahul, and to bar him from delivering any more talks until the police probe is complete.
“It is not wrong for him to give a talk on Islam but he should not touch on other religions,” he said, as quoted by The Malaysian Insider.
In response to the outrage, Shahul posted a video on his Facebook page apologising for the hurt the leaked video had caused to the Malaysian Hindu community.
He put forth the reasoning that the portion of his ceramah in the leaked video was part of a discussion on “halal and haram” principles in Islam that applied to Muslims, and was meant for a private audience. He claims that the video was released online without his knowledge or consent, by parties who had less than pure intentions.
“I may have spoken certain words during my speech that could be interpreted as an insult to the Indian community.
“I apologise for any offensive remarks that might have insulted them and others. I will assure you that this will never happen again,” Shahul said.
Saravanan however insisted that action must be taken against Shahul, and that a protest will be held outside the preacher’s home if the PDRM fails to initiate a follow-up on the matter within a week.
Here’s a video by KiniTV, splicing together both the offending clip from Shahul’s ceramah, and his subsequent apology:
