April 11, 2019 @ 11.09 am
SINTOK, KEDAH: Malaysia Hindu Sangam National Youth handed over a Memorandum to protest against an invitation for Hindu students to attend Zakir Naik’s talk in Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Viveka Nayagan A.Tharman, MHS National Youth Leader and State Youth leaders, Viveka Nayagan M.Kumaran (MHS Perak), Mr N.Sivaguru (MHS Penang), and Mr N.Suthagaran (MHS Kedah) met YBrs. Prof Madya Dr.Hendrik Lamsali, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs & Alumni) Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) to submit the Memorandum and discuss the matter.
The protest was raised by MHS Youth as complaints were received from UUM Hindu students about the forthcoming religious talk titled “Duty of a Muslim as a Professional” on April 18, 2019 at UUM by Dr Zakir Naik. The invitation to the programme states, “All Muslims and Non Muslims are Invited!!”
In the MHS Memorandum, Datuk RS Mohan Shan, National President of MHS has stated, “We, as the National Body for Hindus, hereby state our displeasure and protest over the invitation being issued to “Non Muslims” which means it is also targeted at Hindu students in UUM. We are of the opinion that the talk by Zakir Naik is an effort to persuade Hindu students to convert to Islam as well as hurting our religious sentiments. This we believe is a serious threat to the peace and harmony in the country.” Objection were also raised for referring to students of other religions as “Non Muslim” which demeans all other religions.
Viveka Nayagan A.Tharman informed that “We have valid concern that Zakir Naik’s talk is highly inappropriate to others, especially the Hindu students. There are more than twenty different ethnic groups in UUM. The University should be sensitive to the multiracial background of the students. Furthermore, we expect the organisers to obtain prior approval from the authorities, mainly the Ministry of Education and the Home Ministry before inviting International speakers. Before publising the programme in social media, the organisers also should obtain permission from the University’s Student Affairs division.”
“We trust appropriate action will be taken to ensure that the sentiments of students from other religions are respected and they are not subjected to any form of indoctrination or intimidation.
“Information were also received that in the past, Hindu students have converted after attending religious talks in UUM. Therefore, we have to act immediately to stop the Hindu students from attending such programme. We also expect that the Ministry will look into this matter seriously to ensure that our students are not subjected to any form of indoctrination or intimidation in the campus,” Tharman said.
A memorandum was also sent to the Ministry of Education.
To follow up on this, MHS Youth Leaders will meet the Hindu students in UUM.
