Waytha: Preacher did not express regret

Hindraf rejects Muslim preacher Shahul Hamid Seeni Mohd's apology because it is insincere.

GEORGE TOWN: The Civil rights movement, Hindraf said Muslim preacher Shahul Hamid Seeni Mohd’s apology is insincere because he did not express regret.

Hindraf national chairman P Waythamoorthy said Shahul only stated that he did not intend to insult the Hindus.

“If Shahul was honest, he should have expressed regret and apologised for insulting Hindus and the religion,” he said.

He added that Shahul owed an open apology to all Malaysians for his racist stance calling on Muslims to boycott curry powders of Alagappa’s and Baba’s brands, which were produced by Indian-owned companies.

Waythamoorthy called on the police to initiate a sedition case against the preacher.

He said Shahul probably did not expect the video footage to go public as he had spoken the offensive remarks before an all-Muslim audience behind closed doors.

“He should openly admit that he was wrong to denigrate another religion and that Islam does not condone such act.

“Malaysia is a multiracial country which enjoys peace and harmony. Shahul has disrupted this by his racist remarks that Muslims should only buy Malay or Muslim-made curry powder,” he told FMT today.

Several video footages showing Shahul insulting Hindus and making racist comments against Alagappa’s and Baba’s had gone viral this week.

The preacher, a PAS member of the Tanjung division, has made the offensive remarks in a Islamic forum in Penang four years ago.

It is learnt that the video footages were leaked out by certain PAS members who disliked Shahul, who owns a sundry shop in Teluk Kumbar.

Shahul is now being investigated by the police under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 following nearly 450 police reports lodged against him.

At the press conference held in a mosque in Bandar Baru Perda here yesterday, Shahul, 38, apologised to the Indian community.

Shahul, who is now out on police bail, had earlier apologised to Hindus on his Facebook page and through a video clip.

He however, did not offer any apology to Alagappa’s or Baba’s.

Penang PAS deputy commissioner and national unity bureau chairman Mujahid Yusof Rawa told reporters yesterday that Shahul’s remarks did not represent the party’s view.