Video of Asri slamming Indian ‘pariahs’ draws flak

Perlis mufti seen telling forum that groups like Hindraf should not stir anything that would have negative implications in the long term.

VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: Just a week after Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin apologised for a poem that had allegedly disparaged Hindus, the Perlis mufti has come under fire again with the surfacing of a video where he criticises the Indian “pariah caste” brought by the British to Malaysia.

Asri, who is more popularly known by his Facebook name “Dr Maza” is seen telling a forum of how the low-caste people lived an “insulting life” in India yet had demanded for rights after settling in Malaysia.

“They live an insulting life in their own country. This pariah caste was brought by the British to our country.

“The life that they enjoy here is a thousand times better than that in their own country,” Asri said.

He also described this group of Indians as “drifting helplessly in India, even going on buses without shirts and trousers”.

The undated clip was uploaded on the Malaysian Indian’s Forum group page on Facebook on April 28 and it has already garnered more than a thousand shares, with a barrage of comments by readers aghast and angry at his comments.

The same video was uploaded yesterday on the Mynewshub website with the title “Bila Masanya Rakyat India Ditindas? – Dr. MAZA” (“When were Indian citizens oppressed?”) and on Youtube with the heading “Isu Demonstrasi Hindraf – Dr. MAZA” (“The issue of Hindraf’s demonstration”).

Asri hit out at those who claim to be oppressed after having been brought to Malaysia during the British colonial period.

Referring to Indian rights group Hindraf, he slammed demonstrations held to highlight the alleged plight of Indians as destructive (“pecak”) and hellish (“jahanam”).

He said he was not against demonstrations by whoever wanted to do them, but added: “Religion always says whatever you do, think of the implications.”

“Why do something that has negative implications in the long term and will not benefit them and not benefit us?” he said while taking questions from the audience at the forum.

The video also shows him explaining the “pariah” to be the lowest among Hinduism’s social divisions.

To make his point, Asri lifted a glass and said they could not even drink from that kind of vessel in India.

“He cannot enter the house, and is not invited to a feast,” Asri said. “The pariah caste also cannot be a cook. That is only for the higher caste. His cooking is considered to be like faeces.”

He added that the low-caste people do not have houses in India and instead sleep on roadsides.

“I went to India for a month. I saw them sleeping, (the streets were) full of sleeping people in the middle of the night.”

Asri also claimed that the racial tensions at Kampung Rawa in Penang in 1998 were caused by the building of a temple beside a mosque.

“Every prayer time they would swing the bell. Subsequently a racial issue arose which they started,” he said.

Asri added that they (Hindus) should be made to answer on the status of Muslims in India instead.

“Ask them about the Muslims who live in India. What is the privilege (“kenikmatan”) that you give them?” he said.

“You demolish the Babri Mosque, you kill Muslims, you rape women in Kashmir, you kill Muslims in Kashmir,” he added.

The forum seems to have been held before the controversy over Asri’s poem which was uploaded on his Facebook account on April 21.

The poem, which was subsequently removed, had targeted people who “idolised cows” while defending an unnamed preacher, understood to be Zakir Naik, against attempts to hand him over to an “evil government”.

While Asri did not mention names, he has in the past criticised Hindraf over its opposition to Malaysia harbouring Naik who is wanted by India for investigations on money-laundering and terrorism-related matters.

On April 24 Asri issued an apology on his Facebook account to Hindus who “misunderstood” the poem, saying it was not aimed at Hindus in general but at Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

He also urged non-Muslims who object to Naik’s presence not to be influenced by Hindraf but rather do their own homework to see if Naik, who has been given permanent residency (PR) by the Malaysian government, actually encourages violence. -FMT