PETALING JAYA: Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has joined his fellow ministers in calling for the deportation of controversial preacher Zakir Naik.
The Youth and Sports Minister said "yes" when asked if he supported ministers Gobind Singh, M Kulasegaran and Xavier Jayakumar's call to deport Zakir for his racially and religiously charged comments.
"An attack against our Chinese and Indian brothers and sisters is an attack against all Malaysians.
"It is ridiculous to even think that my fellow Malaysians are my guests.
"They are my family for god's sake. Enough is enough, " he told reporters in a media WhatsApp group on Wednesday (Aug 14).
Last week, Zakir called on the Malaysian Chinese to "go back" first as they were the "old guests" of the country during a religious talk called "Executive Talk bersama Dr Zakir Naik" in Kota Baru, Kelantan.
Zakir was responding to calls for his own deportation.
In the same venue, Zakir's speech was also chastised by many parties after he compared the Hindus in Malaysia to the Muslims in India, saying that the Hindus here enjoyed more than 100% rights in Malaysia compared to Muslims in India.
He alleged that the Hindus here were more loyal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi than to Malaysia's Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Zakir, who is an Indian citizen, has stirred controversy in Malaysia with his open evangelism criticising non-Muslims.
He is wanted in India over corruption charges but he was not deported, with certain parties saying that the charges were trumped-up.
Dr Mahathir has since admitted that Malaysia was in a catch-22 situation as Zakir was "an unwelcome guest Malaysia can't send away".
Orang Cina Malaysia BUKAN TETAMU, tetapi warganegara Malaysia yang cintakan Negara bertuah ini.
— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) August 14, 2019
Kekuatan Malaysia adalah kesatuan rakyatnya.
Cukup lah perlekehkan kesatuan & kesetiaan kita.
Saya kenal ramai orang cina & india yang sanggup mati pertahankan negara tercinta kita https://t.co/RlGkMipSYD
Related stories:
Zakir Naik plays 'pendatang' card, says Chinese should go back before he does
We want Zakir Naik out of the country, DAP ministers tell PM
Rais Yatim joins calls for Zakir Naik to be sent back to India
