Yesterday, Abdellatif Ouisa issued an apology after drawing backlash for reciting verses of the Quran in front of Batu Caves.
PETALING JAYA: The Global Human Rights Federation has called for home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to deny entry into Malaysia to people like Moroccan content creator Abdellatif Ouisa, who recently shared a video of himself reciting verses from the Quran in front of Batu Caves.
In a statement, GHRF president S Shashi Kumar said the excuse Abdellatif gave when issuing his apology yesterday was “very lame and unacceptable”.
S Shashi Kumar.
“As a tourist and a visitor to Malaysia, he has shown no respect to our laws and people as we are living in a multiracial society,” he said.
“What were his intentions in reciting the Quranic verses at the non-Muslim place of worship? It was a clear intention to insult and mock a non-Islamic religion.”
Yesterday, Abdellatif issued an apology after drawing backlash for reciting verses of the Quran in front of Batu Caves.
He said he thought Batu Caves was a historic site rather than a religious one, and that he did not know the iconic 42.7m-tall statue was of a Hindu deity, namely Lord Murugan.
In his statement, Shashi raised a hypothetical scenario and asked if a non-Muslim had done something similar (reciting their religious verse) at a mosque, would a mere apology suffice.
“If the Madani government is serious about combating 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues and does not condone such acts of insults against race and religion, then the home minister should impose a ban on Abdellatif as a lesson to those with ill intentions,” he added.
He pointed to Singapore which banned individuals like Zimbabwean preacher Ismail Menk, American Muslim preacher Yusuf Estes, and Malaysian Haslin Baharim from entering the republic due to their hardline and divisive teachings.
“Their home affairs and law minister K Shanmugam said that it was ‘unacceptable’ and ‘contrary’ to the values of Singapore’s multiracial and multi-religious society,” he said.
Shashi added that Singapore requires those who wish to talk about sensitive issues to obtain a miscellaneous work pass that will be assessed first.
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