Reminding PH of its promise to be transparent, Denison Jayasooria said the previous administration had failed in this regard.
“He (Naik) is not a diplomat. Even the Rohingya who have been suffering do not have the opportunity to meet the prime minister.
“PH has to be careful. They are not explaining the issue to the public,” he told FMT.
He was referring to Naik’s meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the weekend.
Reports say India is asking for Naik to be sent back for allegedly inciting youth to engage in terror activities.
Jayasooria, who is the principal research fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Ethnic Studies, said PH should consider the sensitivities of other communities that had been criticised by Naik.
“Naik has given some extreme views on religion which are not consistent with the freedom and harmony in Malaysia,” he said.
Furthermore, he said, India has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world and, unlike the Rohingya, there was no major exodus of Muslims from India.
He said Putrajaya should seek the views of the Malaysian High Commissioner to India on Naik.
Furthermore, he said, India has a judicial system where a court decision can be challenged.
Due to that, he said, Mahathir and Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should explain their stand on Naik.
He said the administration should also explain why the previous government had given Naik permanent resident status when there were many foreigners married to Malaysians who were waiting to be granted permanent residency.
“What was the urgency for him to be given PR status? People want to know,” said Jayasooria.
He also criticised Mahathir’s statement that Naik would be allowed to stay in Malaysia as long as he did not create any problems. Adding that the government should not make such “vague statements”, he urged it to explain clearly the reasons behind its stand on Naik.
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