ACTIVISTS from two civil society organisations in East Malaysia are demanding that their state governments bar Umno Youth chief Akmal Salleh and four Muslim preachers from Sarawak and Sabah.
Sarawak Associations for People Aspirations publicity and information chief Peter John Jaban said the Sarawak premier must not allow Akmal and controversial Muslim preachers Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu, Shakir Nasoha and Firdaus Wong – the man who exposed the Allah socks controversy – entry into the state.
Jaban said their names should be added to the so-called “immigration blacklist”.
Atama Katama of Sabah Defenders of Ancestral Lands want the five banned from the two states as they have “contributed to the escalation of racial and religious tensions, as well as social discord in the country”.
“This demand is in response to recent events that have threatened peace and harmony in Sarawak and Sabah,” Jaban and Atama said in a joint statement.
Ridhuan Tee, Zamri and Shakir have often been accused of hate speech and inflammatory remarks against other religions.
Sarawak and Sabah have autonomy over immigration matters in their respective states under the terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
Jaban said the states should add to the blacklist people who could undermine “peaceful environment, and the values of exclusivity, tolerance, and social harmony”.
He said the five should be on the list as they have “incited protests and boycotts, fuelled racial and religious intolerance, created fear and insecurity, and promoted divisive attitudes”.
Sarawak regularly bars Malaysians from other states, mostly the peninsula, whom it deems undesirable.
The late chief minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem was known to bar "extremists, religious bigots, and troublemakers" from the peninsula.
Sarawak rarely comments on the “blacklist”, on which the prime minister is said to be.
The state has made some exemptions since the 2018 general election to allow those who are on the blacklist but are members of the cabinet to enter the state on official duties. – April 4, 2024.
