This follows the ire expressed by Muslims when his reference to Zakir went viral on social media.

In a statement, Ramasamy admitted that on April 10, he had called Zakir ‘satan’ in a Facebook post, when writing that Zakir had been giving hate speeches on faiths other than Islam.

“On the same day, I realised the word ‘satan’ was inappropriate and I removed it from my Facebook page,” Ramasamy said.

However, the edit history of the Facebook post had recorded what had been typed earlier, which was “Let us get ‘satan’ Zakir Naik out of this country!”

Ramasamy also clarified that his initial posting was not against Islam or Muslims in the country.

“It was just against this particular person,” Ramasamy said.

He noted that Malaysia is a multiracial and multireligious country where all religions should be given due respect and dignity.

“I regret if the use of the word ‘satan’ has caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia. This was not at all my intention as I have respect for all religions in the country,” Ramasamy added.

Pokok Sena Member of Parliament Mahfuz Omar issued a statement today asking Ramasamy to retract the word ‘satan’ and issue an apology to Zakir, adding it was unbecoming of a former professor to use such language..

Zakir made headlines recently after several groups expressed displeasure over the content of his talks and called on the government to bar him from speaking to prevent disunity.

The police yesterday barred the preacher from speaking at an event in Malacca.