“We are disappointed with the state and federal governments for allowing him to talk. If he talks solely about his religion, it’s fine. If he talks all about Islam, we don’t have a problem. Why would we want to protest?” he asked at a forum here last night.

As before, Rajaretinam once again questioned Zakir’s credentials, saying it was preposterous for Zakir to claim that he was an expert in Hinduism.

“How can Zakir Naik claim that he is an expert in Hinduism? Come on-lah. Give me a break-lah. How can he call himself a better Hindu?” he asked.

“We stand against Zakir Naik because he’s now interfering with the religions of others. That is very bad. It’s a matter of the faith of other people.”

Rajaretinam also claimed that no other religious teacher had done as Zakir in his criticism and commentary on other religions.

“They don’t use the same modus operandi as Zakir. They don’t say, like Zakir does, that ‘these churches are wrong’. Who are you to say so?”

“Who teaches matters of the Bible? The churches. Not him.”

Zakir is on a speaking tour across Malaysia. Some 20,000 people attended his talk at the Universiti Teknikal Malaysia in Malacca last night.

Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, which had organised the forum last night with 30 other NGOs, had previously condemned Zakir for “breaching boundaries and encroaching into other religions”, according to an open letter by Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy.