Reject any form of religious extremism, says DPM

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged the people to reject any form of religious extremism as this can jeopardise the peace and harmony in the country.

Instead, Malaysians should celebrate the diversity of religions and cultures in Malaysia, which has been the symbol of strength and unity of the country all this while, he added.

“We must set aside the differences amongst us. We do not want any kind of extremism, whether Islamic, Buddhist or Christian extremism, because we want peace and harmony to prevail in Malaysia, which has a multi-racial society,” he said when opening the Ugadi Carnival 2017 at Dataran Merdeka here yesterday.

Dr Ahmad Zahid also said that the Government pledged to help complete the Telugu Academy, which aims to preserve the community’s cultural heritage. He said the academy in Rawang is about 75% complete.

“I will ensure it gets the funds needed,” he added.

There are about 300,000 Malaysian Indian Telugus.

In 2011, the Federal Government provided a RM3mil allocation to the Telugu community to protect their heritage and support the construction of the academy.

Dr Ahmad Zahid said a multi-cultural country like Malaysia was unique, adding that protecting minority cultures was important.

Telugu Association of Malaysia president Datuk Dr Achaiah Kumar Rao said the academy was behind schedule due to a lack of funds.

He said the target was to complete the building by July.

“While we do not segregate ourselves from the primary Indian community, as a smaller group we sometimes don’t get enough funding,” he added.

This was the fourth time that the celebration was observed at the national level.