Non-Muslims in the country are afforded equal opportunities as Muslims, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

Responding to US President Barack Obama's statement in Malaysia over the weekend that non-Muslims must be accorded equal opportunities in order for Malaysia to progress, Zahid said the government has been "fair to all religions."

"I don't think there are obstacles for anyone to practise their religion.

"You have to respect other religions before they give respect to us," Zahid told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, after officiating a workshop on human trafficking.

Obama no to politics of religion, race

Obama yesterday was comparing Malaysia to Myanmar when speaking on the latter's issues with its Muslim minorities.

"This (Malaysia) is a majority Muslim country. So then, there are times where those who are non-Muslims find themselves perhaps being disadvantaged, or experiencing hostility.

"If people start organising politically around their religious identity, or around ethnic identity as opposed to organising around principles of justice and rule of law and democracy, then you can actually start see conflicts inside those countries," said the US president.

He said the US itself faced its "biggest conflicts" over race, that when overcome has eventually allowed him to become the nation's president, but added, "the job is not done".

"All of us have within us biases and prejudices of people who are not like us, who were not raised in the same faith or come from different backgrounds.

"But the world is shrinking and becoming smaller. We could think that way when living in our separate villages...

"...No country will succeed if part of the population is put on the sidelines. Malaysia will not succeed if non-Muslims do not have opportunities," he continued.

He added that while one should embrace one's own culture and religion and "be proud of who you are, your background", this nevertheless "shouldn't be a tool to look down on someone else".

Zahid: Discrimination 'just perception'

Meanwhile when Zahid was asked about his claim that the government has been fair to all religions despite the unilateral conversion of children to Islam remaining a pertinent issue in the country, he said this was "just a matter of perception".

"That is just perception. The matter is with the court, so we shall leave it at that," he said, referring to the latest case of unilateral conversion to Islam of two minor children of a Muslim convert father and a Hindu mother S Deepa in Seremban.

Zahid was criticised for condoning the police's refusal to act on the abduction of Deepa's son by the father, despite the High Court awarding custody to the mother.

Meanwhile, Zahid also said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak would make an announcement on the government's stand on the Private Member's Bill in Parliament from PAS to implement hudud in Kelantan.

"My stand is the government's stand. I will vote according to the government's stand. The PM will make an announcement on the government's stand."

All BN parliamentarians would vote according to the government's stand on the matter, Zahid added.