Sunnah Waljamaah Malaysia Members Association (Aswaja) president  Zamihan Mat Zain has confirmed that a photograph circulating online allegedly showing him giving controversial thinker Kassim Ahmad the ‘thumbs down’ is true.

However, he explained he was making the hand gesture only to emphasise the fact that the dialogue between him, Kassim and seven other Aswaja members did not succeed in reaching an accord.

The picture, being widely circulated on Facebook, shows Zamihan ( left ) standing behind a frail-looking Kassim and holding up his hand to show the ‘thumbs down’ sign.

It has received much flak from netizens with many accusing him of being rude for directing the symbol, largely perceived to indicate one’s dislike, at Kassim.

“The sign was to symbolise that the dialogue between Kassim and myself that day did not go well. Pak Kassim was adamantly sticking to his thoughts, the result his 36 years of studies,” Zamihan told Malaysiakini yesterday.

According to him, the dialogues took place at Kassim’s residence at Kulim Heights on March 6, and had lasted an hour and a half.

When asked on the negative reaction the picture has been receiving online, he dismissed them, stating he does not accord attention to something so small.

“...To me, what is important is to take steps to get close to Kassim and try to correct his thinking.

“Besides, it is not like the gesture is a crude one,” Zamihan, who is also Home Ministry's internal security and public order division assistant secretary, said.

Zamihan was previously a senior religious officer attached with the Islamic Development Department (Jakim).

Not new to controversy himself, Kassim Ahmad had recently got tongues wagging when he criticised religious scholars’ hold on the country, claiming religious leaders act like gods and goddesses, and that Muslim women need not cover their head.