Unhappy with criticism over its stand on hudud, conservative Muslim pressure group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has resorted to calling Chinese Malaysians “intruders”.

Its president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman said after intruding, the ancestors of today's ethnic Chinese Malaysians were "in cahoots with the British" to oppress Malays.

"The Chinese came to this country with the British as intruders. Who gave them citizenship and wealth to the extent that the fruits of their intrusion are protected to this day?

"It is all the fault of the British who were in cahoots with the Chinese to oppress and bully the Malays," he said in a statement published by Isma's website today.

Urging the Malays to correct this "historical mistake", Abdullah Zaik (right) also called on Malays to protect the sovereignty of Islam and Malays in "Tanah Melayu".

Tanah Melayu, literally translated as 'Malay Land' is a term referring to Malaya.

Abdullah Zaik said this in response to those who slammed him for saying that non-Muslims have no right to discuss the hudud.

It is, however, unclear how terming the Chinese "intruders" is linked to the ongoing hudud debate.