MCA Youth's legal bureau has urged forgiveness for religious preacher Shahul Hamid who has been facing a barrage of criticism for remarks deemed insensitive to the Hindu community.

The bureau's chief Eric Choo said Shahul's comments were "regrettable" and MCA Youth strongly objected to such an attitude but noted that the preacher had apologised and should not be subjected to cyber-bullying.

"MCA Youth is of the view that any form of punishment meted out against the Islamic preacher, be it by members of public or courts of law, ought to be minimised in view of his apology.

"As much as the said Islamic preacher is a member of PAS, a political party whose political ideals and ideologies MCA strongly disagrees with, the MCA Youth believes that members of the public ought to be more forgiving instead of punishing the said Islamic preacher through means such as cyberbullying on the social media," he said in a statement today.

Info age power strikes again

Videos of Shahul's sermon had gone viral over the internet in which he urged Muslims not to purchase curry powder produced by Hindu manufacturers and also mocked Hindu deities.

Yesterday, Shahul had apologised  and promised not to repeat such remarks.

Choo said Shahul should meet up with hindu devotees to make amends.

"Instead of looking for ways to punish each other for wrongs done, we should instead look at methods and solutions to resolve issues and conflicts amicably.

"We believe that this is the best opportunity for the said Islamic preacher and the local Hindu communities to better know each other, thereby creating a more harmonious environment to live in for all," he said.