Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali has taken Malay parties like PAS, Umno and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to task for not defending controversial Indian Muslim preacher Zakir Naik.

He said these parties that claim to represent the Malays should be at the forefront of protests on behalf of the preacher.

"I was expecting PAS to protest or Umno or Bersatu or even PKR or DAP if they are interested in justice.

"But they did not and it is only Perkasa pursuing this..." he said, speaking outside the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.

Ibrahim was in court on behalf of Perkasa as an intervener, in a hearing related to a lawsuit filed by 19 individuals against Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The suit challenges the minister's decision to grant permanent residence to Zakir, and seeks to have the preacher declared as a threat to national security and integration.

The 19 individuals who filed the suit in March this year include Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia chairperson P Waythamoorthy, academic Lim Teck Ghee, Bingkor assemblyperson Jeffrey Kitingan, and lawyer Siti Kassim.

The Perkasa leader said he has observed Zakir's events and could not find elements of a threat to national security or integration.

Ibrahim also expressed regret that the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), representing Zahid and others, had only filed an application to strike out the suit yesterday.

"They should have filed it earlier, that is, within 48 hours when the suit was filed," he said.

As a result, Justice Azizah Nawawi postponed the hearing today to Sept 21 for both the plaintiffs' application and the striking-out application.

Besides Zahid Hamidi, the 19 had named the Immigration Department director-general, the National Registration Department director-general and the inspector-general of police as defendants.

Ibrahim said that what Zakir is doing is not against the law, and that it is vital that Muslims rise up to defend the preacher.

‘Malays and Muslims have lost the fighting spirit’

Ibrahim also expressed regret that Malays and Muslims are not standing up for their rights – pointing to the lack of tangible outcomes from the “Solidariti Ummah Rohingya” protest, jointly attended by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang

“It seems the Malays and Muslims here have lost the fighting spirit or the struggle of Tok Janggut, Mat Kilau, Rosli Dhobi and others. Nobody seems to care, and sometimes we are fed up fighting for Malay rights but see others downplay it,” he added.

Adnan Seman, representing Perkasa, said they are opposing the suit filed by the 19 on the grounds that it does not name Zakir directly, meaning that no action can be taken against the preacher.

“Furthermore, based on the case against Ambiga Sreenevasan, the courts cannot question the decision made by the Immigration Department (to ban her from visiting Sarawak) as it is stipulated in Section 59A of the Immigration Act 1959/63 stating the court cannot interfere.

"Likewise here, they cannot challenge the move to make Zakir a PR (permanent resident),” he said.

S Karthigesan, representing the applicants, told reporters that the suit is not being brought by Hindraf alone, but by Malaysians of different races.

Since the suit was filed, the lawyer added, the AGC had not filed an affidavit in reply to the application, despite promising to do so.

“It was only yesterday they filed the striking out application, which we just received. They could have done so earlier but did not. Hence, on Sept 21 point of law issues will be raised in our application and striking out.”