KUALA LUMPUR: Former Penang deputy chief minister II Dr P. Ramasamy said his criticisms against controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik had nothing to do with Islam.
Ramasamy said this in his statement of defence of his defamation suit against Zakir for allegedly calling him "the biggest enemy of Islam" filed in December last year.
"Criticisms against the defendant (Zakir) cannot be equated to criticisms against Islam and or Malays.
"The defendant (Zakir) had not only repeated the accusations but had also made fresh slanders against me," he said in the document today.
Ramasamy stated that he had suffered terribly after he was accused by Zakir.
"The defendant (Zakir) had admitted that he was "the world's most renowned preacher."
"This brought about the most horrible effects of a slander on me after I was accused by him in public and on Facebook as the biggest enemy of Islam."
He also stated that Zakir's reputation on the Internet was bad and that the media had reported that several countries, including Islamic countries like Bangladesh, had banned his speeches.
Ramasamy's counsel Shamsher Singh Thind said the statement of defence was filed on Monday.
Zakir was represented by Akberdin & Co.
Ramasamy filed the writ of summons and his statement of claim on Nov 3 last year at the High Court Registry, naming Zakir as the sole defendant.
In his statement of claim, Ramasamy alleged that Zakir, or his full name Zakir Abdul Karim Naik, made defamatory statements against him in a lecture in Sokoto, Nigeria, on Nov 2.
According to Ramasamy, the recording of the lecture was uploaded by Zakir on Nov 4 on his Facebook page which has approximately 23 million followers.
It touched on the victory of his defamation lawsuit against Ramasamy and accused the defendant of labelling him as an enemy of Islam.
