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| Southeast Asia |
| Singapore bans Islamic scholar Mufti Menk's entry into country for 'promoting religious discord' |
| 2017-11-01 |
| [DAWN] Singapore has banned Islamic preacher and scholar Mufti Ismail Menk from entering the city-state, saying that his views promote religious discord, reported Al Jazeera on Tuesday. Menk, who hails from Zim-bob-we and has more than two million followers on Twitter, as well as Haslin bin Baharim, a Malaysian scholar, were barred from entering Singapore by the government ahead of their lectures on a "halal cruise" scheduled for late November, said the article. According to Al Jazeera, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement that its decision to reject Menk's application for a short-term work pass stemmed from his "segregationist and divisive ...politicians call things divisivewhen when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive,they're principled... teachings", also alleging that Baharim promoted "disharmony between Moslems and non-Moslems". "[Their views] are unacceptable in the context of Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society," the ministry was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera. "They will not be allowed to get around the ban by preaching instead on cruise ships which operate to and from Singapore." Menk, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, said that the implication that he was using the cruise "to get around the ban" was "erroneous". |
| Posted by:Fred |