An event in Malaysia in which Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) General Secretary, K Veeramani, was to take part on 24 November (Sunday) has been called off following objections from Malaysian Hindu non-governmental organisations.

Veeramani was scheduled to visit Malaysia in connection with the screening of a Tamil movie of the DK founder, “Periyar” E V Ramasamy (EVR).

An invitation in connection with the screening of the movie said that Veeramani would speak on “Periyar Ramasamy’s visit to Malaysia and its Impact” before the screening of the movie “Periyar”.

The programme was organised by the India-Malaysia Heritage Group and the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indian Cultural Centre, which is part of the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Among various organisations, the Malaysia Hindhudharma Maamandram (Malaysia Hindu Dharma Forum) too appealed to the Malaysian Home Minister to ban Veeramani from visiting Malaysia.

Condemning the proposed visit by the Dravidian Kazhagam leader, the forum said the Malaysian government should ensure that Veeramani did not influence religious traditions and practices of the multi-racial and multi-cultural country.

In particular, the forum pointed to a video clip of his interview in which he called those worshipping Gods -- of all religions -- “fools”.

The Malaysia Hindhudharma Maamandram said it believed in “Rukunegara kepercayaan kepada tuhan”, which, in Malay language means: Believe in God and in achieving a more perfect unity amongst the whole society.

In India, the social media saw outbursts against the Indian High Commission’s cultural centre being involved in the event in which a person who loses no opportunity to bash Hindu Gods and Hindus was invited.

Rajiv Malhotra of Infinity Foundation tweeted that the involvement of the Indian High Commission was as ridiculous as US embassies celebrating Osama Bin Laden.

Veeramani’s proposed visit perturbed Malaysian Tamils, who are against his visit as they consider him to be a part of the “Breaking India forces”.

Malaysian Tamils wonder why the Indian High Commission was involved in the event in the first place and said that they have rejected Dravidian ideologies in Malaysia long ago.

The uneasiness of the Malaysians stemmed from the commotion that Veeramani created in that country during his 2012 visit. At a meeting in Ipoh, he had disparaged Sri Krishna and the Hindu Sangam had condemned his comments thereafter.

Probably, the hue and cry raised by the NGOs over what had happened in 2012 has forced the cancellation of the event now.