(RNS) The government of Malaysia expelled a group of Singaporean tourists for chanting Buddhist prayers inside an Islamic prayer room where they erected a large Buddhist painting on the wall facing Mecca.
The government also revoked the permanent resident visa of the businessman who allowed the Buddhists to pray at his beach resort in Johor state, about 185 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Muslim-majority Malaysia.
The government’s response is the latest in a series of crackdowns on behavior deemed disrespectful of Islamic traditions and beliefs.
A Malaysian human rights group, Lawyers for Liberty, protested the action.
“Lawyers for Liberty views with extreme concern the escalating religious intolerance in Malaysia, where in recent months several minor incidents of perceived insult against Islam have been blown completely out of proportion,” a statement by the group said.
Recent harsher punishments include the imprisonment of Malaysian citizens — Muslims and non-Muslims — who appeared in YouTube videos deemed to violate Islamic standards.
In one much-discussed incident last month, a couple that posted a Facebook photo of themselves eating pork during the Islamic month of Ramadan were arrested and charged under the Sedition Act. They pleaded not guilty.
The case involving the Buddhists gained attention after a video of the prayer session was posted on YouTube in mid-August.
The video shows the one-room building’s sign, above the front entrance, identifying the site as a Muslim prayer hall.
Inside the building, about a dozen men and women, dressed mostly in white, are heard peacefully chanting a Buddhist prayer while sitting cross-legged on the floor, led by a Buddhist monk wrapped in a maroon robe.
The camera zooms in on a large, colorful, Tibetan Buddhist “thangka” painting hung prominently in front of the group, on the wall which Muslims face while praying in the direction of Mecca.
The Buddhists do not appear to realize they were being filmed in the video posted on Aug. 10.
When villagers near the beach resort saw the YouTube video, they angrily sought out the tourists and took them to a nearby police station, according to the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The tourists complied with demands to leave the country and returned to Singapore.
On August 13, police detained the businessman who operated the resort while a local court investigated his alleged offense of violating a place of worship.
Malaysia’s Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he then revoked the resort operator’s permanent resident visa because the Singapore resident was “insensitive to Muslims and Islam,” the Malaysian Insider reported.
Some Malaysian lawyers said the government acted prematurely by canceling the resort operator’s visa, because he had not been convicted in a court.
About 20 percent of Malaysia’s 30 million people are Buddhist, compared with a 61 percent Muslim population. An additional 9 percent are Christian and 6 percent are Hindu.
San Jose, CA
Metro area: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CAbr
1,247 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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San Diego, CA
Metro area: San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CAbr
1,237 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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San Francisco, CA
Metro area: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CAbr
1,172 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Seattle, WA
Metro area: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WAbr
1,130 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CAbr
918 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Sacramento, CA
Metro area: Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Rosenville, CAbr
751 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Las Vegas, NV
Metro area: Las Vegas-Paradise, NVbr
724 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Oklahoma City, OK
723 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Denver, CO
Metro area: Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CObr
670 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Raleigh, NC
Metro area: Raleigh-Cary, NCbr
532 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV
Metro area: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WVbr
527 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Austin, TX
Metro area: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TXbr
495 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Portland, OR-WA
Metro area: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WAbr
475 Buddhist religious adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Riverside, CA
Metro area: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CAbr
449 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Boston, MA-NH
Metro area: Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NHbr
409 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.br
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Salt Lake City, UT
403 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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New York, NY-NJ-PA
Metro area: New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PAbr
401 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
(Photo: In this March 26, 2012, file photo, One World Trade Center towers above the Lower Manhattan skyline and Hudson River in New York. One World Trade Center, the giant monolith being built to replace the twin towers destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, will lay claim to the title of New York City.)
Orlando, FL
Metro area: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FLbr
391 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Virginia Beach, VA-NC
Metro area: Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NCbr
372 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Houston, TX
Metro area: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TXbr
343 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Metro area: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MDbr
342 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Dallas, TX
Metro area: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TXbr
339 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Phoenix, AZ
Metro area: Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZbr
320 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Chicago, IL-IN-WI
Metro area: Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WIbr
310 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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San Antonio, TX
Metro area: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TXbr
304 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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New Orleans, LA
Metro area: New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LAbr
304 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Atlanta, GA
Metro area: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GAbr
286 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Tampa, FL
Metro area: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FLbr
283 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Columbus, OH
281 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Jacksonville, Florida
262 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Miami, FL
Metro area: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FLbr
259 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Minneapolis, MN-WI
Metro area: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WIbr
215 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Buffalo, NY
Meto area: Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NYbr
214 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Rochester, NY
211 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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St. Louis, MO-IL
210 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Kansas City, MO-KS
209 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Hartford, CT
Metro area: Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CTbr
203 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Providence, RI-MA
Metro area: Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MAbr
198 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Cleveland, OH
Metro area: Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OHbr
196 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Milwaukee, WI
Metro area: Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Alis, WIbr
186 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Louisville, KY-IN
Metro area: Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-INbr
173 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Detroit, MI
Metro area: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MIbr
167 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Indianapolis, IN
Metro area: Indianapolis-Carmel, INbr
155 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Baltimore, MD
Metro area: Baltimore-Towson, MDbr
148 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Metro area: Memphis, TN-MS-ARbr
140 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Charlotte, NC-SC
Metro area: Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SCbr
107 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Richmond, VA
97 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Nashville, TN
Metro area: Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TNbr
96 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Pittsburgh, PA
74 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
Metro area: Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-INbr
24 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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Birmingham, AL
Metro area Birmingham-Hoover, ALbr
6 Buddhist adherents per 100,000 persons. br
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