Uthaya SANKAR SB

Writer Uthaya Sankar SB was notified on 3 April 2024 that the investigation against him had been closed; his phone was also returned. Sankar had been under investigation by police since his arrest at home on 11 April 2022 by investigators who had also seized his phone. The police initially sought to detain Sankar for four days. On 12 April 2022, the Magistrate’s Court dismissed the police application and permitted Sankar’s release after a night in detention (see Case lists 2023/2024 and 2022). 

Sankar was investigated under Section 298A of Malaysia’s Penal Code for ‘causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion’, and Section 233 of the Multimedia and Communications Act for ‘improper use of network facilities or network service’. The arrest and investigation stem from a complaint made to the police regarding a comment that Sankar posted on his Facebook account on 6 April 2022 that was considered to potentially insult the Prophet Mohammad, which is illegal under Malaysian law. In the post, Sankar referenced a prominent hadith collection within Sunni Islam when mocking Malaysian actor Iman Zulkarnain’s comments regarding polygamy.

Throughout the investigation, Sankar flatly rejected any claim that he had criticised Islam or the Prophet Mohammad in his social media post, noting that he has a track record of writing numerous books and articles about Islam and other religions without issue. He is the author of over 20 books and has written extensively on topics including language, culture and religion in Malaysian society. 

Born on 10 June 1972, Sankar has published numerous books in Bahasa Malaysia, including several retellings of revered Indian texts, including Ramayana dan Mahabharata (2019), Bhagavad Gita (2021) and Katha Sarit Sagara (2023).