Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A Malaysian cabinet minister has condemned a protest by conservative Muslims against a forum to discuss freedom of religion, calling the move "stupid", reports have said.
Influential minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, a minister in the prime minister's department, criticised the protest by more than 500 people on Sunday in northern Penang state, saying it had interrupted a legitimate discussion.
"It was the wrong thing to do. It was a stupid act by those people," Nazri was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times.
"The government feels that the conference, held to discuss the protection of the rights of the minority in the country, was a legitimate activity," he added.
Rights groups had organised the forum to discuss freedom of religion, which is enshrined in the mainly Muslim country's constitution.
The protestors, who had apparently gathered to demonstrate against dialogue and cooperation amongst the country's religions, forced an early end to the event.
The forum was part of a series of talks around the country over the issue, and follows religious tensions late last year when an Indian mountaineering hero was buried as a Muslim despite protests from his Hindu wife.
Nazri said Malaysians had to learn to "sit down and talk, and not stop others from discussing issues."
"We strongly condemn those who came out in numbers to protest against the forum," he was quoted as saying in the Sun daily.
Religious minorities say their rights are being trampled in Malaysia, touted as a moderate Muslim country, by increasing Islamic conservatism.
In an unprecedented move, the country's non-Muslim cabinet ministers in January delivered a memorandum to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi calling on him to protect the rights of religious minorities.
They were later forced to withdraw it after being slammed by colleagues.
Malaysia's population of 26 million is dominated by some 60 percent Muslim Malays. Chinese and Indians make up 26 percent and eight percent respectively.