Brickbats rained on DAP leader P Ramasamy today, who has since expressed regret after calling controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik “satan”.

"I regret if the use of the word 'satan' had caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia.

"My posting was not against Islam or Muslims in this country. It was just against this particular person," Ramasamy said in a statement today.

Ramasamy made the remark in a Facebook posting yesterday, but has since taken it down after realising it was inappropriate.

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad praised Ramasamy for having the sense to take down the statement, while disagreeing with the DAP leader's claims that Zakir was sparking hatred towards non-Muslims.

Other opposition leaders, however, were not so nice.

Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar said as a highly educated former professor, Ramasamy had brought shame to the intellectual community.

"His remarks toward Zakir are very embarassing in a knowledgeable culture and intellectual world," Mahfuz said, adding that Ramasamy should apologise to the preacher.

Penang Wanita PKR, meanwhile, said the deputy chief minister's remarks were undemocratic.

"The people's supremacy gives them the right to hear and choose. However, its leaders are slandering with intent to block this democratic practice," its women's chief Zarina Zakaria said.

Zakir, an Indian national, caused a stir when news that he would be speaking in Malaysia got out.

MIC as well as NGOs had protested Zakir’s lecture series in Malaysia, claiming that the Indian national had a tendency to insult other religions.

However, Umno Youth was among those who disagreed with the ban.

One of his events in Malacca has been banned, but inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said a lecture in Kuala Lumpur on April 16 would be allowed as long as other faiths are not belittled.