KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — Insisting G25 is peddling religious liberalism and pluralism, Malay rights group Perkasa pressed the government today to declare the pro-moderation Muslim pressure group “deviants”.

The proposal for a formal declaration was made by Kuala Kangsar Perkasa chief Kamaruddin Yaakob at the non-government organisation’s annual general meeting here today and seconded by Johor Perkasa secretary-general Amir Hamzah Ghazali and was unanimously passed.

“This assembly condemns the insolence of G25 and urges the government to be firm, and curb their teachings by decreeing G25 as a deviant group,” the motion on the assembly’s order paper stated.

The motion had asserted that G25 was spreading “deviant teachings of liberalism and pluralism” and claimed it had grown to an extent that “can threaten the faith of Muslims” in the country.

Another religious motion proposed called on Putrajaya to take legal action towards any group or party that threatens Islam.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali told a news conference later that the National Fatwa Council must take action against G25 for its views on Islam.

“The National Fatwa Council should investigate them and take action,” he told reporters at the close of the assembly in Pusat Islam here.

G25 has come under much heat for its suggestion to review Shariah laws, most notably those concerning hudud and khalwat (close proximity).

Its spokesman, former Sessions Court judge Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, is currently under investigation for sedition; she has also received death and rape threats.

The group consisting of over 50 retired senior government officials, including diplomats, was previously warned that it risked being lumped into the same category as Al-Arqam, an Islamic sect that was banned and declared deviant in the 1990s.