The deputy prime minister said instead Malaysians should celebrate the diversity of religions and cultures in Malaysia which has been the symbol of strength and unity of the country all this while.

“We must set aside the differences among us. We do not want any kind of extremism, whether Islamic, Buddhist or Christian extremism because we want peace and harmony to prevail in Malaysia which has a multiracial society,” he said when opening the Ugadi Carnival 2017 at Dataran Merdeka here.

Present were Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Health Minister and MIC president S Subramaniam, MyPPP president M Kayveas and Malaysian Telugu Association president Dr Achaiah Kumar Rao.

Ugadi, the Telegu New Year, is celebrated by the 400,000-strong Malaysian Telegu community each year. It fell on March 29 this year.