Karpal Singh, Democratic Action Party (DAP) national chairman, said he has not insulted Islam and he should not be ‘turned into a Salman Rushdie’.

Singh, who on Saturday filed a police complaint in Penang state against a death threat made against him on a web site, said he was just standing up for what was stated in the country's Constitution-- that Malaysia was a secular state.

"The person who made the threat had alleged that it was permissible under Islam to kill Singh because he allegedly opposed Malaysia being turned into an Islamic state," Bernama news agency reported.

"They should not turn me into a Salman Rushdie," Singh, who has been criticised in blogs, said.

Iran's supreme spiritual leader had issued a death edict in 1989 against Rushdie, a noted Indian-origin author, for his alleged blasphemous remarks in his book Satanic Verses.

"Killing me is not going to solve the problems faced by PAS," Singh said referring to the Islamic party.

"What I have been against and will continue to be against is attempts by Islamic party PAS to turn this country into an Islamic state," he was quoted as saying by local media.

DAP and PAS are part of the newly formed Opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat (PR) against the the ruling coalition of Barisan Nasional which lost five of the 13 states to Opposition and also one third of parliamentary seats in the March polls.