Don’t stir up racial feelings, Singapore leaders often say. How right they are. Look at the situation in Malaysia. One of its ministers, carried away by the heat of the moment perhaps, has called ethnic Indians "crooks" for protesting against alleged racial discrimination.
“Some 20,000 penyangak (crooks) who participated in the rally will not alter our viewpoint of the entire community,” said Nazri Aziz, minister in the prime minister’s department, referring to the rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday which was broken up by riot police. The minister was apparently reassuring the ethnic Indians they were still in the government’s good books.
Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, education minister and leader of the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organisation, had a similar message.
“Our enemies are not the Indians, so everyone must remain rational,” he said.
There would be no need for such reassurances, however, unless they were called for.
Nazri Aziz was right nevertheless when he said this was a domestic issue in which India should not intervene.
”Do not meddle in our affairs. This is Malaysia,
not Tamil Nadu … lay off,” he told reporters in parliament… when asked about wire reports that Karunanidhi (chief minister of India’s Tamil Nadu state) had written
to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh urging him to take immediate
and appropriate action to end the ‘sufferings and bad treatment’ of
Tamils in Malaysia," reported Malaysia’s Star newspaper.
I doubt India has any desire to "meddle".
I mean how do you talk to a guy who is not even on the same page?
India is an emerging economic giant by most accounts. But the news hasn’t reached at least one senior Malaysian official.
Malaysian foreign ministry parliamentary secretary Ahmad Shabery Cheek said Indians in the country were better off than those in India, reported Malaysia’s New Straits Times newspaper.
"We have many workers from India here and their presence is a testimony
that the situation in Malaysia is far better than in India," he said to
jeers from opposition MPs, who raised the issue in parliament, the newspaper added.
I don’t know why he was jeered by the opposition MPs. Everybody knows there are poor people in India. Why should someone be expected to know about India’s growing economic power just because he happens to be a foreign ministry official? Even if he did know that, anybody can be excused for a momentary lapse of memory.
Let’s hope things go back to normal soon. It was highly unusual of the Indian Malaysians to stage such a protest. An encore will definitely not be tolerated.
“Don’t challenge the government. They can try and hold a rally again and see what will happen,” said Nazri, reported the Star.
Not exactly conciliatory words. But whatever keeps the peace…
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I am unfamiliar with the state of Indian marginalisation in Malaysia but I found it odd that Hindraf called itself that, rather than the generic Indian Rights Action Force. Presumably, it suggests that Indian Muslims (and Indian Christians) don’t get it as bad as Indian Hindus. Is that the deliberate subtext?