MUMBAI, 3 December 2007 — Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said here on Saturday, that the Hindus were not the only ones to be discriminated, but the actual fact is that even Muslims are being discriminated in Malaysia.
Anwar, who is attending the global Islamic conference hosted by the Islamic Research Foundation, said that Indians along with other immigrants faced racial discrimination in his country. Malaysia, he said, is a multiracial society, and not only the Indians, but also ethnic Malays and Chinese communities are raising their voices against racial discrimination.
“I have been consistently raising the issue for the past six to eight months. Although the Malaysian government has an affirmative action policy, it lacks transparency. Indians living in Kuala Lumpur are better off than those living outside Kuala Lumpur. Most live in abject poverty and lack basic necessities like water, food, etc.,” Anwar said.
Commenting on the concerns raised by the Indian government over the treatment of ethnic Indians, Anwar said that the Indian prime minister has raised the issue with the Malaysian government in a very polite and diplomatic manner and he hoped that it will make the Malaysian government realize the treatment meted out to the ethnic Indians and take action. At the same time it will make them (the government) realize it is contradictory to complain about discrimination against Muslims in Burma and Palestine, while in Malaysia the Indians are being treated badly and unfairly, he added.
Asked if he agreed that historically Indians have been treated as slaves in Malaysia, Anwar said, “It is not just the ethnic Indians, the Chinese and Malays are also complaining about ill-treatment. I don’t subscribe to the Hindraf’s aggressive view, but pulling down temples (as the Malaysian government is doing) isn’t the way to go. It shows that we do not have faith in other religions. The problem in Malaysia is that the media, the judiciary and the various arms of the executive are lopsided.”
On what he intended to do on this issue, Anwar said that he has been openly engaging with the Indian community in Malaysia and fighting their cases in the courts, even at the cost of him being labeled as pro-India and pro-Hindu.
