India, Malaysia wrangle after ethnic protests

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysia has told India not to meddle in its internal affairs after New Delhi expressed concerns over the treatment of ethnic Indians in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government would deal with citizens according to its own laws and no other country should interfere, the Star newspaper reported on Saturday.
Last Sunday, more than 10,000 Malaysian Indians staged the community’s biggest anti-government protest, sparked by anger over policies they say prevent them from getting decent jobs or a good education for their children. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters, many of them Tamils with their roots in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, sparking outrage and demands from Tamil politicians that New Delhi intervene. “If they break any law, it is our right to deal with them in accordance with Malaysian laws,” Syed Hamid was quoted as saying.
India said on Friday it was concerned about the treatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia and had taken up with Kuala Lumpur accusations that protesters from the community had been harassed. “The government remains deeply solicitous for the welfare of people of Indian origin living abroad,” Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament. “We have friendly relations with Malaysia and we are in touch with the Malaysian authorities in the related matter.” Multi-racial Malaysia has denied claims it mistreated ethnic Indians, saying that they were better off than those in India. Ethnic Indians form 7 percent of Malaysia’s 26 million people.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lashed out at at the Hindu rights group, which organised Sunday’s protest, saying it had wrongly accused the Malaysian government of racism. “I’m really angry ... this blatant lie cannot be tolerated at all,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Bernama.
“In our 50 years of independence, we never had any problems with the Indians. The Indians have played their role in being staunch supporters of the Malaysian government.” New Delhi’s expression of solidarity came as Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) said its leader had left for India before heading to London, Geneva, Brussels and Washington to lobby for international support. Hindraf said its chairman, P. Waythamoorthy, left Malaysia on Wednesday “in the light of the crackdown and threats of detention without trial”. He is expected to meet Indian leaders including the foreign minister and chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Separately, one private immigration agency in Malaysia said an unusually large number of Malaysian Indians had inquired about migrating to Australia after Sunday’s protest. “This week the phone has not stopped ringing,” said Louis Lovestrand, director at Global Migration Solutions Sdn Bhd, a firm specialising in Australian migration and visas. “There’s been an unusual rush.”
India has voiced its concerns about a crackdown by baton-wielding Malaysian police on ethnic Indians in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said New Delhi was disturbed by reports about the use of force against the protesters in the multicultural Islamic country. “This is a matter which does concern us,” Singh told a joint news conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in New Delhi. “Whenever Indian citizens abroad or people of Indian origin living abroad run into difficulties, that obviously is a source of concern to us,” he added.
The prime minister’s comments came as a cabinet minister said New Delhi was taking up the issue with Kuala Lampur. “The matter is being taken up through diplomatic channels,” junior parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Pachouri told India’s parliament, where MPs have accused Malaysia of mistreating ethnic Indians. At least 8,000 protesters including women and young people massed on Sunday near Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers — meeting stiff resistance from police, who beat them with batons and used tear gas and water cannon.—Agencies