Shah Alam (Malaysia), July 9 (Inditop.com) A Malaysian Indian legislator says privileges granted to ethnic Malays under the Constitution’s ‘Bumiputera’ (son of the soil) provision should also be given to the non-Malay population.
“If Najib (Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) is very serious in the 1Malaysia concept, he should consider according the non-Malays Bumiputera status,” M. Manoharan was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times. Najib is advocating ‘1Malaysia’, a plea for an inclusive society.
The privileges are through economic policies which favour the ethnic Malays.
This was Manoharan’s maiden speech in the Selangor state assembly to which he was elected last year but could not attend due to several months of imprisonment on charge of sedition.
The lawyer-legislator has been the legal adviser of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which was banned after it staged a protest rally in November 2007 to highlight the grievances of Malaysia’s two million population of largely Tamil Hindus.
Manoharan was one of the five activists jailed under the stringent Internal Security Act (ISA) and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
The others – Ganabatirau, Vasanth Kumar, S. Kengadharan and P. Uthaya Kumar – were released before their jail terms ended by Razak as what he called “a gesture of reconciliation”.
“For his 100th day (as prime minister), he (Razak) should take this important decision to ensure that his 1Malaysia slogan is fulfilled.
“1Malaysia should work, if not it would be just another slogan by another prime minister,” Manoharan said Wednesday after the launching of the Selangor state assembly’s 50th anniversary celebrations here.
Manoharan said the status should at least be granted for those born after Aug 31, 1957, Malaysia’s Independence Day.
“I am not racist, but I just want the 1Malaysia concept to work,” Manoharan said.
The racial divide and privileges in-built into the country’s constitution for the Malays are a sensitive issue in Malaysia.
Majority Malays, who are the indigenous population, an estimated 33 percent Chinese and eight percent Indians are the main ethnic groups in multi-ethnic Malaysia.
