Author: Kanchan Gupta
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 9, 2007
The brutal crackdown on Malaysia's ethnic
Indian community for demanding equal rights and a better deal should have
left India incandescent with rage and South Block fuming. Instead, we have
heard nothing more than a timid squeak in the form of the UPA Government informing
Parliament that it has "taken up the issue" with the Malaysian authorities.
There has been no robust statement, nor has there been a gesture of solidarity
with Malaysia's Hindus under attack. Thirty-one of them have been picked up
for joining a protest march and charged with "attempt to murder"
and equally serious offences which, if 'proved' in Malaysia's kangaroo courts
(recall the Anwar Ibrahim trial), could fetch them heavy penalties. The Prime
Minister, who spent sleepless nights after an Indian Muslim was detained in
Australia for his connections with the two Glasgow Airport bombers (both Indian
Muslims), is not known to have shown even the remotest interest in the persecution
of Hindus in Malaysia, leave alone utter a single word to register the Government
of India's protest. A conspiracy of silence has been hatched by those who
believe even the mildest rebuke would upset the ummah in both Malaysia and
India and cast aspersions on the Prime Minister's 'Muslims Über Alles'
policy which, funnily though, is yet to swing Muslim votes for the Congress.
It would, therefore, be in order to place
on record the salient points made by Mr P Waytha Moorthy, chairman of Malaysia's
Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), the organisation which has been leading
the agitation for a more equitable and egalitarian deal for that country's
ethnic Indians. He was in Delhi recently and made an eloquent presentation
about the plight of the "forgotten, marginalised and persecuted"
Hindu community of Indian origin in his country. Mr Moorthy stressed on four
points that outline the situation prevailing in Malaysia:
- The demolition of Hindu temples on the instructions
of Malaysian authorities, who are pro-actively involved with the Islamisation
drive, has gathered extraordinary speed. At least "10,000 Hindu temples
have been demolished" in Malaysia since its independence 50 years ago.
Many of the temples were as old as 150 years and integral to Malaysia's multi-cultural,
multi-religious society; more important, they were a part of Malaysia's civilisational
history. By razing them, Malaysia is not only disowning its past but also
stripping Hindus of their dignity and self-respect. - The Government sanctioned
Islamisation drive has moved into top gear. While in office, former Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad, backed by his party, Umno, had launched a two-point
programme to give Malaysia a distinctly Islamic character. The first part
of the programme was aimed at promoting Islamic values, setting up Islamic
institutions and embracing pan-Islamism by securing a place for Malaysia on
Islamic fora. The other part of the programme focussed on reviving the 'bhoomiputra'
policy of the 1970s by promoting the interests of ethnic Malays, who are Muslim
and form just over 55 per cent of Malaysia's population. As part of this campaign,
Muslims got precedence over others in Government, bureaucracy and education.
Simultaneously, shari'ah court rulings are being made increasingly binding
on non-Muslims, "especially in matters of inter-faith marriages and religious
identity of children".
This point is illustrated by a story filed
by PTI from Kuala Lumpur on September 17, which is reproduced verbatim below:
An ethnic Indian Hindu woman has urged Malaysia's
highest civil court to stop her Muslim husband, who had embraced Islam, from
converting their sons to the religion against her wishes.
Subashini Rajasingam, an ethnic Indian Hindu
married Saravanan Thangathoray five years ago and the couple has two sons
- Dharvin and Sharvind. However, Saravanan told Subashini last November (2006)
that he had converted to Islam.
Twenty-nine-year-old Subashini, a clerk, attempted
suicide and was hospitalised. When she returned home, she found that her husband
had left with their son Dharvin, who he claimed had also converted to Islam.
The woman turned to the courts to prevent
her husband from converting Sharvind and from seeking a divorce in a Shari'ah
Court instead of a civil court. However, the Court of Appeal ruled in March
she should argue her case in the Shari'ah Court. She then approached the Federal
Court against the verdict.
- More than two-thirds of the people of Indian
origin in Malaysia, living in that country for 200 years and forming 10 per
cent of the population, are economically deprived because of their ethnicity
and religious identity. Seventy per cent of Malaysia's ethnic Indians are
manual labourers and daily wage earners. This vast underclass is oppressed
and suppressed by ethnic Malays with more than a little help from their Government.
There are no official welfare programmes for the Hindu minority.
- The number of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam
schools has dwindled drastically, even though the population has increased
manifold. The Malaysian Government is deliberately callous about the educational
needs of the ethnic Indians. This is because the authorities want to "cut
off the cultural and spiritual heritage" of ethnic Indians.
Not surprisingly, our national media with
its skewered 'secular' agenda has not bothered to publicise the details provided
by Mr Moorthy. Horror stories emanating from Kuala Lumpur have been suitably
downplayed while outrageous comments by those wielding the stick in Malaysia
have been front-paged. The overwhelming view appears to be that India should
remain aloof and not get tangled with "Malaysia's internal issues".
As a principle, this is unexceptionable. But since when has the UPA Government
begun to live by principles?
The Islamisation of Malaysia should worry
India. In fact, the galloping progress of radical Islam in South-East Asia
should scare the daylights out of us. Malaysia has officially embraced Islamisation;
Indonesia is Islamised; Thailand is putting up a valiant, though some would
say losing, fight; and the Philippines Army is locked in a fierce battle with
radical Islamists. Both our western and eastern flanks are now inimical to
us; to pretend otherwise would be, to use an old-fashioned cliché,
tantamount to adopting an ostrich-like attitude. With the Government burying
its head in the sand, India is a sitting duck for Islamists of all shades
and ethnicities. We would be well-advised to start losing some sleep over
this.
