Absolutely no reason for protracted stateless
Indian issue
By Chua Jui Meng
THE
plight of some 300,000 stateless Indians is more than enough a reason
for you to change the federal government.
This
problem should have been resolved long ago and therefore the Indian community
in Malaysia cannot continue to trust the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) federal
government.
These
stateless Indians have either lived here for decades or were born in this country.
They
can also communicate fluently in Bahasa Malaysia. Why must their application
for citizenship be rejected or their files left in the cupboard to collect
dust?
In
contrast, why were 600,000 Muslims from Indonesia and the Philippines in Sabah
given citizenship and bumiputra status to vote in Malaysia? The majority of the
Filipinos cannot even speak Bahasa Malaysia.
Clearly,
the Umno-led BN’s ulterior motive and bad intentions for the people and country
were to topple the then PBS state government and then use the foreigners as its
fixed deposit voters.
And,
Anwar has promised to grant citizenship to all the stateless Indians in
Malaysia.
Come
next 13th General Election, the Indians must join us and give Pakatan Rakyat (PR) their ballots to fight
BN… Lawan Tetap Lawan (Fight, we must
fight).
There
is absolutely no reason for Indians born in Malaysia and those who have stayed
here for decades to remain stateless.
To
quote (Parliamentary Opposition Leader) Anwar Ibrahim, we are all Malaysian brothers
and sisters, irrespective of race.
Anwar has also reiterated that a PR
government will take care of the interest of all Malaysians and that is why PKR
is leading a march to Putrajaya on Wednesday (Dec 12, 2012) to protest and to
demand that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak grants the citizenship in the name
of justice.
I
also urge the Indian community to consider our proposed long-term
people-centric fiscal policies in PR’s Buku
Jingga (Orange Book) and alternative Budget 2013 when going to the next
national polls.
Take
whatever sweeteners that the BN is giving you now even though it is a measly
RM500, but when it comes to casting your ballots, think of the long-term
benefits PR is offering.
Chua
and other PR leaders watching one of the many Indian classical dances staged at
the Deepavali Open House organised by Taman Nesa DAP branch in Skudai on Dec 8,
2012.
PR’s
slew of such benefits include monthly welfare aid for the poor raised from
RM300 to RM550, free education for all Malaysian children all the way to
university and RM2,000 annual aid for elderly couples.
In
addition, RM1,000 annual allowance will be given to low-income families for every
child aged 12 and below to enable mothers to send their children to day care
centres.
This
will help free mothers who need to go to work for additional income.
PR
also wants to make cars more affordable to the people by reducing excise duty
by 20% every year, the setting up of a national trust fund for the welfare of
women in the country akin to the Employees Provident Fund and the scrapping of
road tolls.
Deepavali
or Diwali is celebrated by Hindus annually to mark the triumph of Good over
Evil … and in Malaysia today, you know the evil is BN.
Latest development:
Two young Indian women born in Malaysia will file a landmark test
case against embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak's government, which has come
under increasing fire both domestically and internationally for promulgating
policies supportive of racism and racial discrimination.
"The two girls are from Kapar, Selangor. They are entitled to citizenship and blue I.C.s under the law but the BN government won't even issue them birth certificates," PKR vice president N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle.
"If they win their case, it will force the federal government to resolve the longstanding problem of stateless persons. And this applies not just to Indians but to all the other minority ethnic groups that have been left out of the economic loop by the BN. Pakatan Rakyat is determined to end the injustice done to all stateless Malaysians due to discriminative policies."
The lawsuit against the JPN or National Registration Department and the Government of Malaysia will be filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur on Monday, December 10, 2012 at 11am.
Surendran, who is also a prominent human rights lawyer, along with Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah and Latheefa Koya will represent the two women.
Denial syndrome: Only 9,000 NOT 300,000
Earlier on Sunday, Najib denied claims by human rights activists that there were at least 300,000 stateless Indians alone in multi-racial Malaysia, which has been ruled by the BN since 1957.
According to the scandal-plagued PM, there were only 9,000 people who were unregistered as citizens instead of the 300,000 claimed. He slammed the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition of making unsubstantiated accusations.
“Where’s the proof? The opposition is only good at accusing but when asked to show proof they don’t have any. I was informed by Subramaniam that there are only 9,000 people who have applied for citizenship,” said Najib, referring to MIC deputy resident, S Subramaniam, who is also Human Resource Minister.
“Of that figure, as many as 7,000 have already been given identity cards and birth certificates whereas the remainder are still being processed."
Najib's party Umno which dominates the BN coalition has through the years veered more and more to the right with policies that have been accused of favoring the Malays, who make up 45% of the country's 28 million population, at the expense of the minority races.
He was speaking at the BN component, the MIC's 66th annual assembly at the PWTC.
Stop denying the reality: The stateless victims have SUFFERED long enough
However, Najib's claims were rejected by the 46-year-old Surendran, who warned the problem of statelessness was already "shockingly widespread" among Malaysian Indians, whether rural or urban.
According to the PKR vice president, the stateless have been denied proper schooling, employment and access to basic amenities.The problem is also becoming worse as it has become generational, with statelessness passed down to the younger generation.
As a result, thousands of Indian children of school-going age are also prevented from schooling or receive incomplete schooling. A prominent example is the case of 17 year old B Reshina who faced obstacles in registering for the SPM exam earlier this year.
"These stateless Indians were born and have lived in Malaysia all their lives. They are citizens by operation of law. Najib and his government have flagrantly breached the federal constitution by refusing to issue blue ICs to our stateless Malaysians. Not a single Malaysian should suffer from the problem of statelessness," said Surendran.
"We call upon Najib and his government to stop denying the enormity of the problem and to end the long suffering of stateless Malaysians immediately."
Latest development:
Monday, 10 December 2012 07:06
LANDMARK
CASE: Two stateless young Indian women to sue JPN & M'SIAN GOVT
Written by Maria Begum, Malaysia Chronicle
"The two girls are from Kapar, Selangor. They are entitled to citizenship and blue I.C.s under the law but the BN government won't even issue them birth certificates," PKR vice president N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle.
"If they win their case, it will force the federal government to resolve the longstanding problem of stateless persons. And this applies not just to Indians but to all the other minority ethnic groups that have been left out of the economic loop by the BN. Pakatan Rakyat is determined to end the injustice done to all stateless Malaysians due to discriminative policies."
The lawsuit against the JPN or National Registration Department and the Government of Malaysia will be filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur on Monday, December 10, 2012 at 11am.
Surendran, who is also a prominent human rights lawyer, along with Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah and Latheefa Koya will represent the two women.
Denial syndrome: Only 9,000 NOT 300,000
Earlier on Sunday, Najib denied claims by human rights activists that there were at least 300,000 stateless Indians alone in multi-racial Malaysia, which has been ruled by the BN since 1957.
According to the scandal-plagued PM, there were only 9,000 people who were unregistered as citizens instead of the 300,000 claimed. He slammed the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition of making unsubstantiated accusations.
“Where’s the proof? The opposition is only good at accusing but when asked to show proof they don’t have any. I was informed by Subramaniam that there are only 9,000 people who have applied for citizenship,” said Najib, referring to MIC deputy resident, S Subramaniam, who is also Human Resource Minister.
“Of that figure, as many as 7,000 have already been given identity cards and birth certificates whereas the remainder are still being processed."
Najib's party Umno which dominates the BN coalition has through the years veered more and more to the right with policies that have been accused of favoring the Malays, who make up 45% of the country's 28 million population, at the expense of the minority races.
He was speaking at the BN component, the MIC's 66th annual assembly at the PWTC.
Stop denying the reality: The stateless victims have SUFFERED long enough
However, Najib's claims were rejected by the 46-year-old Surendran, who warned the problem of statelessness was already "shockingly widespread" among Malaysian Indians, whether rural or urban.
According to the PKR vice president, the stateless have been denied proper schooling, employment and access to basic amenities.The problem is also becoming worse as it has become generational, with statelessness passed down to the younger generation.
As a result, thousands of Indian children of school-going age are also prevented from schooling or receive incomplete schooling. A prominent example is the case of 17 year old B Reshina who faced obstacles in registering for the SPM exam earlier this year.
"These stateless Indians were born and have lived in Malaysia all their lives. They are citizens by operation of law. Najib and his government have flagrantly breached the federal constitution by refusing to issue blue ICs to our stateless Malaysians. Not a single Malaysian should suffer from the problem of statelessness," said Surendran.
"We call upon Najib and his government to stop denying the enormity of the problem and to end the long suffering of stateless Malaysians immediately."
Malaysia Chronicle
