Citing an alleged turf war between rival security companies as an example, Hindraf de facto leader P Uthayakumar today called for more economic opportunities to be given to Indian Malaysians to keep them out of crime.

Currently, Uthayakumar claimed, the Indian poor are denied even a licence to operate a food stall.

However, permits for lorries above three tonnes tend to be awarded to large transport companies, while foreign workers operate Chinese food stalls that their owners are no longer interested in.

“Why not sell these businesses to local Indian youths, providing them with government business loans with the view to keeping them out of crime?” he said in a statement.

Uthayakumar said that in an April 18 incident, a security guard post in Klang was burnt down and a security guard was killed, while six others were slashed.

He is representing the seven charged in relation to the incident as their lawyer, as well as others who have been remanded.

In response to the violence, China Pres s quoted the Security Services Association of Malaysia (SSAM) as saying that more than 10,000 security companies operating in the country are illegal, in contrast to only 754 companies licenced to provide security services.

Uthayakumar said had the government granted 10,000 security guard licences directly to “underprivileged but hardworking, poor Indian youth” and each licence is shared with 10 people, then 100,000 Indian youths could be kept out of jail.

“In fact three to four jails could be closed down. Society would benefit by living in a far less violent, safer and happier Malaysia.

“Why not? Why should race-based issuance of licences be at this expense? Why the government policy of licences not being granted to all hardworking and self-employed 1Malaysians?” he said.

Issues have been raised in letter to PM

He added that he has already written to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on this matter in a letter dated April 28.

He said in his letter, he also explained that while serving his two-year prison sentence in Kajang Prison for sedition and from monitoring news reports, some 80 percent of prisoners of non-drug related offences are Indians although they make up only eight percent of the population.

Meanwhile, some 90 percent of Indian criminals are poverty-related, he said.

In addition, he said there is “almost zero” crime in Cameron Highlands despite a large Indian community because they were able to self-employ themselves by farming vegetables, in contrast to the “frightening crime rate” in Klang that also has a large Indian community.

Uthayakumar said the issue of crime involving ethnic Indians was also raised during a chance meeting between him and a senior police officer while waiting for court proceedings for those allegedly involved in the turf war.

He said he was asked to explain the “Indian criminal class” whereas crime and gangsterism usually involved Chinese Malaysians up to the 1980s.

He said he explained, “The government has granted ample licences, business and self-employment opportunities to these Chinese members.

“Others are able to operate in the non-violent sectors like pirated CDs, massage parlours, karaoke and entertainment outlets, Ah Long (loan sharks), et cetera.”

On another matter, Uthayakumar claimed that his clients have been remanded again and again for 18 days in what his clients believe to be a stalling tactic to buy time for detention under the Prevention of Crime Act (POCA).

“We appealed to the prime minister that our clients should not detained under POCA, but instead, in the general public interest, the race-based denial of licences, permits and equal business and job opportunities plaguing this most vulnerable Indian community, who have neither the economic nor political power to stay above the waters vis a vis the alarming ‘emerging Indian criminal class’ should be addressed,” he said.