I refer to Mohdrul's letter, [#1] What do school bullies have to do with it? [/#] (March 15), in which the writer admitted to not understanding the analogy made by Gabriel Luke Chandran ([#2] Deaths: Do we 'forget and accept' the situation? [/#] March 15).

This has nothing to do with school bullies, but everything to do with living in a multiracial society. It is about how school authorities themselves exert racial pressure and demoralise a pupil based on race and religion. There are indirect racist statements made by teachers themselves to put down a certain type of race or religion. It is unfortunate that there are a majority of Malaysians who neither understand nor intend to open their minds to understanding the psyche of a minority race. They blissfully live in the Malaysian world of ignorance.

In many countries in the world, there are genuine attempts to study the minority groups of the nation. The minority race is laden with social problems, and often bears the fear of the majority rule. In Malaysia, we do not attempt even to learn about another's cultural and religious psyche or heritage. The mere label of 'Indian' or 'Hindu' triggers unwanted practices and beliefs in the minds of the typical Malaysian. I quote the Time magazine journalist Ken Stier, in an article:

"In the Bujang Valley in northern Kedah state, Malaysia's Indian roots are visible. An ancient kingdom existed there, of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, dating back to the 4th century ... Since the site was rediscovered by explorers in the 1930s, more than 50 temple ruins have been excavated in the valley, making it Malaysia's richest archaeological treasure trove.

But an Indian Malaysian visiting the Bujang Valley might come away feeling demeaned rather than proud - and that would be no accident. The government has spruced up some ruins and built a museum beside them to showcase Bujang's archaeological finds. The ochre ruins are classically Indian in design, neat, dull - and there is nothing to tell the visitor how grand the originals may have been.

The museum has Buddhist and Hindu statues behind glass - cows, Ganeshas, lingams- but the official literature does its best to downplay, even denigrate, the Indian impact on the region. A board on the museum wall describes an 'old Malay kingdom' in the Bujang Valley that had 'contact with various people of different cultural origins and environments'. The museum's brochure is even more explicit. It states that maritime trade led to the 'indianisation' of the Bujang Valley. The indigenous culture, it says, 'was eventually adulterated'.

The fact that history is unanimously denied by the Malaysian majority, suggests that the 'race' and 'religion' of minority groups are viewed as insignificant. Where is the recognition of a multiracial society? The analogy made by Chandran, I feel, merely reflects that the issue in Petaling Selatan is not being given its due recognition because it involves a minority group that is viewed as insignificant in this nation. The truth be told that Malaysian Indians do not feel secure in this country.