Alienated M'sian Indians a 'breeding ground for terrorism'

comments     M Jegathesan     Published     Updated

After almost 40 years of independence, the socio-economic status of Malaysian Indians is in dire straits and observers warn the docile minority community may turn to terrorism to seek remedy.

Activists and academics say Indians need immediate help and that the government has failed to wake up to the obvious problem.

"Indians are marginalised. They are exploited. They demand equality," P Ramasamy, a political science lecturer at the National University of Malaysia, told AFP .

"There is a strong sense of alienation and hopelessness. This is a good breeding ground for terrorism. This is a real possibility. We must immediately address the concerns of Indians, " he said.

Indians make up the third largest community among Malaysia's 23 million people but account for 1.6 million, or just 7.4 percent of the population.

On Saturday, he told some 1,000 participants of a seminar on how to rebuild the deprived Indian community that "you are looking at an angry and frustrated community."

"There is no point telling others what is the root causes of terrorism. One (the government) should address the problem at home," he said.

False perception

Ramasamy said a majority of Indians are caught in a cycle of poverty and are deprived of opportunities as the government's affirmative policy only benefits the majority Malay community.

"It is impossible for a non-Malay to head a department in the public sector," he said.

But Deputy Information Minister Khalid Yunus told AFP that the perception that Indians are marginalised and ignored by the mainstream development was false.

"I think it is a wrong perception. Since independence the government has contributed a lot for the well-being of Indians. We have never neglected the Indians," he said.

Khoo Kay Kim, professor emeritus at University Malaya said Indian concerns are real. "A lot of people do not realise their (Indians') problems because they do not mix with them.

"The government is obliged to pay attention to the Malays. They always get priority. The Chinese help themselves. In the case of Indians, they are lost," he told AFP .

Khoo, an ethnic Chinese, said many young Indians have now been driven to crime. "I do not think you can ignore that."

Indians were first brought to Malaysia (then Malaya) in the 19th century by the British colonisers as indentured labour to work and administer rubber plantations.

By independence in 1957 up to 70 percent of the Indian labour force were in rural plantations and mining. In 2000, 15.1 percent remain in the agriculture while 62 percent are in manufacturing and services.

"This fundamental shift from primarily rural work 'tapping rubber' to the urban work of 'soldering chips' and 'driving lorries' is a reality that needs to be recognised," Professor C P Ramachandran of the University Putra Malaysia told delegates.

"Is there really a difference between the fetid, unending estate environment and the inhuman squalor of the urban squatter colony?"

Becoming less relevant

Most of the Indians at the two-day seminar which ended Sunday were social activists, political leaders and academics.

Ramachandran said Indians feature highest in all the negative statistics in Malaysia. Among others, he said Indians post the lowest life expectancy rates and the highest drug addiction rate and number of prisoners in proportion to population.

"In a society where race determines opportunity the Indian is at a severe disadvantage. As our numbers decline, we appear to become less and less relevant," he said.

Ramachandran urged Indians to pool resources and target segments of the community to bring about "hubs of learning, to facilitate innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship."

Ramon Navaratnam, corporate advisor to construction giant SungaiWay Group and Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner said the overall positions of Indians had improved since independence, adding that the average income had risen.

But he said ethnic Indians should resort to self-help rather than seek assistance from the government.

"There is no point saying the government should do this and that," he said.

M Manogar, 43, an activist with the Group of Concerned Citizens, a non-governmental organisation said Indians have been marginalised from mainstream economic development.

"Government policy has been discriminating. Its focus is on majority ethnic Malays. Indians do not have a voice," he said.



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