DAP's Kota Alam Shah state representative M Manoharan today said he was suspicious of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's intention in revealing that 39,046 Indian citizens are "missing" in Malaysia after their tourist visas expired.

hindraf btn 151209 manoharan "Why only highlight the high number of Indian nationals who have stayed on after arriving on tourist visas? And even then, why target on the Tamils who come in from Chennai in Tamil Nadu?" he asked today.

He said that he was worried that the government would now start rounding up these "missing" Indians in order to deport them and he fears that the net would also catch local Indians - who are predominantly Tamils - who have no official documents.

"There are many stateless Indians in this country... people who have no birth certificates and MyKads.

"What will happen if they are mistakenly taken to be part of the 40,000 missing Indian nationals? Based from past experiences, we know our authorities will not listen to people whom they arrest, what more if these people have no documents," he told Malaysiakini today.

He claimed that the whole thing sounded like a political ploy to slowly get rid of the local Indians, starting with those who have no official documents.

Meeting with Tamil Nadu CM

In this regards he urged the local Indians, especially those without birth certificates and MyKads to stay calm and remain united.

He also said that he would be seeking a meeting with the Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi to brief him on the possible ploy by the government to target the local Indians along with Indians who had arrived into Malaysia from Chennai.

Yesterday Najib had told a group of Indian journalists that the high number of "missing" Indians was a worrying issue for the country.

The prime minister said they had gone missing from the Immigration Department's records, according to an estimate drawn up in June last year.

He added that this was why the department was not keen on visa-on-arrival for Indians as the facility had been abused, especially by those from Chennai.

Najib indicated that he might take up the issue during his three-day official visit to India, beginning Jan 19.

Priests and barbers

The prime minister had also said Malaysia had been quite liberal in allowing priests and barbers from India to come and work in the country.

"We would like the Indian people to visit Malaysia as tourists. We have been quiet liberal. We want genuine ones. They are most welcome.

"We are willing to consider reintroducing the visa scheme for people coming from cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi but not from Chennai. The problem of overstaying is only from Chennai," he said.

However it is learnt that MIC, through is sole cabinet member Dr S Subramaniam, will be raising the issue of Indian priests and barbers with Najib.

"The situation on the ground is that the immigration department has been sending back barbers and priests who have come in with proper permits while the prime minister says the government welcomes these people," said a party insider.

The insider added that the situation was bad on the ground with many local temples have been left without properly trained priests.