A trade union leader today urged the government to expedite investigations into alleged mistreatment of a group of Indian IT professionals by police because their complaint reflected the grouses of other foreign trade union groups.

MTUC secretary general G Rajasekaran said union leaders from other countries have frequently complained to Malaysian representatives about the poor treatment of their nationals.

"Often at international trade union meetings outside Malaysia, union leaders from Nepal, Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines have expressed their bitterness and unhappiness over the manner their workers are treated in our country. It causes embarrassment and puts us in a defensive position," he said in a press statement.

The union leader was referring to an incident last week where more than 150 Indian nationals employed by local IT firms were arrested at the Palm Court Condominium in Kuala Lumpur and detained for over 10 hours while their travel documents were being verified.

Train enforcement officers

Rajasekaran said that, while the authorities have the right to investigate the status of workers in the country, he questioned the manner in which they were allegedly treated.

"We do not question the right of our authorities to investigate but we do not see the necessity to treat them as criminals," he said referring to the union's own interviews with the Palm Court residents last Sunday.

In the incident, several of them claimed that they had been physically assaulted and that their passports had been defaced, but the police denied these accusations.

Following this, the Indian High Commission here lodged two diplomatic protests while the Indian government threatened to review trade ties with Malaysia if the latter failed to provide an explanation o­n the matter.

Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi then directed Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai to personally look into the allegations and submit a report to him.

The New Straits Times reported today that several policemen had been interviewed and that the report was being compiled.

Rajasekaran suggested that enforcement officers be given adequate training o­n how to treat expatriate workers.

"(Immigration and police officers) should understand that guest workers are here at the invitation of the Malaysian government and they should be treated with respect," he added.

"We, therefore, welcome (Abdullah's) directive to the Inspector-General of Police to conduct a thorough probe and take appropriate action to ensure that such unfortunate incidents do not recur."

Visit called off

On the international front, the diplomatic tiff with India over the incident appears to be far from over, as New Delhi steps up the pressure o­n the Malaysian government to respond to its protests.

In its latest move, India has withdrawn its hockey team from participating in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, scheduled to take place in Perak from March 22-30, as an expression of the country's displeasure.

"We have pulled out of the tournament due to a direction from the Indian government because of the harassment of Indian computer professionals in Malaysia," an Indian Hockey Federation official told wire news service Reuters yesterday.

This prompted DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang to propose in a statement today that a special cabinet committee "be tasked to repair Malaysia-India relations", which have plunged to an all-time low. He said the committee should be headed by Works Minister S Samy Vellu ( photo ).

Last week, New Delhi was also said to have called off a proposed visit by Health Minister Chua Jui Ming to the capital city.

Other retaliatory actions threatened by India were to reconsider tariff concessions o­n Malaysian palm oil and a civil aviation treaty between the two countries which may affect Malaysia Airlines operations.