An opposition member of Parliament today sent a letter urging Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to correct the "misleading statements" made in the Dewan Rakyat by the Home Ministry regarding the recent mistreatment of Indian IT professionals.

Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) said she was "incensed by the lie" told by Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin in the House last week.

"He denied that the police had used force against the Indian nationals. He also denied that their passports were scratched and defaced as alleged by the Indian nationals," she said in a statement.

In the controversial incident o­n March 9, police raided Palm Court Condominiums in Brickfields and detained more than 200 Indian nationals in a check for illegal immigrants.

The Indians nationals, mostly IT professionals involved in the Multimedia Super Corridor, complained of rough treatment by the police during their detention.

Contradiction

Kok said the Indian nationals had told DAP leaders including herself at a meeting two weeks ago of being abused by the police and of their travel documents being defaced by the officers.

She said Zainal's ( photo ) statement contradicted the statements by both Home Ministry Secretary-General Aseh Che Mat and Abdullah last Thursday that apologies would be extended to the Indian government as the raid was not conducted according to procedure.

Abdullah, who is the home minister, had vowed to take action against police officials who did not follow proper procedures.

Aseh had criticised the operation for not involving immigration officers from the start.

Kok said Zainal's remark, if not corrected, would o­nly worsen the diplomatic ties between the Indian and Malaysian governments.

Image affected

Kok said the police action must be viewed seriously as the raid had smeared the image of the country and undermined the government's efforts to promote Malaysia as a tourism destination to India.

"The police action had also caused a considerable number of them to resign from their jobs and return to India. It had resulted in tension in the bilateral relationship," she said.

India had warned that the issue was affecting relations between the two countries which have strong economic links favouring Malaysia.

To show its displeasure, the Indian government had hinted it might reduce the import of palm oil from Malaysia and had refused to send its national hockey team for the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament running from March 22-30.

Some 40,000 Indian expatriates work in Malaysia, including IT professionals, engineers, doctors, academics and executives involved in joint ventures.