The withdrawal of the controversial school text Interlok shows a weak government which has buckled under a minority group's pressure, according to Malay rights pressure group Perkasa.

NONE In a SMS statement last night, Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hasan Syed Ali said the group was “very angry with MIC president G Palanivel” ( right ) over the withdrawal of the Form 5 literature text.

“Perkasa is extremely disappointed and regrets the government’s decision to withdraw the novel Interlok as a textbook.

“The government is too weak and has failed to withstand pressure from a minority group that is big headed,” said Syed Hasan.

“Perkasa is aware of MIC’s need to bank on the Indian vote for the GE13

“This is very insolent. Because of the Indian vote, the dignity of a Malay writer is being insulted,”  he added.

Yesterday Palanivel announced the cabinet decision to withdraw the novel, that had been a sore point for Malaysian Indians since it was included in the syllabus.

‘Goodbye Malay vote’

The right-wing pressure group said the move is likely to cost MIC Malay votes in the coming polls.

“Perkasa is confident that Malay voters will not support MIC candidates or Indian candidates who are anti-Malay, and it is possible there will be independent candidates who will contest where MIC candidates plan to contest where the constituents are over 50 percent Malay,” said Syed Hasan.

NONE Claiming the contents of the novel to be “factual”, he said it was not the author who had insulted the Indians but the community itself, through its caste system that referred to the lowest strata as pariah.

“It wasn’t the Malay author (who insulted the Indians). And (the caste system) still exists in India itself.”

“Perkasa objects to this decision (to withdraw the novel). The minority has become big headed,” said Syed Hasan.

Over the past year the Indian community has been up in arms over Interlok, penned by national laureate Abdullah Hussain, for painting the community in poor light and in particular for its use of the derogative term ‘pariah’ in the text.

In October an NGO Niat took to handing a petition to the agong to press for the withdrawal of the textbook.

“This book is unfit for use as a text book as it is biased, racial and harmful to the students and the society at large,” said Centre for Policy Issues head Lim Teck Ghee in support of the petition.

The government had until now been resistant to demands to have the book withdrawn from the syllabus, and had only agreed to make some changes to the text.