Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and MIC vice-president T Mohan have been hammered for their latest statements on the number of stateless people in the country.

Describing the remarks by the duo as "disgusting", Seberang Perai municipal councillor David Marshall said BN leaders were still in a delusion as they cannot accept the fact that they had been rejected in the last general election by Malaysians and the Indian community in particular.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Marshall ventured to ask the duo to reply to his questions if they had the answers.

"Do Najib and Mohan have the real figures? How many actually hold red ICs and how many of them are Indians?

"How many births have been registered and of the figure, how many babies from Indian families were not registered as their parents do not have valid documents?

"How many students from Tamil schools do not have birth certificates and how many cannot continue with their studies in secondary schools as they have no MyKad?" Marshall asked.

"These figures will prove MIC’s propaganda and lies that the number of stateless people is only 3,853.

"Stop issuing rethorics and feel good statements without evaluating the real scenario," Marshall told Najib and Mohan.

Marshall (on left in photo) was referring to two reports in Malaysiakini, titled Najib: Will Harapan leaders apologise after stateless Indian's 'reveal' and MIC demands apology from Harapan for 'lying' about 300k stateless Indians, which were published on Aug 27.

While Najib expressed gratitude that another "slander" against the BN before GE14 has been corrected, Mohan accused Harapan of lying about the 300,000 stateless Indians figure.

Their remarks follow the clarification by Deputy Home Minister Mohd Aziz Jamman that the National Registration Department had only received 3,853 forms from stateless persons, and that 1,683 applications have been settled while the remaining were being processed.

Marshall said Mohan was not qualified to ask Harapan to apologise as his own party has failed to address the stateless peoples problems when it was in power.

MIC failed on Indians

Marshall said MIC also failed to improve the social, economic, political and education status of the community as only "certain individuals" enjoyed prosperity while most Indians, including MIC members and their local (branch) chiefs, suffered.

As for Najib, Marshall wants him to focus on his ongoing "kleptocracy" cases, where the Pekan MP is facing seven charges related to the 1MDB scandal.

"Focus on that instead of trying to undermine the rakyat's confidence in Pakatan Harapan," he said.

He insisted that Harapan's claim that there are 300,000 stateless people is true, and said MIC had earlier denied that stateless people even existed in the country.

MIC only changed its stance when it realised the political implications of the issue and started to register those affected, Marshall claimed.

"However the registration programmes were mere cheap propaganda stunts to garner political support for the party. After waiting for so long, it is not known where the forms have gone to," Marshall said.

He said MIC only conducted registration for stateless persons in its strongholds.

"What about other areas? That is why the number of application forms received by the NRD is not a reflection of the real situation," said Marshall, who is also the organising secretary of DAP Batu Kawan division.

On Aug 14, advocates of stateless persons welcomed the statement by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that stateless people above 60 years will be granted citizenship.