Special Article: Malaysian Indians: New Delhi Must Tread Cautiously

Malaysia, which celebrated 50 years of independence from British colonial rule on 31 August this year, had a fairly good record of communal harmony all these years. With creeping Islamisation by the ruling United Malays National Organisation led by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and attempts to convert Malaysia into a one-party Islamic state, many Malaysians, mainly people of minority Chinese and Indian origins, are getting restive. The Malaysian population consists of 67 per cent Malays, Bhumiputras or sons of the soil who are Muslims, 25 per cent people of Chinese origin and about eight per cent people of Indian origin.

The Malaysian Constitution adopted at the time of the country’s independence from British colonial rule in 1957 provided for special treatment to the Bhumiputras in government employment and admission to educational institutions. After the violent anti-Chinese riots of the late 1960’s during the Cultural Revolution and backed by the Chinese authorities, there has been no major ethnic violence in the country. Beijing has been more careful and scrupulously avoided giving any room for suspicion of interfering in the internal affairs of the country.

Genuine grievances

The quick response of New Delhi to the 25 November rally in Kuala Lumpur organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (HindRAF) which was put down with teargas shells and water cannons evoked a sharp retort by Malaysian ministers who wanted India to lay off.

Of the eight per cent Malaysians of Indian origin, 80 per cent are Hindus, 15 per cent Muslims and the rest are Christians or Sikhs. The current agitation in Malaysia by its citizens of Indian origin against discrimination and violation of human rights is not by the entire Indian origin Malaysian citizens but by the Hindu members of the community. They have a genuine grievance. Apart from the economic hardships they face due to the Bhumiputra policy of the government, their immediate concern is the large-scale demolition of Hindu temples. The government justifies the demolition on the ground that these temples were built on municipal or public land without official sanction. Some of the demolished temples, like the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur, was in existence for the last 100 years. It was demolished when about 300 devotees were inside, offering prayers. Last month, the Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Selangor, which had a huge following of Tamils, was demolished along with the squatter colony surrounding it.

When slavery was abolished in the 19th century, the British, to circumvent the abolition, came out with the ingenious system of indentured labour, which is nothing but a form of slavery, to work in plantations in their far-flung colonies. India was the recruitment ground for this new form of slavery. For almost all the recruits, it was a one-way journey which meant a terminal break with their motherland. As India faced cholera and smallpox and endemic famine in the second half of the 19th century, vulnerable people were duped into migrating to the distant colonies with the promise of a bright future. The culture of migration was sustained by potent economic conditions at home. What was then the Madras Province contributed the most number of people to work in Malaysia. The British rulers allowed these indentured labourers to erect temples wherever they fancied without let or hindrance in their adopted country which explains the numerous Hindu temples in Malaysia.

Descendants of these immigrants who are fourth or fifth generation Malaysians had lived through the last 50 years of independence without facing any serious religious persecution. They are suddenly faced with demolition of their places of worship. The British, while handling over power to the Malays, failed to provide adequate safeguards for the minority communities. Belated realisation of this lacuna had led HindRAF to sue the British government for $4 trillion as compensation which works out to $2 million each for every Malaysian Indian, for bringing their forefathers as indentured labourers and failing to protect their rights and interests at the time of granting independence to Malaysia.

No one seriously expects Britain to honour this claim. A memorandum submitted to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur at the end of the 25 November HindRAF rally urged the British government to move a resolution in the UN condemning the “ethnic cleansing” taking place in Malaysia. It also demanded the issue be taken to the World Court and the International Criminal Court of Justice.

While the grievances of the Malaysian Indians are justified, this is not a matter on which India can do much without jeopardising the good relations between the two countries. Thirty-one leaders of the agitation have been arrested on attempt to murder charge for allegedly causing injury to a policeman during the rally. Sessions judge Azimah Omar refused bail to the accused and remanded them in custody. If convicted, they face imprisonment for 20 years. Open expression of Indian concern by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, and the Tamil Nadu chief minister, Muthuvel Karunanidh, can only lead to polarisation between the Malays and the Malaysian Hindus and between Malaysian Hindus and Muslims of Indian origin in that country.

Many of the Indian origin Muslims, in fact, have adopted the Wahabi form of Islam and merged with the Malays. They are known as Mamaks. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was in power from 1981 to 2003, traces his ancestry to Kerala. In his book titled Islam and the Muslim Ummah, he wrote: “Today Islam has become different from the religion of peace and tolerance that was brought by Prophet Muhammad,” and that “Islam has become a rigid, intolerant and seemingly an unjust religion to the faithful and to others because of the fanaticism and misplaced orthodoxy of people with vested interest.” Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy Prime Minister, is of Tamil descent.

Disturbing trend

The present Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, makes no bones about Islam being the official religion of Malaysia and Bhumiputra the state policy. For Muslims, marriage, divorce and property are governed by Sharia courts. They are prohibited from converting to any other religion. But what is disturbing to India is news emanating from Malaysia in recent times. A Hindu was forcibly given a Muslim burial amidst protests by his family. A child was snatched from its Hindu mother for refusing to bring it up as a Muslim. Just before last Dipavali, the Sharia Department of the Malaysian government issued instructions to Muslims not to greet Hindus on the occasion of the festival of lights. Sami Velu, leader of the Malaysian Indian Congress who has been a minister in successive Malaysian governments, is more interested in promoting business deals between the two countries than address the plight of the Hindus who call him “Uncle Tom.”

HindRAF, either deliberately or mistakenly, has given a communal colour to its agitation against the state’s entrenched discriminatory policy, making it difficult for India to intervene. Perhaps Malaysian Hindus can take a leaf from their Chinese counterparts and learn the art of coexisting with the Malays.

By Sam Rajappa.
The author, a veteran journalist who retired from The Statesman, is based in Chennai.