Expressing surprise that the lawyers group had criticised PH’s promise on the matter, Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy said there were an estimated 300,000 stateless Indians including children who had been denied education and healthcare due to their citizenship status.
He was commenting on a remark by LFL executive director Eric Paulsen yesterday that although it was early days, the new PH government did not seem to acknowledge the serious problem of statelessness affecting Malaysians from all walks of life, choosing to focus only on such problems affecting the Indian community as stated in Promise 1 of the Special Commitment for the Indian Community.
Noting that such problems occurred nationwide and affected more than one ethnic group, he said it was imperative that efforts to correct this grave injustice be extended to all stateless persons, not just those of Indian descent.
“Hindraf has been raising this chronic issue with the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government for 13 years.
“Initially when Hindraf raised this issue in 2005 we were seen as a nuisance. Subsequently, after the Hindraf rally in 2007, we were termed racist including by civil societies for raising this issue,” Waytha said.
He said it was only in the run-up to the 13th general election that the issue received attention from Pakatan Rakyat leaders.
He said the 300,000 stateless Indians were now hopeful that the PH government would finally find a solution.
“LFL should appreciate PH leaders’ commitment but instead at this juncture, it seems to be derailing the attempt by the new government. It should instead ask the government to also include other races affected by the issue rather than pointing negatively at the manifesto and blaming the PH leadership of concentrating on Indians alone.
“Hindraf is surprised why LFL remained quiet all along and at this juncture seem to be making an issue with PH?
“The number and cause of statelessness among the Indians is unique and policies previously adopted are targeted at them specifically. One cannot lump all the races together as each community may have a different cause for their state,” Waytha said, adding no one should be denied citizenship.
He also said the stateless issue affecting a large number of people in Sabah and Sarawak was different from the unique problem faced by Malaysian Indians who had been denied their constitutional right to citizenship as result of discrimination by civil servants and BN politicians.
Stateless persons: Don’t limit efforts to Indians, govt told