Urimai secretary Satees Muniandy said the move to restrict traders was unconstitutional and discriminatory, noting that the Federal Constitution prohibits discrimination by public authorities based on place of residence or business.
“Should the state continue to ignore these calls, Urimai will pursue every legal and democratic avenue to overturn this unjust rule that unfairly targets Indian traders and consumers,” the former Bagan Dalam elected representative said in a statement.
Last Friday, FMT reported that local government enforcement officers drew flak after a video showing them taking action against stallholders at a trade fair in Bukit Mertajam went viral.
In a now-deleted TikTok video shared by the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP), enforcement officers were seen issuing compound notices to traders selling sarees and other Indian-themed goods.
The officers were also heard describing the event, held earlier this month, as illegal, while traders were told that they were in violation of two rules – they were not Penang residents, and they were selling “Indian-themed items” outside the allowed period.
The council’s actions were, however, in line with a state policy, currently implemented by the two city councils, that restricts Indian trade or sales fairs organised by non-Penang traders in a bid to protect local businesses.
Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow has since defended the policy, saying it was introduced more than five years ago after the Penang Indian Chamber of Commerce raised concerns that traders from outside the state were affecting the incomes of local businesses.
He said traders from outside Penang were not banned, but allowed to organise Indian-related sales fairs between April and June.
MBSP also maintained that the policy was not racially motivated and that cultural trade fairs were still permitted outside of the restricted period, subject to guidelines.
However, Satees today said that the broader ban was hurting both traders and consumers by reducing competition and limiting access to culturally significant and affordable goods.
“This is an anti-consumer rule. It restricts choice and inflates prices.
Satees asked the state to reveal how many actual traders had complained and accused the state of kowtowing to a small group of textile businesses. He also called on the federal government, particularly law and institutional reforms minister Azalina Othman Said, to advise Penang to review the policy in line with constitutional principles.