What are the minority rights denied for the last 61 years?
Rights are guaranteed by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Is there anything that the Constitution stipulates which the minorities have been denied? If MiRA can list down these rights that the minorities are being denied then we can move forward and continue this debate. We have been hearing so much talk about the minorities in Malaysia being denied their rights that have been guaranteed by the Constitution but we are yet to see what these are, especially those that have been denied all the way since 31st August 1957.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
I refer to the letter (below) from the Minority Rights Action Party (MiRA) and specifically to the first sentence in the second paragraph that says:
For his kind information and for the information of all, Minority Rights Action Party (MiRA) was formed specifically to fight for the rights of the minorities in Malaysia, which has been denied for over 60 years by the previous regime.
Maybe S. Gobi Krishnan can be more specific regarding what are those rights that the minority community are being denied for over 60 years, which I assume he means since 31st August 1957.
When the British Military Administration (BMA) formed the Malayan Union in 1946, only the Malays rose up to protest and to demonstrate on the streets. The Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Portuguese and ‘others’ did nothing and said nothing and the Malays were left entirely on their own with no support from the others whatsoever.
In 1948, the BMA formed the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu or Federation of Malaya. The Malays then started negotiations with the British for Malaya to be granted independence and they invited the other races to join them.
The Baba or Straits Chinese, mainly from Melaka, agreed to join the Malays in the Merdeka negotiations but the other Chinese from Penang, Singapore, Selangor and Perak showed no interest because, according to them, Malaya is not their home and they only wanted to make money and then go home to China.
The Indians were even worse. Most Malayan Indians supported Chanda Bose (a Japanese collaborator) and were only interested in India’s independence from Britain. To the Indians, Malaya was not their home and they did not care what happened to the country. In fact, the Indians were sending large amounts of their money home to India every month, even up to quite recently.
MIC, the Indian party, was actually a Communist party and was headed by a Sikh. Their objective was to see Malaya turned into a republic, just like India, the Indian motherland — which means Malaya’s monarchy would be abolished and there would no longer be any Raja-Raja Melayu.
Anyway, eventually, after nine years of talks, Malaya was granted independence. The non-Malays were given Malayan citizenship and were not sent back to India or China while the Malays were granted a special status. That was agreed by all races and was written into the Federal Constitution of Malaya and has never been changed since 31st August 1957.
So maybe MiRA can tell us which, specifically, are the rights that the minorities have been denied for more than 60 years. The minorities are given ICs and passports, they can set up churches and temples, they can celebrate their holy days and other festivals, they can have mother-tongue education and vernacular schools, they are free to practice their religious beliefs, they are free to do business and make tons of money, etc. And please differentiate between rights and privileges.
Rights are guaranteed by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Is there anything that the Constitution stipulates which the minorities have been denied? If MiRA can list down these rights that the minorities are being denied then we can move forward and continue this debate. We have been hearing so much talk about the minorities in Malaysia being denied their rights that have been guaranteed by the Constitution but we are yet to see what these are, especially those that have been denied all the way since 31st August 1957.
READ MORE HERE:
1. MiRA Party Press Statement on RPK 17 Oct 2018
2. Gobi Krishnan, Have You Made Your Police Report Yet?
3. MiRA, A Party To Fight For Shia And Bugis Rights Launched
