Chennai, March 24 (IANS) Malaysia’s decision to sign a pact with India to protect workers of Indian origin is meant to prevent New Delhi from coming to the aid of Malaysians of Indian origin, a Malaysian activist said Monday.
Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P. Waytha Moorthy alleged here that Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s offer to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India Friday was a diversionary tactic.
“This is meant to nullify India’s efforts to help Malaysians of Indian origin because such an act will alienate workers of other ethnic origins there,” Moorthy said here.
On March 21, the Indian government said it would enter into a MoU with Malaysia to protect the rights of Indian emigrant workers.
Echoing demands made in Kuala Lumpur for the immediate release of five Hindraf activists jailed under the Internal Security Act by the Malaysian government, Moorthy vowed to continue the fight “till the draconian act was abrogated”.
Reiterating his calls for intervention by India’s central and Tamil Nadu governments to alleviate the suffering of ethnic Indians in Malaysia, Moorthy insisted that his organisation was their real representative.
“In the November elections, most candidates of the Malaysian Indian Congress including Samy Velu who has been a minister for 29 years lost because they were collaborating with the ruling party for so long. This is a clear indication that Hindraf is the new voice of Malaysian Indians,” Moorthy said.
“The Muslim and Chinese Malaysians are now taking inspiration from the Hindraf movement and demanding their rights,” he added.