Malaysia seems to be a burning casket of grievances these days. The Hindraf agitation, the first large-scale protest led by ethnic Indians in Kuala Lumpur and other places in Malaysia seems to have left its ashes for others to follow suite. Malaysia is a land of ethnicity, which in its own terms means Truly Asia, with all cultural and ethnic races from all over Asia forming a part of this nation. However, the simmering discontent of indifference seems to be taking its toll on Malaysia with all the ethnic races coming out to protest against the indifferent attitude of the government toward each of them, and to add to their miseries is the rising cost of living in the land.
The affirmative action program favoring 60% of the population, comprising indigenous ethnic communities and Malaysians, is completely based on ethnicity. The grievances of other communities, comprising Indians, Chinese, Japanese, span from economic to social discrimination. The inherent right of a human being is his birth and death and the rituals thereafter, but the ethnic communities fear that they are being denied their rights—right to live, right to freedom, right to freedom of religion, right to practice profession of their own choice, and right to knowledge.
The Malaysian government has disbanded Islamic books by Christian authors citing that these books associate Islam with terrorism. The recent killing of one of the foremost leaders of the Indian community has added more hostility to the Malay-Indian conflict. However, taking cue from Mahatma Gandhi and the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, Hindraf has decided to adopt nonviolence fasting as a weapon to win the hearts of the Malay people and thereby pressurize the Badwai government to adopt a positive attitude toward the rightful agitation of the people of Indian origin. The latest development like the comment made by one of the topmost Malaysian leader that they are ready to talk to Hindraf is a small but right step in the direction of peace and economic prosperity of Malaysia to which Indians contribute no less than the Malays or the Chinese.
It remains to be seen what turn the agitation takes now.
Source: International Herald Tribune
