Ethnic cleaning and impoverishment of Malay Indians

Is Hindraf's claims of Ethnic Cleansing of Malaysian Indians Justified -- judge your self

No 'final solution' ethnic cleansing but...
A Keen Observer | Dec 7, 07 5:24pm

I write in response to the vigorous denials by ruling politicians and some Malaysiakini readers towards Hindraf’s claims of ‘ethnic cleansing’.
Societies do not leap from being non-discriminatory and egalitarian to the outright killing and extermination of ethnic minorities overnight. It is an evolutionary process that starts in small steps.

The initial phase is usually innocuous. It starts off with seemingly "noble" intentions including positive discrimination in favour of the group in power on various justifications such as socio-economic restructuring. However, the rule of unintended consequences usually means that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Once the perpetrators are allowed to get away with the initial measures, they can take it to the next level, including:

1. Restrictions on educational, employment and business opportunities for minority groups

2. Restrictions on language, cultural and religious freedoms on minority groups (including restrictions on the building of places of worship and recent calls to remove crosses from Christian schools by a local politician pandering to his religious constituency)

3. Encouraging the migration or destruction of the intelligentsia, including independent media, who are usually the first to oppose such policies

4. Ethnic or race tagging when dealing with government agencies for example, the insistence that citizens must declare their race in government forms and policies

In more advanced phases of this virulent condition, symptoms can include:

1. Ethnic or religious profiling in law enforcement

2. Complete domination of the government civil service and armed forces by the dominant power’s group, beyond its population proportions in the general community

3. The creation of underclasses and ‘ghetto-ed’ minorities

4. Outright religious persecution

5. Forced religious conversions

6. Vilification and demonisation of ethnic and religious minorities

7. The destruction of minority groups’ places of worship

8. Destruction of minority groups’ businesses

The Hitler- or Balkan-style "final solution" of outright killing and ethnic extermination usually takes years if not decades to happen. Ethnic cleansing does not require conscious planning by its perpetrators. The baser human tendency to divide our world view into "us" and "them" is enough to do the job. All it needs are populist or demagogue politicians who appeal to our false sense of racial patriotism (such as keris-waving politicians) and superiority.

Many ordinary German survivors of the Second World War struggled to come to terms with how they were foolishly-led by the Nazi regime into perpetrating some of the worst crimes against their fellow citizens. The ordinary German citizenry certainly did not start the 1930s with the outright ambition to rid the world of inferior races including Gypsies, same-sex couples and Jews. But by the end of 1945, over 20 million people perished as a result of the war, of which six to eight million were victims of race-hatred killings).

Yes, there is no ethnic cleansing of the Indian community in the sense of a "final solution" where outright killing occurs, as some of Malaysiakini readers have correctly pointed out.

However, no one rules out that the current and previous administrations’ policies, unwittingly or not, can become precursors to more advanced phases of ethnic cleansing. In fact, the political power base of the past and present administrations are based on the toxic twin ideologies of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ and Islam ideology. It is extremely unlikely that the present administration can undo any of these policies without undermining its very own political power.

Hence, it is understandable why Hindraf has made these "outrageous" claims. When the final solution arrives, it is too late. Just ask the surviving African Sudanese refugees in Darfur or the Tibetan exiles today. It is too late to ask the hundreds of thousands of Tutsis who were killed in the Rwandan genocide, and the Bosnian and Croats killed in the Balkan wars. It is certainly too late to ask the millions of Jews, Gypsies and other minority groups killed by the Nazis in the Second World War.
http://www5.malaysiakini.com/letters/75795

Athi Veerangann
October 8, 2007, Malaysiakini
17 YEARS ON, PENANG INDIANS HAVE 'NOTHING'

When the standard of living among some sections of Indian Malaysians falls lower than that of foreign workers in the country, tough questions have to be asked.

And community leaders are asking the questions - with plenty of scepticism, too - in the wake of a Penang government pledge to lend a "strong helping hand" to some 150,000 Indian Malaysians in the state.

Last week, Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon said a comprehensive policy would be drawn up to upgrade the standard of living of the community.

But with speculation growing that a snap election could be called by March next year, community leaders wonder if Koh is attempting to make up lost ground and if the decision only amounts to an election gimmick.

United Hindu Religious Council president G Mugunthan said Koh should have kick-started such a policy when he was sworn as the state's third chief minister 17 years ago - not now.
"Since Gerakan took over the Penang chief ministership after the 1969 general election, Indians have been marginalised, sidelined and discriminated against. They have not reaped the benefits of economic prosperity enjoyed by the state over the past three decades," he said.

"The community now lagged far behind others, including even foreign workers."

National Silambam Association Penang branch treasurer L Balasupramaniyam also claimed that migrant workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia are far better off than the majority of Indian Malaysians in Penang.

He said Koh will not need feedback from Indian grassroots leaders to formulate and execute the policy because "it's open for all to see that Indians are the most marginalised community in the state and country".

"It's shocking that it has taken 17 years for the Penang chief minister to realise this," he said.

Koh had announced the policy when officiating the People's Progressive Party state annual general meeting, and had called on local Indian leaders to provide feedback to assist the state government.

This is not the first such announcement. Two years ago, he said the state government would set up a special fund to provide soft loans at a low interest rate to Indians to finance business ventures; further their education at either public or private tertiary institutions or to acquire vocational skills; expand property ownership; and increase their economic stake. The fund has yet to materialise.

Difficulties confirmed

The Penang government has long been aware of the Indian Malaysian community's difficulties.

In 1997, it commissioned and funded a study on the socio-economic status of Indians. More than RM100, 000 was spent on a survey conducted by the Socio-Economic and Environment Research Institute (Seri).

Between November 1997 and February 1999, it polled 3,100 Penang Indian households in 27 residential areas, focusing on employment and income distribution; participation in the corporate, professional and business sectors; social development; youth and children; housing and community facilities; and education and skills.

The findings of the study told an appalling story of neglect:

• 80,000 or 60 percent were wage earners in the lower income brackets.

• Average monthly income was between RM500 and RM1, 000 per household.

• Seven percent were living in hardcore poverty.

• About 80 percent in the manufacturing industry, Penang's biggest revenue earning sector, were low-level workers.

• Involvement in the tourism sector, the state's second highest revenue earner, was virtually non-existent.

• About 50 percent of private companies did not have a single Indian employee.

• The share in paid-up capital investments in the state were a mere 0.2 percent.
• The majority were indulged in traditional businesses due to lack of funds, bureaucratic red tape, racial discrimination and difficulty in securing loan.

• Nearly 30 percent were squatters or living on temporary occupation licence (TOL) land.

• About 75 percent of pupils in 28 Tamil primary schools had failed to achieve the minimum pass-mark of `C' in all six subjects in the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah public examination.

• At secondary level, 80 percent of pupils had stopped schooling after Form Five.

• Many Indians were involved in alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and child abuse.

• Nearly 40 percent of the state's suicide cases involved Indians.

Publicity stunt?

Although the state government then announced it would use the Seri report as the foundation of a comprehensive policy to upgrade standard of living for the community, there has been no follow-up action.

Mugunthan said the findings were unambiguous that Indians lag far behind other communities because of unequal distribution of state wealth.

Balasupramaniyam pointed out that 50 years of independence and capitalism have not done the community any good.

He said the state government has yet to start a comprehensive programme to increase Indian share in the state economic pie and improve academic achievement by investing in physical infrastructure and teaching facilities in Tamil schools.

Discrimination in terms of jobs and salary, especially in the private sector, has affected the livelihood of several generations of Indian Malaysians, he claimed.

"It's clear that Koh's recent announcement is only to fish Indian votes. He knows that the majority are disgusted and disillusioned with the Gerakan-led state government," he said, pointing out that the need is to redress the imbalance instead of carrying out frequent publicity stunts for political mileage.

"Otherwise, the state will soon have a large pool of impoverished people, dominated by Indians. The symptoms are there. This could trigger serious social problems," he warned.

http://www.indianmalaysian.com/sound/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=674

Human rights abuse continue – Malaysian Government acting like Talibans – the terror connection between Al_Queda and Malaysian Government
Nitin Kothari Dec. 9, 2007

It is time for the world communities realize what the current regime in Malaysia is up to. Malaysia has become the first official organized terror operator and the top abuser of human rights.

Seven more people were arrested for holding peaceful rallies against senseless uncivilized and inhuman abuse of Hindus by the Muslim dominated Malaysian Government.

The UN is watching closely. The streets of Malaysian capital also echo a secret connection between Malaysian Government and the AL-Quaeda. There is no doubt these are some sort of Talibans and the money flow from the Government of Malaysia and the Al-Queda cannot be totally disputed.

Ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Muslim countries is nothing new. Rape, murder and total discrimination against Hindus are the basis of forming Pakistan. Malaysia has many different ethnic roots. It is an organized act of the Islamic terrorists to hoot out the Hindus through the use of blatant terror. They tried it in Kashmir. They are doing it now in Malaysia. There is no Al-Quaeda, Taliban or Islamic terror outfits that can stop the progress of the civilized free world. Hindus won every battle through peaceful disobedience. It will be no different in Malaysia. The Malaysian Islamic Government with ties to Islamic terrorists has some lesson to learn.
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/18791.asp