EXCLUDING Muslims from citizenship is unfair, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said of India’s amendments to its citizenship act, despite a rebuke from New Delhi to stop commenting on its internal affairs.

“That is their opinion and my opinion is my opinion. Whether you want to believe me or other people, you are free do do so,” Dr Mahathir told reporters after closing the KL Summit 2019 today when asked about New Delhi’s request that Putrajaya refrain from commenting on its policies.

The prime minister had commented changes that India made its law to naturalise “persecuted minorities” from neighbouring countries Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 

The bill does not include Muslim minorities such as the Ahmadiyya and the Rohingya, leading to clashes between Muslim protesters and law enforcement in some parts of India.

Dr Mahathir yesterday said such a law would lead to instability and “everyone would suffer”. It was also unfair, given that Muslims have lived in India as citizens for many years, he added.

“It is very unfortunate. India is a secular state from the very beginning and the religions of the people have not prevented them from being citizens. They have been citizens all this while. But to exclude Muslims from being citizens, even by due process, is unfair,” he said again today.

“So, we have voiced our disagreement with this kind of treatment.” 

Citing Malaysia’s experience, he said people from other lands had been accepted as citizens even though they were not indigenous to Malaya.

“They are not indigenous and they came during the British rule. But we have accepted them as our citizens and they are free to practice what they wish to believe in. 

“We think that countries that have foreigners who have come to settle for a long time. People who have been there for a long time must be treated as citizens and treated fairly,” he said.

New Delhi yesterday protested Dr Mahathir’s remarks about its Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying the prime minister had been “factually inaccurate”.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry in a statement said the amendments expedited naturalised citizenship for persecuted minorities from the three countries.

It did not impact that status of any Indian citizen, nor will it deprive any Indian of his or her faith or citizenship, the MEA said.

It also said Malaysia should refrain from commenting on India’s internal matters without knowing the facts.

Asked if he was concerned about a backlash against Malaysia, Dr Mahathir referred to a purported palm oil “boycott” by India, noting that this was not an official policy of New Delhi’s.

“We made some remarks about India and statements were made that they would not buy our palm oil. But these were statements from the private sector and not made by the government,” he said.

The ban on imports of Malaysian palm oil was supposedly in response to Dr Mahathir’s previous comments about New Delhi’s “invasion” of Kashmir at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

But Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said it never received any diplomatic note about a palm oil import ban from India. 

Last month, Malaysia and India signed a new pact for future imports by Indian refiners

On Kashmir, Dr Mahathir said Malaysia maintained that aggression is not the way to resolve conflicts.

“All conflicts should be resolved by negotiations and arbitration and the court of law,” he said. – December 21, 2019.