PRIME Minister Najib Razak today rubbished a political opposition claim that about 300,000 Malaysian Indians were without citizenship.

He said the claim was a lie and that only about 2,500 Malaysian Indians had applied for citizenship, including those born before independence and whose births were not registered.

The MyDaftar initiative did not find 300,000 stateless Malaysian Indians as claimed by the opposition, he said, adding that the matter had even been brought to the attention of the UK Parliament.

“This is a fairy tale. We only have 2,500 applications (for citizenship from Malaysian Indians). It is just like the claim that we brought in 40,000 Bangladeshi voters in the last general election, that the country would go bankrupt, and many other baseless stories,” he said at an event to present citizenship documents to Malaysian Indians in Kuala Lumpur today.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, MIC president Dr S. Subramaniam, and representatives of MyPPP, All Malaysian Indian Progressive Front, and Makkal Sakti were also present.

Najib said the government was committed to solving the problem stateless Malaysian Indians and had set up the Special Implementation Task Force under the Special Unit for Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community which introduced MyDaftar in 2011.

The MyDaftar initiative was launched early this year in tandem with the Malaysian Indian Blueprint to fully resolve the issue of Malaysian Indian citizenship .

At today’s event, 177 Malaysian Indians, including those who were born before independence, whose births were not registered, or who did not own identification documents, received their citizenships.

“Although the Indian community comprise only 7.4% of the population, this minority group is not neglected by the government of today,” said Najib, adding that the issues of the Indian community were not solved by a previous leader who had headed the country for 22 years.

Najib urged all political parties representing the Indian community to work together in empowering the minority group in tandem with the other communities.

“As I said when tabling Budget 2018, the Indian community does not need charity, but needs empowerment. That’s why the government has provided a 7% (quota) for Indians in public service and public institutions of higher learning. However, in principle, they must have citizenship.

“But, many take it easy. With citizenship, however, one can get all kinds of government aid, such as BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid), Tekun loans, treatment at 1Malaysia clinics… we do not want anything (in return) but when it is time, please help… that’s all (we ask).” – Bernama, October 31, 2017.