Putrajaya stands firm on ‘Interlok’

Muhyiddin said the phrase “pariah caste” will be replaced with the “the same group.” — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — The government today confirmed the retention the controversial “Interlok” novel for the secondary school syllabus, choosing only to amend parts deemed insensitive to the country’s Tamil community.

Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today that the Cabinet has asked Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to edit the novel in order to replace these terms, resisting pressure from the Indian community and politicians from both sides of the divide for the book to be dropped completely.

In January, Muhyiddin announced that the controversial novel would remain as a textbook in the literature component of the Bahasa Malaysia subject for Form Five students but with amendments to several aspects deemed sensitive by the Indian community.

He also announced the formation of an independent panel comprising academics, literary figures and representatives from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, tasked to study the amendments.

Earlier this month, however, three of the panellists had walked out of an emergency meeting called by the deputy prime minister himself in Parliament, after they were asked to compromise by just omitting the word “pariah”.

The independent panel had last met on March 4, when they agreed on 100 amendments to the novel.

The book, which was written by national laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain in 1971, chronicles the daily struggles of the Malays, Chinese and Indians in pre-independence Malaya.

Muhyiddin reiterated that the panel has agreed to remove the phrase “pariah caste” to be replaced with the “the same group.”

“The writer of the novel has agreed to the proposal to the edit the words and the government would like to thank the author for his generosity for allowing his literary work to be edited,” he said during question and answer session in parliament.

MORE TO COME

Meanwhile, read this post to understand what had been agreed (post in Malay):

Kenyataan Media Wakil Kaum India

Berikut kenyataan rasmi Dr N. S. Rajendran, G. Krishnabahawan dan Uthaya Sankar SBpada 24 Mac 2011, jam 11:30 pagi: .

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1.Sejak “berundur” daripada Panel Bebas pada 16 Mac 2011 – RUJUK DI SINI – kami bertiga tidak menghadiri apa-apa mesyuarat “Panel Bebas” berkaitan walaupun satu mesyuarat seumpama itu diadakan di Menara DBP pada pagi 23 Mac 2011.

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2.Pada jam 12:00 tengah hari, 23 Mac 2011, kami bertiga memenuhi undangan ke perjumpaan bersama Timbalan Perdana Menteri (Menteri Pelajaran) di Aras 3, Menara Parlimen. Perjumpaan itu turut dihadiri Presiden MIC, Datuk G Palanivel dan timbalannya, Datuk Dr S Subramaniam, serta (pemerhati) Pegawai Khas kepada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Ravin Ponniah. Beberapa individu lain turut hadir. Pendirian tegas dan “satu suara” jelas antara kami berlima iaitu tiga wakil kaum India dan dua pemimpin MIC. Permintaan dan pendirian kami adalah tetap sama.

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3.Pada akhir perjumpaan itu, Timbalan Perdana Menteri memberi jaminan bahawa kesemua 105 pindaan (kesilapan bahasa, kesalahan fakta dan perkara menyentuh sensitiviti kaum India) seperti dikemukakan wakil kaum India dan diperakukan Panel Bebas secara konsensus pada 4 Mac 2011 akan dilaksanakan. Pindaan itu akan dilakukan dalam tiga bentuk, iaitu gugur/ganti frasa/perkataan yang salah/silap;errata iaitu senarai pembetulan fakta dan kesilapan suntingan; dan glosari sedia ada ditambah bagi memperjelaskan beberapa huraian dan konsep.

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Ringkasnya, kami bertiga tidak pernah berundur daripada keputusan dan pegangan kami.