Planned rally not an opposition ploy, says Nurul

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar believes the home minister is not trying to resolve the problems faced by stateless people.

PETALING JAYA: The planned rally tomorrow in Putrajaya to protest the plight of stateless Malaysian Indians is not a political tool of the opposition to instil hatred and incite racial conflicts, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said.

“It is disappointing that instead of resolving the issue, the Barisan Nasional once again falls back on the racial bogey,” she said in a press statement today.

Nuzul, who is Lembah Pantai MP, was rebutting Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s allegation that the planned rally was a mere political ploy of the opposition.

Hishammuddin also dismissed the opposition’s claim that there are 300,000 Malaysian Indians in the country who are stateless.

Said Nurul: “Hishammuddin is directly responsible for the National Registration Department, which has failed to resolve the longstanding issue of stateless Malaysians.”

She also claimed that statelessness is not only a problem plaguing the Indian community, but also other Malaysians as well.

Stateless people are deprived of the opportunity to work, to attend school and to receive basic healthcare besides being unable to vote although they were born and raised here all their lives.

Nurul also said the government has unlawfully refused to issue MyKad to these people.

She also took a swipe at BN parties which only speak for their own respective races.

“The BN has been and remains the greatest danger to the unity of all peoples and races in Malaysia,” she said.