‘Dr M is the real racist’

The Malaysian Indian Business Association president P Sivakumar says the former premier has no moral standing to accuse DAP and Malaysiakini of being racists.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has no moral standing to talk of racism, said Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba) president P Sivakumar.

“Mahathir is the real racist in the country. In fact, all parties in Barisan Nasional are racists,” said Sivakumar.

The former Umno president on Wednesday accused online news portal Malaysiakini and DAP of being extremists who were responsible for the increased racial polarisation in the country.

Mahathir reportedly made this accusation during the launching of “Antarctica: Malaysia’s Journey to the Ice”, a book published by national news agency, Bernama.

Mahathir went on say that he would stop making racially charged statements if others would follow suit.

Sivakumar, who is also a DAP member, said that his party believed in the concept of a Malaysian Malaysia.

“We are a multi-racial party. There are about 30% non-Chinese in the party and the number of others wanting to join us in on the rise.

“But the same cannot be said about Umno, MCA and MIC. They are all race-based and worse, Umno holds steadfast to the principle of Malay supremacy,” said Sivakumar.

He reminded Mahathir to be grateful to Malaysiakini as the latter gave the former premier coverage when he was snubbed by the mainstream media during Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenure.

“In fact, Malaysiakini was one of the news portals which was instrumental in pressuring the government to institute reforms in the country,” he said

Sivakumar said that Mahathir was just trying to divert public attention from the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) proceedings in Sabah, which has implicated his administration in giving out citizenships illegally to foreigners.

“He should be charged with treason. He never consulted the Cabinet or Parliament before dishing out citizenships to foreigners,” said Sivakumar.