ONLY 120 MyKads? It is an INSULT to the Indian community - Surendran slams Najib

I refer to the handing over of MyKads to 120 persons, mainly Malaysian Indians, at Bandar Baru Sentul by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak on 4 April 2013. This is a transparent and dishonest attempt to deceive the Indian community into thinking that the problem of statelessness is being resolved by the BN.

While documents have been given to 120 people, what about the estimated 300,000 more Indians throughout the country who remain stateless? Worse, about 49,000 Malaysian Indian children remain without birth certificates or MyKads.

The PM's show of handing over papers to the 120 persons after dissolution of parliament is clearly a cheap election gimmick; and not a serious attempt to end statelessness in Malaysia.

Widespread

The problem is not confined to Malaysian Indians. In Sabah, state NRD director Jaffear Henry recently said that up to 50,000 Sabahans in the interior are stateless. Why have Najib and the BN government done nothing to resolve the huge number of stateless Sabahans?

In order to resolve the problem of statelessness, the government must take a systematic and comprehensive approach. Piecemeal and politically motivated show events like in Bandar Baru Sentul on 4 April will not resolve the widespread problem of statelessness.

The root cause of statelessness are the existing policies and processes at the NRD which have been put in place by the BN government. Discriminatory practices, excessive bureaucratisation, disregard of constitutional provisions and the apathy of the Home Ministry are among the main reasons for the continuing tragedy of stateless Malaysians.

As the sole ruling government since independence, the BN is completely responsible for the endless sufferings of stateless Malaysians. Despite this, the government remains in denial over the extent of this problem. It is clear that stateless Malaysians face a bleak future under the rule of the Barisan Nasional. Pakatan Rakyat will honour their pledge of resolving statelessness within 100 days of forming the federal government.

N SURENDRAN, VICE PRESIDENT

PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT