Chinese brought to Tanah Melayu are ‘trespassers’, says Muslim group

Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia says Chinese migrants brought in by the British into Tanah Melayu are ‘trespassers’. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 6, 2014.Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has claimed that Chinese migrants brought in by the British to Tanah Melayu were “trespassers” and this wrong had to be corrected.

Its president, Ustaz Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, said the Chinese who came to Malaya were “trespassers” and questioned the citizenship and wealth given to them but did not specify how it proposed to correct this purported wrong.

"Who gave them citizenship and wealth until the results of their trespassing are protected until this day?

"This was all the doing of the British, who were in cohorts with the Chinese to oppress and bully the Malays," he said in a statement today, as reported on the group's website.

Abdullah also said this was a mistake which had to be corrected but he did not say how. "Nobody has the right to mortgage the sovereignty of Islam and the Malays on this land."

Abdullah's remarks come on the heels of the hudud issue, which has been strongly opposed by non-Muslims like the predominantly Chinese parties – DAP, Gerakan and MCA.

He had recently lashed out at non-Muslims fighting against the proposal to implement hudud, saying that they had forgotten themselves and had no business meddling with the affairs of Muslims.

"If they want to remain as citizens of this country, they must pledge loyalty to the Agong and accept the position of Islam as the official religion and the sovereign rights of Malays.

"Standing in the way of Malay ambition and denying Malays their right in determining the future of the nation is a challenge and an act of overstepping by a foreign race," he said.

Abdullah also hit out at DAP veteran parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang for saying that Isma was spreading racial “poison”.

He said Lim's remark was groundless because the latter himself was causing disunity among the people.

"This is evident in the Malaysian Malaysia concept he has been advocating that goes against the Constitution.

"He is making the Chinese dissatisfied (with what they have) to the extent that they are making claims and demanding more than what they have obtained all this while.

"Whereas, the special privileges for the Malays have been provided under the Constitution since Merdeka," he said.

This is the second time this week Isma has made remarks against non-Muslims.

On May 1, Abdullah warned non-Muslims in the country that they had no right to oppose the plan to implement hudud and that they should understand that there were limitations to what they could say.

He said non-Muslims “should be thankful that they have more than what they need in this country”.

He said he failed to see what were their contributions were that they had been given so many privileges in the first place.

"Their strong stand against hudud gives the impression that they are in a dream world.

"They must realise that they have no say in determining the future of Muslims in this country," he had said.