MIC Youth has ticked the government off for forcing non-Muslims to adhere to Muslim requirements to cover up when entering government premises.

Its Youth chief C Sivarraajh said it was "unrealistic" to expect non-Muslims to dress according to Muslim practices, as the government should serve all Malaysians equally.

"They should not expect non-Muslim women to cover up -  from head to toe - when they go to government counters where they are entitled to same kind of services extended to Muslims.

"As Malaysians, we all expect the same level service in equal measures to all Malaysians," Sivarraajh (photo) said in a statement today.

He was responding to the rash of incidents over the past few weeks, in which women visiting government premises, including ahospital, were told to cover up.

"Therefore it is appropriate that the dress code in government departments be tweaked in keeping with the times," Sivarraajh said.

'Creeping Islamisation'

He said the fault lay with the government for not defining the proper dress code for its officers to follow, thus allowing them to act in an "ad hoc" manner.

"The government must make clear what can be worn and what cannot.

"It is high time that the government makes a ruling on what can be worn and what cannot be worn when people enter government premises," Sivarraajh said.

"The people should not be subjected to incidents where security guards at gates hand out sarong to a woman to cover her legs," he added.

The MIC Youth leader said such incidents were the result of "increasing Islamisation".

"Malaysians should not be forced to abide by the values of any particular religion and such sarong and towel incidents stem from a lack of mutual understanding among our people," he said, warning that if such rifts in inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations were not resolved, the country "will possibly descend into mob rule".

His sentiments were mirrored by BN component party MCA, which last weekend blamed "ultra-conservatives" for trying to impose their values on others.