Waytha blasts NRD over girl’s attempted suicide after being denied MyKad

The callous attitude of the National Registration Department (NRD) in denying a 12-year-old her MyKad, which ended up in her consuming chlorax, reflects badly on Putrajaya, said a deputy minister.

P. Waythamoorthy (pic), who is also Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairman, in calling on the NRD to be more humane, said he failed to understand why Malaysian Indians continued to face obstacles whenever they tried to obtain identification documents.

He cited the recent case of S. Mahalachemi, who was required to obtain a DNA test because her skin colour was different to that of her mother’s.

"This child had her birth certificate confirming her Malaysian parentage. 

"As such, we find such callous attitude taken by NRD officers against Malaysian Indians reflects badly on the government of the day as it appears purely racist," said Waythamoorthy, who is with the Prime Minister's Department, in a statement today.

He pointed out that Hindraf had earlier provided to the Prime Minister a holistic solution within the ambit of the law, whereby such issues relating to the identification documents for over 300,000 stateless Malaysian Indians could be solved on a permanent basis.

Waythamoorthy added that the solution proposed was in compliance with the Federal Constitution, and initiated a pro-active manner to resolve the stateless issue facing the Malaysian Indians once and for all.   

"The failure of a comprehensive solution leads to such instances which we are observing now, with the attempted suicide by this child due to the unreasonable manner in which the NRD officers racially profiled the Malaysian Indian community," he added.

On Saturday, it was reported that Mahalachemi, who was constantly teased for having lighter skin tone than her Indian parents, was fighting for her life at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh after she was believed to have consumed bleach.

She recently made it into the news after her identity was questioned by the NRD when she applied for her MyKad.

Her mother, 60, had claimed that the NRD refused to issue her the MyKad because the girl had different skin colour from her parents.

The mother had also claimed that the NRD had asked for a DNA test to be conducted to prove that the girl was her biological daughter.

Hindraf signed a memorandum of understanding with the government before the 13th general election for the advancement of the Indian community.