MiRA, A Party To Fight For Shia And Bugis Rights Launched

I, for one, who am from the Bugis Royal Family of Selangor, welcome MiRA with great excitement and hope that finally we from the Bugis community will see justice done and will no longer be insulted with the label of ‘pirate’. In fact, just like the Sikhs, the Bugis are warriors, not pirates, who even the Dutch feared.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

S. Gobi Krishnan from the newly-launched Parti Hak Minoriti Malaysia or MiRA

The newly-launched Parti Hak Minoriti Malaysia or MiRA is putting minority rights as the spearhead of its perjuangan or struggle. This is the first time Malaysia has a political party that has been set up specifically to fight for the minorities or for minority rights.

The Shia community, a very small minority in a predominantly Sunni-Islam Malaysia, is being denied its right to exist or for Shias to practice their beliefs. Those who are known to be Shia are detained and sent for religious rehabilitation.

The Pakatan Harapan state government does not respect the rights of the minorities

There is also another minority of Muslims who have converted to Christianity and who also live in fear of arrest and persecution. MiRA would be the best platform for these Shia Muslims and apostate Muslims to seek refuge and to get help to fight for their rights.

Maybe MiRA can make another few police reports regarding this.

Then there is the minority community of Bugis who are being called pirates by no other than Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself. No doubt the Bugis are not as small a minority as the Shia Muslims and apostate Muslims, but they are still a minority that suffer discrimination and insults.

I, for one, who am from the Bugis Royal Family of Selangor, welcome MiRA with great excitement and hope that finally we from the Bugis community will see justice done and will no longer be insulted with the label of ‘pirate’. In fact, just like the Sikhs, the Bugis are warriors, not pirates, who even the Dutch feared.

The Dutch feared the most famous Bugis warrior, Raja Haji, and nicknamed him Raja Api or the Fire Prince

While the Dutch attacked the British ships and did not fear the might of the British Navy, the Dutch made a treaty with the Bugis and in that treaty the Dutch agreed to share 50% of whatever they plundered from the British with the Bugis, the first time in history this was ever done.

The Dutch even nicknamed Raja Haji, the Bugis leader at that time, Raja Api or the Fire Prince, as a show of great respect. And the Dutch have never known to show respect to anyone — not the British, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese or Indians.