A news channel in Tamil Nadu, South India, has been told that there is no need to interfere with Malaysian politics and berate or accuse its leaders, like Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, for allegedly sowing discord among different races in the country.
DAP Bagan Dalam assemblyperson Satees Muniandy (photo, above) told the channel, Namnadu TV, the news clip, which has gone viral in Malaysia, that Malaysians would handle their own issues as these have has nothing to do with India.
"Whatever the issue at hand, this is a Malaysian issue, and we will handle it within Malaysia.
"There is no need for Indian news channels to interfere and berate our leaders, when it has nothing to do with their country.
"No one asked them to do so; unless they purposely want a controversy," Satees told Malaysiakini today.
The same principles, he said, apply to Indian politicians.
He recalled an Indian politician from a minor political party in India making an unnecessary comment, during Seafield temple riot last year, which angered many Malaysians, including many of those who are of Indian ethnicity, like him.
"If they want to comment on issues pertaining to bilateral relations, and concerning issues of common interest to India and Malaysia, they can do so.
"But, not on the issue that has no relevance to them," Satees said.
Namnadu TV had accused Mahathir of belittling the Indians in Malaysia by using derogatory terms on Indian Malaysians, such as “keling” and “foreigners”, for which the prime minister had apologised in April last year.
Mahathir had dismissed the words as a common term used in his native state of Kedah during his childhood.
Mahathir also irked many people during the recent Malay Dignity Congress, when he said the Malays were forced to accept foreigners in order to achieve independence from the British.
To this Namnadu TV said that of late, Mahathir appeared to be fond of causing uneasiness among the races in Malaysia.
“Once again, he courted controversy with the arrests of politicians, who are linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),” the TV channel reported.
The news report also pointed to the statement of Bukit Aman Counter-Terrorism Division head Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay (photo) that police are monitoring Tamil Nadu politicians, especially Naam Thamilar party coordinator Seeman Senthamilan, who is a staunch supporter of LTTE.
Satees said if the TV wanted to report on the news of the arrest of 12 individuals for purported links to LTTE, an armed Sri Lankan group defunct since 2009, because of its news value, it is welcome to do so.
"But they should not comment on the domestic issues of Malaysia and berate the prime minister and the government.
"We may have differences of opinion with our prime minister and we have every right and sufficient democratic space to comment about it. We don't need it to be said by some unrelated foreign media.
"This is totally a local issue, which we are capable of handling. We don’t need foreign advice on this," Satees added.
He also said no one would question if the Indian media wanted to comment about Mahathir’s position on the Kashmir issue or about one of their countrymen hiding in Malaysia to avoid Indian law enforcement.
On this, Satees was referring to preacher Dr Zakir Naik who has refused to return to his home country in India to face court charges on involvement in money laundering activities.
Zakir, who has permanent resident status in Malaysia, denied the charges, saying he could not receive a fair trial in India. - Mkini
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