DAP 2016 Thaipusam Message By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 23.1.2016.
Malaysians Must Unite Against The Extremist And Racist Forces That Demonise Non-Muslim And Non-Malays With Hate, Fear And Lies.
Peace-loving and moderate Malaysias must unite against the extremist and racist forces that demonise non-Muslims and non-Malays with hate, fear and lies. Failure to do so will wreck nearly 60 years of nation-building, and leave a shattered nation that would be a fertile ground for more virulent and violent ideologies.
BN’s divisive policies had served to not only alienate Malaysians from each other, but also increase hostility due to the willingness to believe in the lies or the worst of each other. Sadly such racist and extremist policies of BN has been adopted by one opposition party to spew lies, fear and hate against non-Muslims and the Chinese community.
The hostility shown against non-Malays can be seen in a few national schools where non-Muslim children are not allowed to eat openly during the holy puasa month of Ramadan. Even a columnist in the New Straits Times today lamented that Muslim children were distrustful and reluctant to interact normally with non-Muslim children in schools. No wonder there are less and less non-Malay parents sending their children to national schools.
How serious the racial hostility is can be seen by an incident involving an Indian female doctor in Taiping. She had wanted to help an old Malay Pak Chik, who injured himself after he had fallen off from his motorcycle. Instead she was insulted with a racist epitaph of “Keling jangan bantu atau sentuh saya”. Only when the Malay Pak Chik knew she was a doctor did he smile to her and say, “Doktor boleh sentuh”.
This is not only shocking but shows how racist and extremist ideologies have led to what could be the distressing beginning of the dehumanisation of non-Malays and non-Muslims, as if they are lesser beings or lesser Malaysians. This is the reason why the plight of Indira Gandhi is not given the proper national attention she deserves. Indira’s plight should not be looked at solely from the religious perspective but also for her rights as a mother, wanting to be reunited with her daughter taken from her 7 years ago when she was only an 11-month old baby.
For this reason, whilst every family is reunited to celebrate Thaipusam we should not forget those who are kept apart from their families. DAP expresses sympathy with Indira as a mother denied her custodial rights over her own baby and child. Happy Thaipusam!
LIM GUAN ENG