Malaysian Indians call on Advani and other BJP leaders

New Delhi, Dec 6: A delegation of Malaysian Hindu leaders today met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani and other BJP leaders to apprise them about the discrimination, injustice and persecution faced by the community in that country.

Urging the BJP to put pressure on the Indian government and take up the cause of Malaysian Indians mostly from Tamil Nadu, the group led by Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) Chairman P Wytha Moorthy explained how the Indian community was marginalised and persecuted by the Muslim majority country. About 10,000 temples were demolished during the last 50 years and all of them were as old as 150 years, he claimed.

''We were also told how the attempts were being made by Malaysia, a multi-ethnic nation to strip the Hindus of their dignity and self respect,'' BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters after the meeting. The delegation informed how a steady attempts were being made by the Muslim majority nation to impose Shariah Court rulings on non-Muslims in the matters concerning inter-faith marriages and the religious identity of their children.

The People of Indian Origin were taken to Malaysia by the British as indentured labourers over 200 years ago. The community was oppressed with practically no budgetary provision for their economic and educational advancement. ''Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam schools have dwindled due to the administration's deliberate plans to cut off its cultural and spiritual heritage,'' they told BJP leaders.

Mr Moorthy, a lawyer-cum-rights activist was conveyed by Mr Advani that the BJP would do everthing within its power to help the people of Indian origin. India had a moral obligation to take up the case of Malaysian Indians and cannot shirk its responsibility under pressure from pseudo secular forces on the pretext that it was an internal matter of Malaysia, Mr Advani told Mr Moorthy.

In a related development, Singapore's Minister Mentor and elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew called on Mr Advani at his residence to discuss the issue and agreed with Mr Advani's views on the Malaysian Indians. He further said not just Hindus but Buddhists, Taoists and Christians were also being discriminated against by Malaysian authorities.

UNI