Malaysia Indian lawmaker seeks prosecution of royal chief

KUALA LUMPUR: Indian origin lawyer-lawmaker Karpal Singh has refused to apologise to the royal head of Kelantan State and has instead sought his prosecution for making remarks against the interests of ethnic minorities.

The royal chief, Mohamad Faris Petra, earlier this month said that minorities in Malaysia should not question the primacy and special privileges of the majority Malays. Malaysia has 33 percent Chinese and eight percent ethnic Indian population.

Singh, who heads the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), said the royal chief's statement was a negation of the federal constitution and that he should be prosecuted.

While he received support from ethnic Chinese groups and political parties, some leaders of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional asked Singh to apologise to the Mahkota, who holds a constitutional office.

Singh on Monday said the attorney-general should direct the police to lodge a case against the Tengku Mahkota for going beyond what he claimed was permissible as freedom of speech, the media reported.

The Economic Times