The government has instituted a special task force to address the Indian community’s issues. — file pic
An estimated 40,000 stateless people born in the country — mostly Indians — will have until the end of the month to apply for official documents, without which they have been unable to find legal work, purchase property or open bank accounts.
The challenge now is for the MIC and the government to resolve their woes in a positive and proactive manner so that they need not live on the fringes of society as they have all these years.
Although born in Malaysia, they were rendered stateless because they or their parents did not register the births or apply for identify cards and other documents within the stipulated time.
Due to their or their parent’s apathy, abject poverty and illiteracy, these individuals have lived and suffered on society’s edges and form a vulnerable group among the Indian minority, whose plight has hogged the headlines for many years in the Tamil newspapers and contributed to the community’s deep sense of marginalisation.
But the government together with the MIC has begun a concerted eight-day nationwide campaign that kicked off last Saturday and runs till February 28, to find these individuals and register their needs and, hopefully, resolve their woes within six months from today.
This is the most proactive campaign ever to resolve this problem in a concerted manner and involves all 85 National Registration Department offices in the country in co-operation with Indian NGOs, MIC divisions and officials aided by a concerted publicity blitz in Tamil newspapers.
The response has been overwhelming, with long lines of people outside major NRD offices in the country since Saturday.
The political significance of the campaign, at least among the most vulnerable in the Indian community, is obvious as their plight has come to symbolise the community’s anger with the government.
The challenge now is for the government and the Special Cabinet Task Force for the Indian community — headed by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam — to not let the issue fester any further, but instead to speedily resolve it.
With official documents, this group can take their place as rightful citizens of society and enjoy all the benefits that come with it, and the community’s sense of marginalisation can finally see closure.
The perception of marginalisation had heavily influenced the community’s voting pattern in favour of the Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general election.
The failure to hold official documents has a domino effect on the individuals and the community at large because it perpetuates poverty by denying individuals proper careers and education, and fuels anger at perceived discrimination.
To counter the trend, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, on taking power in April 2009, had promised to set up a special Cabinet committee for Indians and resolve long standing issues in a proactive manner.
One of the issues he had singled out is the lack of birth certificates and identity cards amongst the Tamil working class.
Now that registration has been a success, the challenge is to resolve their woes and see to it that they get official documents that would go a long way to alleviate their deep sense of official neglect.
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