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DAP calls on Abdullah to stop “adding insult to injury” actions and to take firm measures to prevent the Brickfields police roughing up of Indian IT professionals from becoming a full-blown bilateral crisis between Malaysia and IndiaMedia Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): The government is mishandling the Brickfields police roughing up of 270 Indians, including many IT professionals, refusing to recognize that it has damaged Malaysia-Indian relations and undermined Malaysia’s international image as an aspiring IT centre. The Entrepreneurial Development Minister, Datuk Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz, who is currently in India, is experiencing first hand the “shock and displeasure” of the Indian authorities over the incident.
The Indian Express today reported that the strong Indian reaction was reflected in yesterday’s meeting between Nazri and the Indian Ministers, who expressed the Indian government’s “deep anguish” at the treatment meted out to Indian IT professionals.
There are also reports that some quarters of the Indian government are re-examining bilateral relations between the two countries, including some pending decisions affecting civil aviation like landing rights for Malaysia Airlines at Kolkata, duty exemptions on Malaysian palm oil exports to India and Malaysian business opportunities in India worth hundreds of millions of ringgit.
The various responses of the Malaysian authorities is far from satisfactory, and are aggravating the situation by “adding insult to injury”. The statements by the Foreign Minister, Datuk Syed Hamid Albar, the Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Zainal Abidin Zin and the Kuala Lumpur deputy police Chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Ahmad Bahrin Idrus are just not good enough – further aggravating hurt feelings instead of pacifying them.
DAP calls on the Acting Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to stop “adding insult to injury” actions of the various government authorities and to take firm action to repair Malaysia-India relations and to prevent the Brickfields incident involving Indian IT professionals from becoming a full-blown bilateral crisis between the two countries.
(12/3/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman |