25th August 2013
PRESS RELEASE: Govt and police force must immediately stop racial-profiling of Msian Indians
I refer to the statement by CID Director Hadi Ho Abdullah on 24/8/13 that 71 per cent of gang members are Indians. How is this huge figure possible considering that Indians constitute only 7 per cent of the population? If this figure is true, it is nothing short of a national crisis involving the Indian community. If true, why has this astonishing figure not been revealed to the public before?
We believe that this bloated figure is caused by systematic and long-term racial profiling of the Indian community by police and other enforcement authorities. The figure is as high as 71 per cent simply because the police have been targeting the Indian community in their operations.
In this racial-profiling method of police enforcement, Malaysian Indians are suspected of crimes simply because of their ethnic identity. This in turn leads to harassment, unlawful arrests and breaches of fundamental rights. More dangerously, it also results in rough treatment of Indians in police custody.That Indians have been victims in many high-profile death in custody cases is a clear result of consistent racial-profiling; notorious examples are cases such as Francis Udayappan, Kugan, Sugumar, Darmendran, Karunanithi etc. A recent example of murderous racial-profiling is the police fatal shooting of 5 young Indians in Penang.
Racial-profiling also leads to routine police harassment of the Indian community; the majority of those arrested in the ongoing Ops Cantas are believed to be Malaysian Indians. The treatment of the Indian community at the hands of the police authority and Home Ministry parallels the long-term persecution of blacks in America by law enforcement authorities.
We demand that a full-scale independent inquiry be set up urgently to look into racial-profiling of Malaysian Indians by law enforcement authorities. We further demand an immediate end to harassment and racial-profiling of Malaysian Indians by the Home Ministry and police. We call upon the Prime Minister to make an immediate public statement confirming that racial-profiling will be ended and assure the Indian community of their safety.
Issued by,
N SURENDRAN
VICE PRESIDENT, KEADILAN
MP PADANG SERAI
