The subject of stateless Indian in Malaysia is floated around as a political propoganda by the opposition to denounce BN and MIC. Once PKR Surendran said 300,000, Hindraf, Waytha quotes even a higher number.
It is time we correct this misquote. It is not stateless status, It is not a situation of denied right. The Federal Constitution is clear on the subject of citizenship. MIC during the drafting of the constituion has rightfully ensured that every child born to Indians with Malaysian citizenship post independence is automatically a citizen. So where did it go wrong ? What is this stateless Indians we shout and cry about.
The word stateless, has a very wide legal ramification of humanitarian nature.
People become stateless in times of war and take mass refuge in other countries with no functional home government to return to. Our precise predicament is only a state of compliance. Simply documentless Indian.
The state of documentless Indian is a growing phenomenon not confined to any historical legacy issues. The reason's for the increasing incidence of documentless Indians is just reflection of attitude towards documentation and a collapse of a key tenet of our culture, the sanctity of marriage and family.
1. Marriages not registered.
2. Many a times mother after giving birth unable to produce identification of the baby's actual father. Gets more complicated when the father is a foreigner with no proper documentation. There is an increase in number of illegit child births the burden our Indian sisters are to suffer.
3. Inability to secure a birth certificate with complete status of both parents.
3. Disregard to apply for identification for the child at the legally stipulated age.
4. Failure to secure divorce by abandoned spouses.
5. Reluctance make a missing person report on a absconding husband.
6. General apathy, and indifference to secure the right documents.
It is timely we redefine the issue of stateless Indians which causes alarm and increases the feeling of hatred towards MIC. It is not the failure of MIC.
Infact taking cognisance of this growing documentless phenomenon MIC President Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam has set up a permanent unit through SITF called MyDaftar which is on the ground resolving the documentation issues and has succeeded in assisting about 15,000 Indians.
We as MIC should now instill within our community the responsibility and discipline to document themselves.
Generally our small business fail to secure bank loans for failure of documentation. Compared with the chinese a major segment of our community has the apathy and disregard to maintain documents of any kind. Let it be bank statements, accounts, receipts and bills, income tax returns etc.
Let us create a documentation culture and not remain document-less.
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