Malaysia marks 1969 race riots

Malaysia marks 1969 race riots

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia marked the 30th anniversary of the country's worst racial riots on Thursday, and the opposition charged the government was using fears of a recurrence of violence to keep its stranglehold on power.

Malays and Chinese clashed on May 13, 1969 after the opposition, led largely by Chinese, won many seats in elections dominated by ethnic issues and which weakened the predominantly Malay government.

Malays form the majority of Malaysia's population and Chinese are the second largest ethnic group.

The riots were exacerbated by perceived economic disparities between the Chinese, many of whom are traders and considered relatively wealthy, and native Malays, most of whom are farmers.

Officials said about 200 people were killed in the clashes, but unofficial estimates ran as high as 1,000. A state of emergency was imposed to restore order and was only lifted in the early 1970s.