No threat to ethnic Chinese rights: KL
No threat to ethnic Chinese rights: KL
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has assured Malaysia's large
ethnic Chinese majority that their rights will not be harmed by
the prominent position of Islam.
Mahathir had raised concern among Chinese recently by
declaring that the Southeast Asian country was already an Islamic
state. The constitution says that Malaysia is secular, though
Islam -- followed by the Malay majority -- is the official
religion.
Despite bloody race riots in 1969, Mahathir and other
Malaysian leaders have generally managed to strike a balance
between ethnic groups and other religions.
The ruling National Front coalition has stressed economic
development over religion and during Mahathir's 20 years in
power, Malaysia has become one of the most modern, prosperous
countries in Asia.
"Your rights will remain your rights," Mahathir said in an
address on Saturday to Chinese business leaders. "We are not
changing anything."
"We have no wish to obstruct or to curtail your rights in this
country. We are not changing anything. We are not amending the
constitution," state news agency Bernama quoted Mahathir as
saying at a dinner with ethnic Chinese businessmen on Saturday.
He urged Chinese entrepreneurs, who control a major portion of
commerce, not to let up on business activities as the nation
headed into a slowdown.
Mahathir, cited by the national news agency, Bernama,
indicated that he'd made his Islamic state remarks to force the
opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party to clarify its calls for
an Islamic state.
"I suspect they wanted an Islamic state like Afghanistan,"
Mahathir was quoted as saying. "If the Malaysian opposition wants
to set up a government like the Taliban, of course, they are not
going to get the support of the non-Muslims in the election."
In Malaysia, all races "live, play and work together. Let's
keep it that way," Mahathir said.
The Islamic party controls the governments of two of
Malaysia's 13 states and has imposed stricter interpretations of
Muslim religious laws, including restrictions on alcohol and
separate check-out lines for men and women at supermarkets.
Race and religion are sensitive issues in multicultural
Malaysia, where the constitution grants non-Muslims freedom to
practice any faith although the official religion is Islam.
Chinese, who are mostly Buddhist, form just over a quarter of
the 23 million population, which is dominated by native Muslim
Malays like Mahathir. Indians and other minorities make up the
balance.
Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and the
opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) are out to win the
hearts of Malays before the next general elections by offering
their own visions of what an Islamic state means for Malaysia.