Former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, has told NDTV that India is right in taking up the issue of ethnic Tamils in the country.Anwar Ibrahim, who is in Mumbai, said that ''the present government has taken a wrong stand on the ethnic conflict in Malaysia.
''He said that ethnic Indians cannot be marginalized and they are part of Malaysia.
Supporting India's stand, he observed that the Indian government has taken a right stand by taking the issue forward.
There was a mild rebuff by the Malaysian government on Saturday following External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's comments expressing concern over the alleged mistreatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia.
Speaking to the Malaysia-based The Star newspaper foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar said ''I hope there is no misunderstanding of what is happening here.''
''If they are talking about Indian citizens, we would understand the concern. But what happened involves Malaysian citizens. If they break any law, it is our right to deal with them in accordance with Malaysian laws,'' said Albar.
Marginalisation of ethnic Indians
Hamid Albar said if foreign governments start to question ethnicity in the country, Malaysia would eventually face a break-up.
Indians account for eight per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people, the third biggest group after ethnic Malays and Chinese.
At least 10,000 ethnic Indians took part in a demonstration, banned by the government, here last Sunday complaining about alleged marginalisation of ethnic Indians in Malaysia and 94 people have been charged.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said he was ''pained'' at the plight of ethnic Tamils to which a senior Malaysian minister Nazri Aziz ticked him off saying he should ''lay off'' from affairs in Malaysia.
