Author: Associated Press
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 27, 2011
URL: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-27/indians-abroad/28638120_1_p-uthayakumar-malaysian-indians-caste-system#ixzz1FB5bC7a1
Malaysian police arrested dozens of ethnic
Indians on Sunday in a clampdown on a protest against a high school literature
book that was slammed for denigrating the minority community.
Police set up roadblocks in the country's
biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, amid tight security around the landmark Petronas
Twin Towers, where the protest was to be held.
The main protest leader, lawyer P Uthayakumar,
was among those rounded up early Sunday as he was leaving home, said his colleague
S Jayathas, who also was detained. He said more than 100 Indians were believed
to have been picked up.
Some 50 protesters who managed to escape the
police dragnet gathered at a temple in the city, holding banners and shouting
"Ban Interlok" and "Don't insult the Indian community"
before dispersing.
"We want a stop to racism against minority
citizens, especially the Indian poor, and a ban on Interlok, which is sowing
the seeds of racism in schoolchildren. We are not asking for special rights
but equal opportunity," Jayathas told The Associated Press from police
detention.
Police could not be immediately r Indians
complained about a portion of the book involving a poor man from India's "Pariah
caste" who migrates to the country to find work and is surprised at the
absence of a caste system. They say it unfairly depicts Indians, who make
up about 8 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people, as coming from inferior
communities and contributes to ethnic tension and discrimination.
Under the Indian caste system, Hindus are
divided into four main castes according to their line of work. Although the
system is banned in India, it is still practiced in villages. Malaysian Indians
continue with most traditions of their ancestors, but the caste system is
largely obsolete here.
