BJP wants Centre to take up issue

The BJP on Thursday asked the Union Government to take up with Malaysia the issue of “persecution” of ethnic Indians. The party said the Government should not shy away from raising the issue with Malaysia on the grounds that it was an internal matter of that country. “The UPA Government cannot shirk from this responsibility either out of its commitment to anti-Hindu pseudo-secularism or under the pretext that this is an internal matter of Malaysia,” the party said. The BJP said India should demand reversal of Malaysia’s “anti-Hindu and anti-PIO policy,” which goes against the obligation of all nations to protect universally recognised human rights, especially of minority communities, said the party. Hindu Rights Action Force, an NGO spearheading the agitation in Malaysia, met senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Anant Kumar and V K Malhotra to appraise them of the “plight of the marginalised and persecuted Hindu community” in Malaysia. The BJP leaders have offered them support in the matter.