PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says defending the rights of Chinese and Indian Malaysians does not weaken Islam or the constitutional protection given to Malays.
Anwar said Malaysia has been independent for nearly 70 years and should have moved beyond rhetoric telling people to return to China or India.
“It is insulting to human beings. If I tell an Indian child to go back to India, where would he go? He would not know. All he knows is that this is his country,” he told youths at a “Temu Anwar” event in Paroi, Negeri Sembilan, today.
He said Malaysians of every race had a duty to protect one another’s rights, adding that doing so would not diminish the place of Islam.
“Defending the rights of Indians and Chinese does not in the slightest weaken our belief in Islam or the greatness of Islam,” he said.
Anwar said the Federal Constitution protected Islam as the religion of the federation, and also the Malay rulers, Bahasa Melayu, and the special position of Malays and Bumiputeras.
However, it also guaranteed the rights of Malaysians of every race, who should be embraced as members of one family.
Anwar said the government had never proposed removing the constitutional position of Malays or weakening Islam.
“No one has ever proposed, under Pakatan Harapan or the Madani government, changing the constitution or rejecting the principles contained in it,” he said.
