Two days ago, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced in Kuching that a special task force will be set up to address the citizenship problem faced by the Chinese community in Sarawak.
He said the task force would be managed by the National Registration Department.
It is a correct step for a special task force to be set up to deal with the stateless people issue.
Two questions have arisen out of his announcement.
Firstly why Zahid’s announcement was only for stateless Chinese in Sarawak?
Isn’t stateless people a national issue that also affects Chinese in West Malaysia? Isn’t stateless Indian problem an issue that must be urgently addressed and resolved?
So why was his announcement not on the setting up of a national task force to tackle the issue faced by all stateless people, whether Chinese or Indians?
The second question is how effective will the task force be in resolving the plight of many who have been suffering due to their stateless status?
The Special Implementation Task Force under the Prime Minister’s Department has been working on the stateless Indian issue but the result leaves much to be desired.
August 7 last year, the Prime Minister Najib Razak gave his assurance that he wouldwork towards resolving the issue of citizenship faced by stateless Indians who were born before the country’s Independence.
“We will solve this in appreciation of the sacrifice of the Indian community who have contributed to the development of the country,” he said when launching MIC’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
But how many cases have been resolved since?
In fact, last month, Zahid even publicly made the arrogant and insensitive remarks that there would not be any flexibility for stateless Indians who apply for citizenship.
Zahid should know that technical issues can be major obstacles for those applying for citizenship.
What is needed is an amnesty programme to be part of the solution to end the long standing plight of the stateless people.
The question is does the BN government have the required political will to resolve the stateless people issue?