KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, May 15, 20011: The recent communal clashes outside the Malaysian capital involving ethnic Indians and indigenous Malays have thrown light on a neglected segment of the India diaspora that has possibly the largest Indian origin community outside the Indian subcontinent. In April, about a dozen people, most of them Indians, were killed in clashes. Although the incidents were local, it caused alarm in a nation of 20 million that is otherwise known for communal harmony. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, on an official visit to Malaysia, raised the issue with his host, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir explained that the situation has been brought under control and his government was seeking to integrate the community more by giving them more political empowerment. There are approximately two million people of Indian origin in Malaysia. The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) representing the interests of the Indians, claimed that Indian youth held only 0.7 percent of administrative posts in the corporate sector, down from 0.9 percent five years ago.
A daily summary of world news for Hindus and non-Hindus alike