Indian diaspora in Malaysia: Forgotten community

Indians are well entrenched the world over with around 30 million of them residing all across the globe. Malaysia houses over two million people of Indian origin, third largest diaspora after the United States and the United Arab Emirates. With a centuries-old lineage with the Indian subcontinent, Malaysian Indians constitute around 6-7% of the total Malaysian population. A significantly large proportion of this two million Malaysian Indians are Hindus.

The recent riots in Bangladesh have highlighted reports of significant attacks on the Hindu community there. With growing global condemnation of this religious persecution, several Indian leaders in Malaysia have begun to call for the Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Anwar Ibrahim and his coalition in power to voice its condemnation. This has been led by the president of the Malaysian Indian Congress, SA Vigneswaran. The president of the Malaysian Indian Peoples Party, SP Punithan, and a leader of the Democratic Action Party, Charles Santiago have also raised similar concerns and called for Ibrahim to highlight the concerns of the Hindu minority on a global platform.

Ibrahim had recently spoken with the newly appointed interim leader of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus. While Ibrahim’s statement says that he emphasised the protection of the rights of all Bangladeshis, including minorities, but it seems to have fallen short of specifically mentioning Hindus.

However, one of the rising leaders of the Malaysian opposition bloc, Member of Parliament, Ahmad Fayhsal, has taken to his social media handle on X to strongly condemn the attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh. He states, “We are duty bound by faith to observe the Quranic and Prophetic injunction that non-Muslims who live under Muslim majority rule must not be denied their basic rights and freedom of religion.” Coming from a young and promising leader of the opposition that is partnered with the Islamic Party, PAS, this is a significant call that resonates with not just the Malaysian Indian community, but also all Malaysians.

This issue is especially pronounced since PM Ibrahim is now set to have a formal bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart, PM Modi. Will the concerns of two million Malaysian Indians, who constitute a significant diaspora, be voiced on this bilateral platform with India? And more importantly, will the needs of this diaspora be discussed on a substantive basis to develop a comprehensive economic blueprint to further enhance the people-to-people relationship between the two countries?

This article is authored by Ravindran Devagunam, senior correspondent, foreign policy and politics, Malaysia Gazette.