Govt should focus on stateless Indians issue: MIC Youth

IPOH: The government should focus on resolving the issue of stateless Indians instead of granting Permanent Residency (PR) status to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, said MIC Youth.
Its chief Datuk C. Sivarraajh (pix) said granting PR status to Zakir should have been the last resort by the government.
"We should send him back to India if there is an official notice or warrant from the Indian government to extradite him for investigation.
"He is a divisive figure and national interest should come first.
"His presence in Malaysia irked most of the Indian NGOs calling for his removal from the country," he added.
Sivarraajh also denied claims by the opposition that there are 300,000 stateless Indians.
MIC Youth through its initiative such as the MyDaftar programme and Special Indian Task Force (SITF) have been progressively resolving such cases since 2014.
Meanwhile DAP vice chairman M. Kulasegaran questioned whether MIC had raised the issue of stateless people with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"Will MIC president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam raise the issue in the Cabinet to revoke Zakir's PR status? Why was he given the privilege when there are so many of them without documents?" he added.
It was reported that on April 15, India's Enforcement Directorate filed a charge sheet against Zakir's company Harmony Media Ltd and his colleague Aamir Gazdar for alleged money laundering.