But he wants a statement from Pakatan Rakyat leaders calling for the book to be banned.
KLANG : Combative MIC leader KP Samy today accepted a DAP challenge to an open debate on Interlok and offered to fund the session.
However, he said the challenger, Sungkai assemblyman A Sivanesan, must bring along a statement from the Pakatan Rakyat leadership calling for the banning of the controversial novel.
Samy, a former member of the MIC Central Working Committee, claims to be the first man to have sent a letter to the Prime Minister protesting against the use of the novel in schools.
“I think the public needs to know the stance of the MIC and Pakatan Rakyat in the Interlok issue,” he said in his response to Sivanesan’s challenge, which was reported today in a Tamil daily.
Sivanesan was himself responding to Selangor MIC information chief L Sivasubramanian, who had called for a debate on “who really cares about the Interlok issue”.
The DAP man belittled MIC leaders, saying they became toothless tigers in front of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who has said the Interlok issue had been settled and that the government would not bow to any more pressure regarding it.
The book has undergone amendments that have failed to satisfy some groups that say it contains inaccurate and derogatory references to the Indian community. The government has refused to withdraw it as a Malay literature text for students in Form Five.
Samy asked why Indian leaders in Pakatan Rakyat kept quiet when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim commented that he saw nothing wrong in letting students read the book.
He called on Sivanesan to either accept his challenge or resign from his position as state assemblyman.
However, he said the challenger, Sungkai assemblyman A Sivanesan, must bring along a statement from the Pakatan Rakyat leadership calling for the banning of the controversial novel.
Samy, a former member of the MIC Central Working Committee, claims to be the first man to have sent a letter to the Prime Minister protesting against the use of the novel in schools.
“I think the public needs to know the stance of the MIC and Pakatan Rakyat in the Interlok issue,” he said in his response to Sivanesan’s challenge, which was reported today in a Tamil daily.
Sivanesan was himself responding to Selangor MIC information chief L Sivasubramanian, who had called for a debate on “who really cares about the Interlok issue”.
The DAP man belittled MIC leaders, saying they became toothless tigers in front of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who has said the Interlok issue had been settled and that the government would not bow to any more pressure regarding it.
The book has undergone amendments that have failed to satisfy some groups that say it contains inaccurate and derogatory references to the Indian community. The government has refused to withdraw it as a Malay literature text for students in Form Five.
Samy asked why Indian leaders in Pakatan Rakyat kept quiet when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim commented that he saw nothing wrong in letting students read the book.
He called on Sivanesan to either accept his challenge or resign from his position as state assemblyman.
1 comment:
“who really cares about the Interlok issue”.... simple, firstly it was HRP who started to champion it, then NIAT followed, then some MIC members, followed by few Pakatan MP and lately the chinese NGO
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