Outrage at Najib plan to give Indian Muslims the same status as Malays

The prime minster has suggested the nation’s one million Indian Muslims be afforded ‘sons of the soil’ status, triggering a backlash ahead of general elections

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Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak speaks to supporters during the United Malays National Organisation celebration in Bukit Jalil stadium. Razak suggested the country’s one million Indian Muslims could be granted Malay status. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:32pm, 30 Jul 2017Updated: 1:32pm, 30 Jul 2017

Questions over what makes a person a bona fide Malay has been thrust into the limelight in Singapore ahead of an upcoming presidential election reserved specially for candidates from the minority community. In neighbouring Malaysia, where Malays are in the majority and are accorded special privileges as part of decades-old affirmative action policies, the question of “Malayness” is not just an occasional hot button issue – it is at the heart of national politics.

Malays and tribespeople on the island of Borneo, who together make up two thirds of the country’s 31 million people, enjoy privileges in business and education on account of the fact that they are indigenous to the country, or bumiputra (sons of the soil).

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Just last week, the prickly issue surfaced to the top of national consciousness after Prime Minister Najib Razak suggested the country’s one million Indian Muslims could be granted bumiputra status. That triggered considerable consternation online. With bumiputra status deeply intertwined with Malay identity, many ethnic Malays took to social media to complain that the inclusion of Indian Muslims under the affirmative action policy would erode the bangsa Melayu (the Malay race).

And while the bitter griping over the “Malayness” of the presidential hopefuls in Singapore has taken the Lion City by surprise, such discussions have been a mainstay in Malaysian politics.

Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is challenging Prime Minister Najib Razak with a new Malay-based party. Photo: Reuters

The country is locked in a battle for Malay hearts and minds ahead of a general election due by August next year. Najib – embattled by widespread corruption allegations – is fighting to stave off a challenge from a new Malay-based party founded by the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. Najib leads the ruling United Malay National Organisation.