'Will the authority discuss with the complainants as to what are offensive in the textbook and take the fair and necessary action?'

Literary society ready to wield sword over 'Interlok'

David Dass: Context is everything. The caste system exists as a fact both in India and Malaysia. That it was and is universally condemned as an evil system of social ordering is also a fact.

Most societies were and are organised along class lines and sometimes class acquired a fairly rigid character. The fact of the upper classes of any society look down on those classes below them is a global phenomenon. It is wrong.

If your circumstances are privileged because of education or wealth, that is your good fortune. It is not the result of some divine ordained gift. I do not know how the book referred to the subject of caste. If its context is historical and factual, that may be all right.

Unfortunately, the tenor of the religious and racial debate in Malaysia has heightened sensitivities as to motives and intentions of certain people - BTN, Si Botol, kaffir, etc. So we must be sensitive to all.

Pietiring: I hate to indulge in racial tones. As a matter of fact, ‘pariah' originates from Tamil which denotes a member of a low caste in southern India, and similarly the caste system perfectly depicts the typical socio-organisation as practised in the Indian subcontinent.

It is beyond my comprehension to site the perfect ingenuity of the person, whether Tamil or otherwise, who had coined the word ‘pariah', which in itself has stigmatised so well in both its substance and form, that the English world has adopted it in complete totality to becoming an English word, to mean an outcast person.

If today we at cross-tongue to fight for a ruling to erase completely the word ‘pariah' in Malay literary works, I guess we must do the same to the worldly English literary works across many continents right from America through Europe, Middle East. Africa, Indian, Asian and to Australia.

Faz: Let us focus on the issue. Will the authority discuss with the complainants as to what are offensive and take the fair and necessary action? The above article does not reprint the offensive passages for us to judge. Guessing what they are here is not leading us to anywhere apart from insulting and hurting each other. If the conclusion of the above discourse is to replace the book, then do it.

But please remember, if every group in turn objects to other reference book suggested, then we will end up with no book for our schools. By the way, if the book had been in use since 1990 in the universities locally, why the matter is only raised now when it is to be use in Form Five.

Rolls-Royce: Can someone show us what exactly was stated in the book that is so degrading to the Indians? We Asians at times can be too swollen headed with our cultural traits. We think we are a great people with the best cultural heritage. We can't tolerate even remotely some characterisation of our cultural practices or traditions which may actually be good.

Can someone explain to me why the disparity in wealth and income in India is so distinct and why is poverty so endemic there? I wish to believe it has nothing to do with caste system and "pariahness".

ES: In case you're wondering about ‘Interlok', here's a synopsis (in Malay). Be warned: it's loaded with right-wing drivel (though otherwise it is plot based and elementary).

Armour Man: If a large number of Indians are offended by the novel (rightly or wrongly), then the book should be withdrawn. Pena (National Writers Association) or the Education Ministry cannot insist that the novel is not offensive. Whether the writer is a national laureate or not is irrelevant.

Pemerhati: The Umno-dominated government seems to have a long-term master plan to have a Nazi-cum-apartheid-style system of governance in Malaysia. They are using BTN (Biro Tatanegara) and the education system (biased history and literature) to carry out this plan.

Since Dr Mahathir Mahathir's premiership, which started in the 1980s, there has been systematic and deliberate ‘ethnic cleansing' of the public service which has seen the former efficient multiethnic workforce gradually replaced by a lot of mediocre Malays.

Previously recruitment was based on merit but after Mahathir, any Malay was preferable to the better able non-Malay. This has resulted in a massive drop in standards in all fields and emigration of the best brains from the country.

While this might have benefitted a few hundred thousand Malays, who got the jobs they were not fit for, the biggest losers are the millions of Malays who get very poor quality service in all areas (e.g. health, education, transportation, etc.)

Gigento: There are millions of things that we could teach our students. What is so important about the caste system? If the Indians feel offended and wish not to be reminded of this notorious system, get rid of the novel. Indians in Malaysia are Malaysians, and the caste system is for the Indians (in India).

Will our students lose out for not knowing the full culture of the Indians in India? Caste system is one of those lessons that it is good to know but not important to know.

Tc: I read somewhere that the MIC and other Indian NGOs are completely silent on the governments plans to foist its fabricated version of history on our children. But here they are making a big hue and cry over a fairy tale (that's what literature is, isn't it?).

The Indians seem to be putting their priorities in the reverse order. Stop the concocted history book if you dare.

Textbook row threatens to stir up Tenang polls

G Annamalai: I think it is very good thing to send a strong protest note to the ruling elite that Indians cannot be taken for granted. But I am not in favour of fielding an independent candidate to split the votes.

Reason being, you are not a political party thus lack the experience in the game of politics, you better support an opposition candidate whoever he or she may be, even it were a donkey. You can make sure that 100 percent of the Indian votes go to that candidate.

Give the opposition a chance in the next general election, never mind if they not as as good as BN in terms of experience but this will give them a chance to proof to the rakyat that they are willing to change the government for better.

P Dev Anand Pillai: Keep up the pressure on these ‘indoctrinators'. If Indians are still being taken for granted, then the best way to force the government to listen is by being pressure groups to ensure that our rights are not infringed upon.

The regime is on a mission to wipe out the records of the Indian community's contribution to this nation and they wish to indoctrinate the young ones with Islamic history in the hope that one day we will all believe in their faith, forgetting the fact that before they had their faiths, Hinduism was already present in the peninsula.

Keep up the pressure, Indian groups. That is the only way to ensure we get equality and the ‘ketuanan' colonialism doctrine is eradicated for good.

Zimbobwe: If someone called me a pariah, I'd just laugh because it's just a meaningless word like "bastard" or "sissy". One sure way to find out if someone is drunk or crazy is to call them "drunk" or "crazy" - if they just laugh, they're okay.

So, the Indians who are not pariahs, just laugh and boot the BN out.