LETTER | Now that Pakatan Harapan is in power, what is the status of stateless Indians? Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy must answer this.

For the record, Kulasegaran and many Harapan leaders have claimed that there are 300,000 stateless Indians but it appears that the figure has been grossly inflated.

According to the home ministry, there are actually 3,853 stateless Indians, but nevertheless it seems that nothing much has been done to resolve the issue of citizenship for them.

The problem now is that both Kulasegaran and Waythamoorthy lack the political will to resolve the citizenship woes. Surely, both ministers, with all the government agencies at their disposal, can do something for them.

The Pakatan leaders have promised they will go down to the ground to visit estates and plantations with a huge Indian population and do their best to provide them with proper identification documents.

But is there any genuine effort by the government to register the stateless? Is the government carrying out a comprehensive census exercise? Why has not the Harapan government done this?

Kulasegaran and Waythamoorthy must also explain if the stateless applicants are facing excessive bureaucratic hurdles, especially the compulsory requirement for ‘non-existent documents’, which eventually result in their applications being rejected.

If it is impossible to implement the goals of a New Malaysia from within the government by finding a permanent and comprehensive solution to the issue, Harapan should exit.

Now that there are four Indian ministers in the government, they are in a better position to plan strategies to help the Indians in all sectors - from stateless issues, education, digital economy to development and various economic opportunities.

Bring the voice of the poor to the government and ensure Indians gain their legitimate rights. Malaysian Indians are questioning what the Indian leaders in the Harapan government have done so far for the welfare of the Indian community that has contributed so much to the country.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.