Mahathir Sends Ponggal Greetings Then Vents Over Indian Minister Row

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Despite being under fire for questioning the loyalty of Indian Malaysians to the country, Dr Mahathir Mohamad today wished Hindus in the country a happy Ponggal on his X account.
However, the well wishes were followed several hours later by another diatribe aimed at Indians.
In the latest rant, Mahathir singled out former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy and took issue with the uproar over there being no Indian minister in the cabinet anymore.
“A non-Indian minister is still a Malaysian minister. As Malaysians there is no reason why there not being an Indian minister is not (sic) a problem.
“If not having an Indian minister in the cabinet is seen as unfair, then it must be because Ramasamy is still loyal to the Indian race.
“This means Ramasamy is a racist who fights not only for Malaysia but also for those of Indian descent,” he said.
It is unclear why he targeted Ramasamy out of all his other critics.
Like others, the former DAP leader took issue with Mahathir’s insinuation that Indians were not loyal Malaysians, claiming they still identify with their country of origin and speak Tamil primarily.
The former prime minister argued that one should identify as Malay and speak Malay as their primary language to have the right to call the country their own.
“Such a chauvinistic view can only come from Mahathir, the person responsible of the present divisive politics in the country,” Ramasamy had said in a statement yesterday. - Mkini

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