Barisan will look after Indian Muslims, says Najib

Up close and personal: Najib shaking hands with members of Kongress India Muslim Malaysia during the 36th delegates conference at PWTC.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Indian Muslim community has contributed much towards the political, economic and social development of the country.

The Prime Minister said the community, through Kongress India Muslim Malaysia (Kimma), had backed Barisan Nasional in all general elections as well as by-elections.

“It is appropriate that Barisan reciprocates and addresses problems faced by the community,” he said when opening Kimma's 36th delegates conference here yesterday.

Najib was attending the conference for the first time.

Kimma, which was formed in 1976, was accepted as an associate member of Umno in August 2010.

Najib said that there was no distinction between Malays and Indian Muslims.

“We are all in the same boat. There is no problem at all,” he said.


He hoped the Indian Muslim community would work harder to ensure a better mandate for Barisan in the next general election.
Earlier, Kimma president Datuk Syed Ibrahim Kader requested that the party to be given a deputy minister's post as well as a community hall.

He also wanted Jalan Bunus to be renamed Jalan Tan Sri SOK Ubaidulla, a piece of land for a university, abolition of service tax for non-air-conditioned restaurants, 25,000 foreign workers for the restaurant sector, places in skills training institutes and a RM10mil allocation to start an education fund.

In KOTA KINABALU, the Prime Minister said the 13th general election could be called any time even before the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) payout next year.

“People trust us as they know they will get their payment under BR1M. We can have the election any time,” he said at the ground-breaking ceremony for the RM35mil Sabah Native Court Institution building in Penampang.

In Ranau, Najib said he believed Sabahans would continue to back the Barisan Nasional which had done much to bring positive changes to the state.

Sabahans, he said, had benefited from the various development programmes and assistance that had stimulated the state's economy.

“I am sure the people are not blind to see that the Government has given the people what they need and they will repay by giving the Government their support,” he said at a gathering hall in Kundasang at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu last night.

Najib said among the most tangible changes brought about by the Government was the fact that 64% of the mainly Kadazandusun families in Ranau had children who were graduates.

“This makes Ranau one of the districts to produce the top number of graduates nationwide so I am sure they will know who is right and who can really fight for people's welfare,” said Najib.

(Source: The Star Website)