Rohingya issue will determine political fortunes By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy

Malaysiakini : “I don't trust society to protect us; I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.”

- Mario Puzo, The Godfather

COMMENT | The political elites in this country are busy blaming each other for who caused the Rohingya issue, which has become a major flashpoint for the Malay community, especially working-class Malays.

The fact of the matter is that the people who are vilifying the Rohingya community are the same people who voted in successive bangsa and agama politicians who used the Rohingya when convenient and are horrified by the economic insecurity they have created.

What we are dealing with is the reality that working-class Malays are in economic competition with various migrants, and this in turn has fuelled xenophobic movements born out of frustration with decades of failed government policies meant to uplift the majority community.

Instead of helping them, such policies have deepened the class conflict within the community.

Forget about political parties or personalities. This is about how the mainstream political establishment used the Rohingya issue to boost religious bona fides without thinking of the economic and social consequences of allowing foreign elements into the local ecosphere already riddled with class and ethnic tensions.

When it was convenient to use these migrants for political and religious purposes, Malay political operatives from both sides of the divide used them as examples of the “injustices” faced by the global Muslim community and as a rallying cry for local Muslim solidarity.

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