http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/08/17/pbs-govt-sidelined-muslim-natives-claims-hassnar/
He added that just in the Libaran parliamentary constituency alone, where the Sungai Sibuga state seat held by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman is located, there were more than 10,000 ‘illegal voters’ or non-Malaysian who were given ICs to make them eligible to vote.
The Commission was also informed that reports on the matter has been lodged with the police, Immigration Department as well as the NRD but thus far no action has been taken.
by Murib Morpi. Posted on August 17, 2013, Saturday
KOTA
KINABALU: Former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Hassnar Ebrahim
told the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants that
the issuance of identity cards to immigrants in Sabah was needed to help
increase the political power of the Muslim Bumiputeras to put a stop to
the discrimination against them by Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).Hassnar said he willingly took part in the exercise, knowing fully well it was against the law, not for his own personal interest but with the intention of returning the political status quo and stability to all Sabahans.
“By status quo, I mean the pre-PBS era.. The intention was to make sure that we can all live in harmony again and not having to fight each other. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that I didn’t want the KDM to have political power.
“I’m talking about the discrimination practised by the PBS government. We never use to have any issue of power sharing, distribution of wealth as everyone can sit together as family. But when PBS came to power all that changed,” he said when testifying before the RCI yesterday.
Hassnar said the party, among others, marginalized the Muslim Bumiputeras in the distribution of native lands. He claimed lands were only given to KDMs and even to non-natives to buy their political loyalty, while the Muslim natives were being sidelined. He said the PBS action has caused racial polarization that remains until today.
“My mother is a Dusun but she would not support me because the way she thinks is that Dusun is for Dusun. Such was the way of thinking that the Dusuns were with the Dusuns, the Kadazans with the Kadazans, the Bajaus with the Bajaus and so on.
“I believed it was for something noble, for my religion, my people and for Sabah. In such desperate situation, you would not pay as much attention to the law. It was something that needed to be done, I was thinking that even if I go to jail because of it, so be it,” he said.
Hassnar said the effect of the discriminatory practices could still be felt today, including in the issuance of Native Certificates (NC) where non-native individuals continue to use the document to rob the locals of their rights.
Commissioner Herman Luping, who is a former PBS leader, interjected that it was never the intention of the PBS state government to issue NC to non-natives and allow them to own native land.
He clarified that it was the result of corruption among the Native Court officers when issuing the document.
Asked what caused him to expose the exercise in the end, Hassnar said, he came to a realization that the whole thing was being abused by certain quarters to promote their own agendas instead of ensuring equal rights for the people.
He said, it was after he was arrested that it became obvious to him that the whole project no longer had the same objective as it was in the beginning, but has now become a tool for certain quarters in Kuala Lumpur bent on dominating Sabah.
“The situation is now different, ensuring political power for the Muslim Bumiputeras has become a second thing. Now it is only about certain parties wanting to maintain power at all costs.
“As a result, Malaysianized immigrants have overrun the native communities. They dominate the hospitals, education. They also diminished the rights of the Bumiputera in economy as well as over their lands,” he said.
Hassnar reinforced his claim that the issuance of ICs to immigrants is still ongoing until today, citing an Indonesian being given a MyKad in 2008 using a genuine birth certificate belonging to a local, who have died and whose death was not reported to the National Registration Department. Documents supporting his claim, including photocopies of the IC of the said Indonesian and the birth certificates of his five children were submitted to the Commission as evidence.
He also claimed that phantom voters or individuals who are not the actual persons that should be voting, can be found in every elections held in Sabah.
He added that just in the Libaran parliamentary constituency alone, where the Sungai Sibuga state seat held by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman is located, there were more than 10,000 ‘illegal voters’ or non-Malaysian who were given ICs to make them eligible to vote.
The Commission was also informed that reports on the matter has been lodged with the police, Immigration Department as well as the NRD but thus far no action has been taken.
Hassnar, who admitted to have been involved in the exercise, better known as ‘Project IC’, when he was the Sandakan district officer in 1981, has suggested that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) is further strengthened and empowered to curb Project IC. He said the agency should, for a start, be given more manpower so that it could investigate the continuous unlawful issuance of IC.
He also expressed his support for the recommendation to have every IC application reviewed by a State panel before it can be approved by the NRD, and to get the court to stop issuing verification for late birth certificates and statutory declarations.
On the proposal to recall back all ICs issued in Sabah, he said, it was a good suggestion but could have major social and economical implications on the State.
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