There are many types of cultures in India. A number of important religions originated in India. Their adherents number into the hundreds of millions. There are probably over 5,000 distinguishable languages and dialects spoken in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

When India became an independent country in 1948, there was an unfortunate division of the country into areas where Islam was the major religion, and others where the majority of the people practiced the Hindu religion. The migration and discord experienced during the establishment of modern India caused the death and disfigurement of millions of people, many elderly and children.

It is difficult to find any sense in which it may be said that, "Indians are equal." In a perfectly idealistic democracy it may be established as a legal principle that the rights of all people are equal before the law of the land. In practice, however, this seems impossible to achieve.

In Malaysia there are many Indians. Many have Malaysian ancestry that goes back a thousand years or more, while others are more recent immigrants, some 'legal', some not. The Indians in Malaysia display much the same diversity that exists in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. They are part of the great diaspora that has taken Indians all over the world. Recently, their presence and industry have contributed to political discord in Fiji.

Nowhere has the intelligence of the Indian been seriously questioned. Indians have shown that they are capable of mastering any modern technology, and have attracted increasing attention for their enterprise as innovators and entrepreneurs.

It is with some sadness then that one sees the condition of Indians in Malaysia. The results of national standardised examinations reveal that many schools where Indians are taught have a 100% failure rate. The government fails to address this problem, stating that land where Indians live and work is 'private property' and thus not eligible for public support.

Many Indians are agricultural workers living on large plantations of rubber or oil palm trees, which are labour intensive. Visiting the villages where the Indian workers live typically reveals a single unpaved road that runs between a row of modest dwellings on one side and a row of shops on the other. These villages could be anywhere in the Asian world, such is their sameness.

There is a political party which pretends to represent the Indian voters. The ministers who head this party are carefully coiffed and daily massaged hand and foot. The head of this party says that he finds that, "All the Indians in Malaysia are equal." This is his response to the conditions in which the Indians find themselves. He must never go out to the estates where many Indians live. He fails to find inequity in their request for a monthly wage. He finds no need for a minimum wage. His shoes are shined.

There are many Muslims among the Indians. The Malaysian constitution makes all Malays Muslims at birth, but makes no mention of the Indian Muslim with long Malaysian ancestry. The rights of the Malaysian Indian, Muslim and non-Muslim, can hardly be said to be 'equal' under the present Constitution, and for the president of the MIC to overlook this fact is a great failure. It is within the power of the BN coalition to make the necessary change, but instead they insist on protecting the inequity as "a Malay right."

The general socio-economic status of the Indian population of Malaysia is low, and this is an indicator that educational and employment opportunities for them are lacking. Many Indians report that the caste system of India is operative in Malaysia to some degree, and that other forms of discrimination are practised.

When redress for greivances is sought from political representatives who owe financial success to the votes of their constituents, the Indian finds that it is the Indian minister himself who is the owner of the institution which is the instrument of oppression.

How can one get assistance for failure to receive EPF contributions for two years when the political representative approached is the owner himself? Such conflict of interest is at the heart of the Indian dilemma in Malaysia.

The Malay police shoot Indians on sight, giving little or no excuse for this brutality. Yet the president of the Indian party, who got his post as public works minister in political patronage for delivering Indian votes, is afraid to call the police to task, even when it is clear that they have killed the Indians "in error."

None of the coalition ministers openly declare their assets, all of which were gained after political appointment. This secrecy clouds whatever merit might be mustered in their defence. The BN coalition itself is organised along ethnic lines, and though the prime minister and his deputy speak loudly of compassion and the ummah, neither of them is able to note that Islam recognises none of the racial distinctions that mark every government decision.

Islam is a religion of universal brotherhood, and where differences arise over issues of government or economics, these are debated on ideological and intellectual considerations, based on a desire for fairness to all. The race or religion of the speaker is not a part of the discussion.