Protesters try to protect themselves from water cannons in Kuala Lumpur. File picture s

Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 1 (Reuters): Malaysia has told India not to meddle in its internal affairs after Delhi expressed concerns over the treatment of ethnic Indians in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government would deal with citizens according to its own laws and no other country should interfere, The Star newspaper reported today.

Last Sunday, over 10,000 Malaysian Indians staged the community’s biggest anti-government protest, sparked by anger over policies they say prevent them from getting decent jobs or a good education for their children.

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters, many of them Tamils, sparking outrage and demands from Tamil Nadu’s politicians that Delhi intervene.

“If they break any law, it is our right to deal with them in accordance with Malaysian laws,” Syed Hamid was quoted as saying.

India had yesterday said it was concerned about the treatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia and had taken up with Kuala Lumpur accusations that protesters from the community had been harassed.

Delhi’s response came a day after a Malaysian minister asked Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi to “lay off” when he complained about Kuala Lumpur’s “bad treatment” of ethnic Indians. Ethnic Indians form 7 per cent of Malaysia’s 26 million people.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lashed out at the Hindu rights group, which organised the protest, saying it had wrongly accused the Malaysian government of racism. “I’m really angry... this blatant lie cannot be tolerated at all,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Bernama.

“In our 50 years of independence, we never had any problems with the Indians.”

Delhi’s expression of solidarity came as the Hindu Rights Action Force said its leader, P. Waythamoorthy, had left for India before heading to London, Geneva, Brussels and Washington to lobby for support. He is expected to meet foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi.