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Jubilant Malays rally after Malaysia refuses U.N. racial equality pledge
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 8, 2018 / 3:56 AM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
Jubilant Malays rally after Malaysia refuses U.N. racial equality pledge
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Malay Muslims rallied in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to celebrate the Malaysian government’s refusal to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination.
After weeks of pressure by pro-Malay groups, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s multi-ethnic government decided last month that it would not ratify the convention, without giving a reason why it was going back on an earlier commitment to sign.
Groups representing Malays, who account for around 60 percent of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic population, raised fears that signing the UN pledge could have undermined Malay privileges and threatened Islam’s status as Malaysia’s official religion.
Badly beaten in an election earlier this year, Malay opposition parties seized on the issue, along with activists, to organize the rally, as race is a sensitive matter for the southeast Asian nation of 32 million people.
-snip-
Jubilant Malays rally after Malaysia refuses U.N. racial equality pledge
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Malay Muslims rallied in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to celebrate the Malaysian government’s refusal to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination.
After weeks of pressure by pro-Malay groups, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s multi-ethnic government decided last month that it would not ratify the convention, without giving a reason why it was going back on an earlier commitment to sign.
Groups representing Malays, who account for around 60 percent of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic population, raised fears that signing the UN pledge could have undermined Malay privileges and threatened Islam’s status as Malaysia’s official religion.
Badly beaten in an election earlier this year, Malay opposition parties seized on the issue, along with activists, to organize the rally, as race is a sensitive matter for the southeast Asian nation of 32 million people.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-politics-rally/jubilant-malays-rally-after-malaysia-refuses-u-n-racial-equality-pledge-idUSKBN1O70AS