Kuala Lumpur: Amid protests by ethnic Indians against alleged marginalisation, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has vowed to ensure that no community lags behind in any field, but said the responsibility of maintaining harmony in the multi-racial country did not rest on his shoulders alone.

"I will not fail you," Badawi told a group of ethnic Indians last evening at his constituency of Kepala Batas, with whom he spoke at length about the need to maintain harmonious relations between all races.

The Prime Minister also said he continues to respect all races and would not treat the Indians as his "enemy".

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with 60 per cent of its 27 million people being majority Malay Muslims, 25 per cent Chinese and 7.8 per cent ethnic Indians, mostly Hindus from Tamil Nadu.

Assuring every race that his government will provide equal opportunities in education, Abdullah said, "We are all together in this, as it is our collective responsibility, and we should respect one another and not make baseless accusations against each other," the Star newspaper reported.

The Prime Minister said the government balanced its policies on the basis of the country's racial composition, where the Malay community was the largest, followed by the Chinese and Indians. "The government will help whatever it can but to do my job, the country needs to peaceful and safe. That is why I had to take action recently," he said referring to the arrest of five Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) leaders under the tough Internal Security Act, which allows long detention without trial.

Maintaining that his administration would be fair to all races, Badawi said his government knew that it was only through education that citizens could contribute to the country's well-being.

"It is also through education that all races will enjoy quality of life. Education will ensure that people make a decent living and get good jobs," he said, adding the government had always given extra attention to ensure the poor obtained a decent education to help them climb out of poverty.

Noting that different communities had different needs and that it was impossible for the administration to fulfil everyone's needs 100 per cent, Abdullah assured them that the government would continue to do more in the future.

Source : PTI