Malaysian newspaper for Indians gets gov't warning

The warning underscores efforts by authorities to quell perceptions among the ethnic Indian minority that the police force, dominated by majority Malay Muslims, often uses excessive force against Indian suspects while trying to arrest them or during interrogation.

Authorities have defended the killing of the five Indians, saying they shot first at police who were chasing them. The suspects were accused of a spate of armed robberies.

The Home Ministry sent a letter to the Tamil Nesan saying its coverage of a Nov. 8 fatal shooting of five young Indian men would “provoke the Indians in the country and could affect the country's harmony,” the newspaper's chief executive, S. Vell Paari, said in a statement late Saturday.

The ministry warned the Tamil-language newspaper's printing license — required for all publications in Malaysia — would be revoked if it continued such coverage, Vell Paari said.

Vell Paari denied the newspaper's coverage had been provocative, saying it had a right to report what had happened.

Ministry officials familiar with the matter could not immediately be contacted Sunday.

The Tamil Nesan is one of the main newspapers catering to ethnic Indians, who comprise less than 10 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people. Indians, many of whom are among the country's poorest citizens, have increasingly complained in recent years of government discrimination.

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