NILAI, June 24 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today called on Indian leaders and the community in Negeri Sembilan to support the current state government to ensure the welfare of all races is protected.

He said the state government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) should be retained in the state polls which would be held no later than this August.

"This state belongs to all races. It belongs to the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sabahans and Sarawakians. If people are campaigning saying this is a Malay state, it is wrong,” he said at a meet-and-greet session with the Indian community at Desa Cempaka here today.

He said if they want the state to be like Kelantan and Kedah it was alright, but they need to remember that the state must progress, the poor must be given attention, schools and all races must be taken care of.

Also present were Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives K. Saraswathy and local Indian leaders.

Anwar said he had urged the Indian leaders in the country to set aside tensions and take care of the welfare of the community at a meeting with Indian leaders from all political parties under the unity government recently.

"The first problem is with schools. These are our children’s school. How many Tamil schools are in a bad state and the toilets out of order. The same goes with Malay schools in the villages.

"I told the Ministry of Education this year, all Tamil or Malay schools must be repaired if they are damaged. If people ask how much is the allocation to repair Tamil schools, just repair them, whatever type of school needs repair, do it,” he said.

Anwar said as Prime Minister of Malaysia, he will treat all races in the country in a fair and equitable manner.

He said that all government initiatives, including the Rahmah cash contribution (STR), repairs of dilapidated schools and electricity subsidies, were extended to all races and not aimed at just one race.

Anwar added that despite the fall in the value of the ringgit and decline in inflation, the country’s investment and economic growth continued to increase and was higher than Indonesia and China in the first quarter of this year. — Bernama