JOHOR BARU, June 26 — A group of Orang Asli today pleaded for forgiveness from Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar for a protest last month organised by another native group against the state’s plan to reclassify their reserve land as sultanate land.

The Kemidak Orang Asli Village Tok Batin representative Hadi Baya said the demonstration against the proposal by the Johor Orang Asli Village Network (JPOAJ) did not fully represent the 20,000 Orang Asli communities in the state.

"Today, we as the representative of the Orang Asli population in Johor, express regret for the events that led to the demonstration. What was done by JPOAJ is not part of our culture and we are worried that it will lead to having a negative image of the Orang Asli.

"Representing the Johor Orang Asli community, we apologise and seek forgiveness from Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar for the unfortunate event,” Hadi said in a statement.

He was referring to JPOAJ’s claim that the Orang Asli community in Johor was against the proposed land reclassification as well as the demonstration outside the Johor Menteri Besar’s office in Kota Iskandar on May 8.

In the same statement, Hadi also requested that representatives from the Johor Orang Asli community be granted an audience with Sultan Ibrahim to express their regret directly.

"We want to ask for forgiveness and show our support to the Sultan of Johor who is always concerned about the welfare of the Orang Asli community in Johor,” he said.

Hadi added that they are always prepared to cooperate and support the state and federal governments.

He said they were grateful for the community development that involves education and social economy for the Orang Asli community.

It was reported on March 16 that Sultan Ibrahim had proposed that the Orang Asli land in Johor be classified as sultanate land to better protect them from being exploited by unscrupulous parties.

On May 8, as a reaction to the proposal, a group of 200 Orang Asli from JPOAJ held a peaceful demonstration outside the Johor Menteri Besar’s office in Kota Iskandar.

The group also sent a protest memorandum related to the sultanate land proposal to the state government before dispersing.

Following that, JPOAJ chairman Dolah Tekoi said discussions with the state government needed to be held immediately regarding the sultanate land proposal.