A commotion erupted at the Penang National Registration Department (NRD) when police tried to prevent protesters holding red identity cards (IC) from entering the premises.

About 30 red IC holders, their families and several assemblypersons from Pakatan Rakyat gathered at Larut Road earlier  in the morning before marching to the NRD office on Anson Road.

NONEThe group, led by PKR vice-president N Surendran, included senior citizens and children who were not issued blue ICs by the NRD.

When they arrived at their destination, a commotion erupted when the police tried to prevent them from entering the building.

"This is unlawful and illegal," said Surendran.

One protester, shouted "the police are sabotaging us!"

PKR Legal Bureau chief Latheefa Koya said the police had threatened to arrest them.

They were accompanied by many supporters and Pakatan state assemblypersons, including Sim Tze Tzin (Pantai Jerejak), Jason Ong (Kebun Bunga), S Raveentharan (Batu Uban), Tan Hock Leong (Machang Bubuk) and Ng Wei Aik (Komtar).

There were also several individuals with green ICs who joined the rally.

Access eventually granted

After the Pakatan leaders had negotiated with the police, the group was allowed to enter the building.

They sat down at the lobby and waited for further action from the NRD.Some time later, NRD officers came down to hand them some forms to fill in.

NONEMany of them could not read and write, and they were assisted by several Pakatan supporters who were present to help out.

Earlier, the 100-metre procession did not disrupt traffic flow as police and the state's volunteer patrol unit managed traffic and guided the marchers.

They carried banners with the slogan ‘duduk' and ‘bantah' and chanted "hidup rakyat".

Before the walk, Surendran said the group wanted the NRD to process their applications immediately.

NONE"They are ordinary citizens. Why are they denied their blue ICs?" Surendran (right) asked.

The event was prompted by the many complaints PKR state offices received from stateless people, including those with red ICs.

The protesters were also incensed by the revelations at the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah, which revealed that foreigners - Indonesians, Filipinos and Pakistanis - had obtained ‘instant' citizenships.

This is in stark contrast to many born and bred in Malaysia, whose citizenship applications have taken many years to process, and many not approved.

Police and the NRD officers who were present today declined to comment, but an NRD officer later said that several counters will be open to assist the applicants.

'Police action unlawful'

At a press conference at the NRD lobby, Surendran condemned the "aggressive behaviour" of the police who had earlier tried to prevent the people from entering the premises.

"It was not necessary to stop us. We walked in peacefully, but they threatened to arrest me. They grabbed me and others, but we are glad that we were later able to proceed," Surendran told reporters.

"Otherwise, it is an unlawful act. They cannot block people from going into the premises to apply for their MyKad," he added.

NONE"Almost all of them here today were born in this country. Malaysia is stated as their country of origin in their red ICs," he added, saying those who came wanted to apply for their blue MyKad, not citizenship.

A lawyer by profession, Surendran estimates the number of stateless Malaysians to be around 100,000, while Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has put the figure at “probably about 9,000”.

He also criticised the government for providing different statistics at different times, saying this indicated that it was "lying about the figures".

Calling on the  government to implement a policy to solve the problem of stateless Malaysians, Surendran added: "Most people here face massive bureaucracy problems when applying. If Sabah can give ICs in a matter of hours, why can't they solve the problems here?"

Related stories

Anwar directly involved in Project IC, says Dr M

Mahathir: Opposition will arrest rivals if in power

600 IC numbers being shared, RCI told

Indonesian told to back BN for his citizenship

'Don't treat me like an alien. This is my country'

Unused MyKad for Sabah directive fake, says Hisham

NRD explains why circular is a fake

Welcome to M'sia, where you can be a 'walk-in' citizen

Bumis are biggest losers in citizenship-for-vote scam