KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police fired tear gas at ethnic Indian protesters rallying here on Sunday in support of a four trillion dollar lawsuit that blames Britain for their economic problems, witnesses said.

At least 8,000 protesters defied a ban and pushed their way towards the British High Commission (embassy) despite a heavy security presence.

“Over the last 50 years Indian have been marginalised in this country. And we now want the same rights as enjoyed by other communities,” M. Kulasegaran, opposition lawmaker with the Democratic Action Party said.

“They have no rights to stop us from protesting today. This is the will of the people,” he added.

The lawsuit is against Britain, Malaysia’s former colonial ruler, to denounce what protesters say is the continuing discrimination of Indians in Malaysia.

The lawsuit filed recently seeks four trillion dollars’ compensation for the estimated two million ethnic Indians whose ancestors were brought over here as labourers by Britain in the 1800s.—AFP