KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 ― Potential DAP candidate in the Sarawak election Paul Raja, who left PKR for the secular party, said he aimed to campaign for native land rights, the biggest issue facing the Dayaks.

Raja, who is involved in two NGOs ― the Dayak National Congress (DNC) that fights for Dayak rights and the Sarawak Centre for Rights of Indigenous People (SCRIP) that promotes the recording of oral histories of the indigenous ― also said the DAP’s Impian Sarawak development project in rural areas was the best platform to promote interests of the community.

“In Sarawak, they show seriousness in fighting for native rights,” Raja told Malay Mail Online in an interview yesterday at the party headquarters here, referring to the DAP.

“The community is suffering because of problems related to NCR (native customary rights). These people have been staying there for hundreds of years, even before the establishment of the Rajah Brooke government in 1841, but the government gave land to the timber companies and oil palm plantations without consulting with the native landowners,” the 49-year-old Dayak NCR land lawyer added.

Raja said the DAP has a seven-point Dayak blueprint that comprises Dayak political leadership, NCR land reform, a national indigenous development policy, native human capital development, infrastructure and information development, Dayak identity and the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

He had led 11 other Dayak professionals and activists last month in joining Sarawak DAP, accusing the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) of failing the Dayak community.

Raja criticised Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem for not removing a Muslim religious teacher who was appointed principal of SMK Sungai Paoh, a school dominated by Christian Dayaks, in Sarikei.

“You can just tell them, ‘transfer him back’. Is it not within his powers as chief minister? More so we’re saying that Sarawak is a nation by itself that formed the federation.

“Why can’t you just tell Najib, ‘bring him back to Malaya’?” he said, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said Dayak parents were upset over the Muslim religious teacher’s appointment because they feared forced conversions of students to Islam, noting that such cases have been reported in Sarawak.

Raja also poured scorn on Adenan’s statement last month that Sarawak has adopted English as the official language of the state administration, apart from Bahasa Malaysia, noting that English is already used in court and in letters to government agencies.

Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen told Malay Mail Online that Raja was being considered for rural constituencies in Sarawak in the upcoming state election that is due by June.