KUALA LUMPUR: Indian youth have turned to gangsterism after failing to join the army, said Pakatan Harapan's Padang Serai MP M. Karupaiya.

"Back in the 1980s and 1990s, one could find at least 200 Indians in (army) battalions.

"But today, there are only five Indians to a battalion. This shows a lack of opportunity, which has given rise to gangsterism among Indians," he said.

Kairupaiya said this when raising a supplementary question during Question Time in Parliament on Thursday (Aug 16).

He said Indian youth that seek to join the army are usually rejected during the recruitment process with many different excuses.

"When we were fighting the communists, there were many Indians in the army.

"Now that there is no war and higher salaries, the Indians are forgotten," he added.

To this, Deputy Defence Minister Senator Liew Chin Tong said that the ministry is continuing with the previous programme to recruit more Indians into the armed forces.

"We are continuing with the Seven to Seven programme which aims to raise Indian participation in the armed forces by at least seven percent," he said.

He said that improvements will be made to the programmes to attract more Indians to join the army.

"We hope that with the spirit of Malaysia Baru, all races will feel that the armed forces is for the (whole) nation," Liew added.

Based on a study by the Socioeconomic Development of Indian Community Unit (Sedic), currently only 1.6% of those serving in the military are Indians.