Dr Chandra Muzaffar said as part and parcel of Najib's 1Malaysia drive to foster unity, the prime minister had also engaged them at the social and cultural levels.
Chandra, who is president of the International Movement for a Just World, pointed out that all ventures introduced under the 1Malaysia concept -- from its retail trade outlets to its affordable housing programme -- were non-ethnic.
"1Malaysia, in its concrete manifestation, is an all-embracing, inclusive idea," he said in a statement Tuesday.
Chandra also argued that, everything considered, the actual flaws with the New Economic Policy were related to its implementation.
Noting that these should be rectified, Chandra said Najib, in the last four years, had made a concerted attempt to do so.
"Federal scholarships for students are based largely on academic merit; there is a serious endeavour to increase the number of Chinese and Indian public servants; and their mobility in the public service has improved through some high profile appointments," he said.
There was a lucid message that Najib was attempting to put across, Chandra said as he went on to identify it -- there must be understanding and empathy among Malaysians irrespective of religious or cultural differences.
"We must respect one another. Respecting one another means that we should never ever manipulate each other," he said.
Taking a swipe at the opposition pact of PAS-DAP-PKR, he called the pact an "opportunistic grouping hell-bent on power but opposed to each other".
"If an illusion on one hand and a misconception on the other makes the grouping a catastrophe, its opportunism renders it an even greater catastrophe," he added.
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