ed federal government to 'demonise' the group.According to them, the BN may have kick-started a contorted campaign to smear the movement, which may ultimately lead to a ban.Many regard Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, MIC president S Samy Vellu (right) and Utusan Malaysia as the driving forces behind this murky campaign to paint the human rights group as an unruly, ill-mannered and impolite body.Thus, understandably, the government had to get even with Hindraf, which has been largely blamed for shifting Indian votes en bloc from BN to the opposition in the March general election, they said.Hindraf inspired Makkal Sakti or people power has stu
ng the government into realising the importance of minority Indian votes for its electoral survival. It has also woken up the community from a deep slumber and state of denial.The majority of Indians in the country had for a long time believed that only the MIC and BN could look after their interests, a syndrome perpetuated and constantly highlighted by media campaigns and stereotypical image-building.Hindraf's emergence awoke the community, eliminated the 'BN is best' myth and instilled anger and frustration in Indians, who now blame the government for 51 years of betrayal, mistrust and marginalisation.Critics believe the government waited for its chance to exact revenge and it duly arrived when Hindraf activists paid a Hari Raya visit to the prime minister's open house in the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 1.They said BN leaders then seized the chance to criticise, not mincing their words in calling Hindraf a rude and ungrateful movement out to disrupt racial and religious harmony in the country."It was an insult to Islam," said Syed Hamid, an obvious over-statement arising from a sense of urgency to go for a quick kill.A ban looms
Now the threat is on to ban the unregistered body."How could the government ban an unregistered body?" asked London-based Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy.Even if the government somehow manages to ban Hindraf, he is convinced that it would only fuel the burning Makkal Sakti spirit of the Indians."The government may be able
to get rid of Hindraf, but not the Makkal Sakti fervour," said the self-exiled leader, who left the country just before the government's clampdown on the movement late last year, following its mammoth rally on Nov 25.Five Hindraf leaders –P Uthayakumar, 47, M Manoharan, 47, R Kenghadharan, 41, V Ganabatirau 35, and T Vasanthakumar, 35, have been in detention in Kamunting under the Internal Security Act since Dec 13.Hindraf visited the prime minister's open house to urge Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to release the five and repeal ISA.Waythamoorthy insisted that the Putrajaya administration extended an open invitation to Hindraf to come to the open house and that its activists lined up in an orderly manner to shake hands and wish Abdullah well in the festive season.BN leaders, Utusan Malaysia and certain Umno-linked NGOs have been accused of distorting the Hindraf visit.The movement has since lodged a series of nationwide police reports against Syed Hamid, Utusan and several non-government organisations and threatened to file multi-million ringgit suits against its critics.Not wanting to be left out, MIC leaders accused the activists of sabotaging the party's efforts to persuade the government to release the Hindraf 5.Bafflingly, Samy Vellu has emerged to champion the Hindraf cause, a struggle that he belittled and loathed when he was in the government. Not surprisingly he has been accused of hijacking the Hi
ndraf cause to re-brand and re-position MIC as a vital political entity for the Indian community.But the unequivocal truth is, MIC is rapidly becoming irrelevant to Indians.In the last election, the community widely rejected BN's divide and rule policy and voted in multi-racial political bodies to represent their interests.Although Pakatan Rakyat leaders like PAS president Hadi Awang, bloggers, NGOs and civil activists have defended Hindraf's Hari Raya visit , the government is disinterested to listen, contrary to Abdullah's claim that he has "big ears to hear grievances of all Malaysians".Sincere efforts neededWaythamoorthy believes Hindraf is being used as a pawn to increase the individual popularity of Umno leaders in their race for supremacy in the run up to party elections next March."It shows that Umno has lost touch with grassroots sentiments and undercurrent demands for a different political approach to govern a multi-racial Malaysia," Waythamoorthy said.Banning Hindraf would not solve the outstanding Indian issues in the country nor will it pave way for MIC and BN to regain lost votes.BN and MIC must realise that they must first address and resolve Hindraf's 18 issues submitted in a memorandum last year, which touched on the non-existence of kindergartens in Tamil schools, the high suicide rate among Indians, the indiscriminate demolition of Hindu temples and direct discrimination, marginalisation and racism against Indians, both in the public and private sector.Strong action against an unregistered body would not dampen the Makkal Sakti spirit that has become the heart and soul of the majority of Malaysian Indians.They demand constructive government action to address and resolve their dilemma, provide them with wider opportunities for both business and employment and upgrade their standard of living.In all, they demand that the government does away with its marginalisation policy.Banning Hindraf is not the solution.Getting rid of an Indian mouthpiece will only aggravate the situation and isolate BN further from the community.
source from malaysiakini
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