The Barisan Nasional leaders, led by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should stop their truculent and confrontational responses to the Sunday 30,000 Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur, as illustrated by the following:
- Saber-rattling and tough language like newspaper headlines, “Kerajaan tidak gentar — Perhimpunan Hindraf jelas bermotif politik — Najib” (Utusan Malaysia) and “‘WE WON’T BACK DOWN’ — We will meet the challenge — Najib” (New Straits Times);
- warning of dire action by Umno leaders including the use of Internal Security Act; and
- Condemnation by Barisan Nasional MPs like the MP for Jasin Datuk Mohd Said Yusof branding the Hindraf leaders as “kurang ajar” and demanding action to be taken against them.
Instead of threatening all sorts of dire consequences against the Hindraf organizers and supporters, the Cabinet should offer an olive branch to acknowledge the legitimacy of the long-standing grievances of the Indian community at becoming the most marginalized group after 50 years of Merdeka by taking the following measures:
- Unconditional release of all 136 Hindraf supporters arrested during Sunday’s demonstration;
- Withdraw all charges and proceedings against Hindraf organizers, including P. Uthayakumar, P. Waytha Moorthy and V. Ganabatirau.
- Establish a commission of inquiry into the police handling of the Hindraf demonstration on Sunday;
- Support the establishment of a parliamentary select committee on the marginalization of the Indian community which should be given three months to submit its first report by early March next year.
In my first parliamentary speech when I returned to Parliament after the 2004 general election, I had called for a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indian community, the new underclass in the country.
I had quoted the paper “Election 2004: New Politics for Indian Malaysians” presented by “Group of Concerned Citizens” which had summarized nine long-standing fundamental issues faced by Indian Malaysians, as proper agenda to constitute the terms of reference of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indian community, viz:
- The number of Indian youth dying in police custody has increased;
- The socio-economic inequality between the Indian poor and rich and between other communities has worsened;
- The State has not responded effectively in addressing social ills in the community;
- The State policies towards and financial allocation for Tamil schools remains pitiful;
- The University intake policy has been a source of major distress for the community;
- The State has not stepped in to help resolve the MAIKA scandal;
- The Kampung Medan racially-motivated killings have not been brought to a closure. No public inquiry was instituted.
- Low cost housing needs of the Indian poor have not been adequately addressed;
- The negative consequences of the final breakdown of the plantation economy on the Indian rural poor have still not be regulated. Aggressive displacement of Indian Malaysians is a serious problem.
There will now have to be a tenth term of reference — the rampant demolition of Hindu temples and disregard of the religious rights and sensitivities of the Malaysian Indian community.
On June 4, 2004 I had written to the Works Minister and MIC President, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, asking for his support in Cabinet for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee to break the back of the problem of the marginalization of the Indian community, as the Indians in Malaysia had not received commensurate benefits from decades of national development.
Although Samy Vellu expressed support for the proposal for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Indian Community when he received my letter, nothing has been heard on the matter in the past three years.
Will the Cabinet heed the “cry of desperation” of the Malaysian Indian community as symbolized by the Hindraf demonstration on Sunday — or will it remain, blind, deaf and mute to the growing sense of despair, disillusionment and alienation of Malaysian Indians?