When UMNO and Barisan Nasional have failed the marginalised Indians for the past 56 years, Pakatan Rakyat has made some significant impact in helping them in the states under their control. Even with a tight rein on resources – Pakatan does not control the federal kitty – the state governments under Pakatan have tried their level best to help the marginalised Indians.
Hindraf or Hindu Rights Action Force began as a coalition of 30 Hindu non-governmental organisations committed to the preservation of Hindu community rights and heritage in a multi-racial Malaysia. .Hindraf no doubt had made a major impact to the political landscape of Malaysia in staging the 2007 HINDRAF rally.
The group has now developed a far-reaching political programme to preserve and to push for equal rights and opportunities for the minority Tamils. It has been efficacious in enduring to focus attention on the racist aspects of the present government policies.
Nevertheless, today Hindraf as an NGO may not be a force as strong as how they were before the 2008 general election. Hindraf did play a major role in that election to see Indian votes tilt towards Pakatan. During that time Hindraf had a sizeable Indian support.
Hindraf should not make unreasonable demands
As after the 2008 general election, this role to assist the penurious and mistreated Indians was taken over by many zealous Indian leaders in Pakatan – PKR and DAP. These are the leaders seen by those ‘relegated’ Indians to have helped them more.
For this reason, Indians in general are still supportive of Pakatan Rakyat with or without Hindraf.
However, Hindraf can still play a role to amalgamate Indian support for Pakatan by working diligently with the present federal opposition. Hindraf should not make unreasonable demands that no coalition – Pakatan or Barisan – could copiously accept them.
Hindraf leaders should grasp the fact that the problems faced by the marginalised Indians are also faced by other ethnic groups, especially the poor Malays and the Orang Asal of this country.
Wisdom should prevail among Hindraf leaders. Instead of making some stroppy demands for now, Hindraf should amicably co-operate with Pakatan leaders to wrest control of Putrajaya. It’s not a matter of ‘number of election seats’ that should be given to Hindraf that will make them relevant. It’s the empowerment in politics at the end of the day that will make the difference.
It would therefore be more sensible if Hindraf could work with all races in the country to help lighten the problems of the marginalised Indians. Hindraf is wide of the mark if they feel that only the Indians could help the Indians in the Malaysian context.
Left to fend for themselves
Indians have represented the Alliance Party and Barisan Nasional since the country’s Independence in 1957. Yet these Indian leaders could not do much to assuage the problems faced by the majority poor Indians. Leaders among the Indian community more often than not are self-seeking and would end up looking for glamour. They seek posts in the government, crave for honorific titles and end up enriching themselves – typical of almost all Barisan leaders.
Many of these successful Indians have acquired foreign PR and their children have adopted foreign citizenship. They have neglected the poor among the Indians and the latter are today left to fend for themselves.
Crime, unemployment and illiteracy are synonymous to most of this deprived group of Indians. They are left with no successful Indians coming to their rescue. Only some devoted politicians, mainly in the Opposition are seriously struggling to help this group of Indians.
If truth be told, in most cases the plights of the marginalised Indians are more looked after by the Chinese and Malays as they have the means and the also the conscience to do so. The Chinese for instance have in the past donated a lot for the welfare of the Indian community such as the building of temples and schools and the maintenance of homes for the orphans and the poor Indians.
Thousands of Indians are working in the private sectors owned by the Chinese, Malays and foreigners. Praise and credit should be given to these people who have helped the poor Indians. And Indians given these opportunities have proven themselves to be successful and hardworking.
Begging for aids
Hindraf’s stand hence cannot be too race-centric and they should not deny the fact that not many wealthy Indians are willing to help relieve the problems faced by the poor Indians in the country. Hindraf should be unpretentious enough to admit that people of other races have all this while been helping the Indians.
Indians comprise not only Tamils in this country. It’s also not solely a Hindu problem here. Indians are not all Hindus; there are Muslims and Christians among them. And many of them are poor too.
No doubt the voice of the Indians must be heard in the parliament but it is equally important that Indian leaders work together with other races that have the means to help the poor Indians. Chinese schools are flourishing all due to the help extended by the Chinese community.
But the same is not happening to Tamil schools. Not many rich Indians are willing to contribute to improve the deplorable conditions of Tamil schools in the country.
Most non-Tamils do not send their children to Tamil schools and thus the rich among the non-Tamils are quite reluctant to contribute for the well-being of these schools.
When the Chinese are practically resilient and financially independent to make Chinese schools flourish and become among the best equipped in the country the Tamils are always seen to be begging for aids from the government.
Hindraf or the Indians in general should not see Tamil schools and temples as too significant an issue when the majority Indians are finding it so trying to even put food on the table. They should instead look into ways to improve the economic state of the poor Indians.
For this to materialise, Indians at large cannot depend on race-based parties but more on parties that are ideology-based where any economic help for the people is needs based and comes from all races.
Give Pakatan a chance
When race-based parties such as MIC and other mosquito parties representing the Indians within the Barisan coalition have failed the Indians they must now go for a shift and see if this helps them in the long run. Indians, all together, should give Pakatan a chance for at least one term at the federal level to see if there is any tangible change to their fate.
Indians have seen considerable results in states like Selangor and Penang which are under Pakatan control.
Now is the time for the Indians to work with Pakatan at the federal level to make things change for the community. When Barisan has failed them they still have a choice in a two-party system – a choice between Barisan and Pakatan. It’s never too late for Hindraf and the Indians to give Pakatan a chance to prove that the coalition can come up with concrete measures to change the fate of the marginalised Indians.
Pakatan is the way forward for the Indians after Barisan has failed them for the past 56 years. After all, the Indians had been loyal supporters of the Alliance and Barisan for more than four decades until they threw their support for Pakatan in the 2008 general election.
Indian votes can be crucial in some constituencies and their votes can determine which candidates can win. The 2008 election results shocked UMNO and Barisan leaders as they lost five states in that election and also the two-thirds majority in parliament. Many Indians were then voted in as oppositions in the parliament and state assemblies.
Hindraf cannot go it alone
The 2008 general election saw many ethnic Indians representing the Opposition in parliament. Penang appointed a deputy chief minister from this ethnic group. Perak created history by appointing an ethnic Indian to become the state assembly speaker.
States like Selangor and Penang saw a number of ethnic Indians holding important government posts who in their capacity have helped the marginalised Indian community. Of course, majority of these Indians do not represent Hindraf but PKR and DAP.
The success of Pakatan states in trying to alleviate the problems of the marginalised Indians is unprecedented. Hindraf should take note of this achievement.
Hindraf cannot go it alone. There is no single seat in the country that has Indian majority. And not all Indians, Malays or Chinese will vote for Hindraf candidates. The reality is that Indian candidates need the support of all races to win elections. Boycotting the elections will only see the Indians being deprived further and Hindraf doomed.
Common sense should thus again prevail among Hindraf leaders. Hindraf should not be too forceful and pressure Pakatan – or Barisan for that matter – into signing anything that would scare the majority Malay electorate. No coalition would entertain their excessive demands.
Hindraf ‘s realistic demand can always be incorporated in Pakatan’s policy corpus. Going for extremes will definitely hurt the feelings of other marginalised ethnic groups in the country. Hindraf and the Indians as a whole should go for a non-race based politics and work within Pakatan’s policy framework.
It’s also sagacious for Hindraf to work for all the races including of course the Indians.
Nothing will change if Barisan wins
Demanding for exclusive seats may not augur well as Hindraf leaders must be willing to work with Pakatan coalition as a team. They should field candidates within the coalition’s policy context but not as a separate entity.
For that matter, even Barisan would not be able to give exclusive seats to Hindraf without offending the many Indian-based parties affiliated to the coalition, such as MIC.
Hindraf should air their demands persuasively only after going all out to help Pakatan win the elections. They should be smart enough to realise that nothing will change if Barisan wins, but there is likely to be a significant transformation for the poor Indians if Pakatan wins.
Hindraf can take on all MIC-held seats as a coalition partner of Pakatan. This approach alone will not help the Indians, as there is no guarantee that Hindraf could win all because the MIC seats were returned based on the strength of Malay or Chinese votes.
It’s only when Pakatan can take over Putrajaya can there be a more effective ways to help the poor Indians.
Pakatan is a multi-racial party and if possible they would not want to see race-to-race contest in an election. Hindraf cannot work exclusively with a blueprint that is very Indian-centric or race-focused. Only through the support of the non-Indians could they win elections and thereby could express the grievances of the poor Indians to the government in control.
This makes UMNO happy
Pakatan’s policies on the economy and education are based on needs, not class or race. All marginalised and poor communities have a stake in their ‘blueprint’. Their blueprint eulogises human rights and opportunities for all.
The marginalised Indians need to be helped. But Hindraf should work with Pakatan to forward their demands for all minorities and not just the Indian community. An Indian-only approach may not augur well in a multi-racial Malaysia.
The voice of the poor and underclass Indian Malaysians are already made audible by the few Indian representatives in Pakatan. Hindraf should not belittle the efforts made by all those who have been fighting so hard for the poor Indians. Where is Hindraf when Pakatan leaders are all out to help the poor and victimised Indians of late?
Hindraf may have supporters but it is no longer a significant force among the Indians. Majority Indians are now already with Pakatan and a minority with Barisan.
Indians are the minority in this country but unfortunately they are in the main disunited, discontented and hardnosed. This makes UMNO happy. Indians have no choice but to lean towards the majority in many aspects of their life such as the economy and education.
When Barisan has failed them they should now vote for a change at the federal level to enjoy their constitutional rights.
It’s never too late to be united and force for a change of government. The next general election will determine the fate of the poor Indians in the country for many years to come.
Malaysia Chronicle
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