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| P Wythmoorthy being sworn in courtesy of UMNO |
How can you have a referendum of the Indians in a constituency that has only about 10 per cent Indians and who do not even make up one percent of the total Indian population of the country.
That is Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) chief P Waythamoorthy's logic.
Now like me, do you see a chicken running around without a neck?
At the onset of his decision to back the BN I said this man and his brother were nothing but political opportunists, and I was not far wrong.
He told the Indians the greatest Tamil story, and I am surprised that to this day no one has taken it to make a movie of it.Both Uthay and Wytha, were gunning to become the "leaders of the Indian Community" within the BN when it became apparent that Samy's tenure was coming to an end.
This could not be done by trying to overthrow Samy from within the MIC, as Samy had locked all the doors and there was no way they could get into fortress MIC as it was all Samy's, so they had to find an alternate route.
In UMNO Indian bashing was the order of the day, we had Toyo go on a rampage destroying Hindu temples, and what UMNO does both MIC and MCA can't stop, it is the privilege of UMNO, in fact it was not even to be questioned, so the sacred Hindu temple destruction went on unabated.
The Samy who had taken on Mohammed Taib during his heyday, and who told him "Mentris Besar come and Menteris go, and I can't be expected to listen to all of them,'" now seemed helpless with what Toyo was doing, the times had changed and were changing.
Many Indians felt he was in cahoots with Toyo, but to be fair that was not the case it was actually the fact that he was trying and (like I said what UMNO wants to do it does and both MCA and MIC or for that matter any BN component can't stop,) that he could do nothing, that made his opponents in HINDRAF capitalise on the temple issue to gain support.
When you play with religion you get a whole people against you and this was the sentiment that HINDRAF used to catapult themselves into the lime light and gain support of the Indians. It was Hindu temples and this literally gave birth to Hindu Rights Action Front it seemed very appealing to the Hindus it was time to do something.
When this happened the opportunity presented itself ot HINFDRAF to show a confused and ignorant Abdullah Badawi that it was they - HINDRAF who had the support of the Indians and not MIC, now they thought that would be a sure ticket for them to claim Indian representation and get Badawi to listen to them and cast MIC aside.
To actually display this strength they had to bring the Indians to town in numbers that would get everyone sitting up and watching, and to do that in full force they had to have a good story and so the greatest Tamil story was concocted by HINDRAF.
They were going to March to the office of the British High Commissioner to present a letter to the queen demanding that all Indians in this country be compensated with RM1 million, for after all it was the British who brought these Indians into the country as Indentured labour, and then left them here without any guarantees in the granting of Independence and as a result these Indians continue to live in a marginalised state.
One million ringgit? Why most of the people who turned up never even held RM5 thousand in their hands at a single time, and this was 1 million ringgit, it was worth fighting for.
The million ringgit story did the trick, almost every mother's son in the Tamil Community came down to Kuala Lumpur, they were willing to be gassed, to be sprayed with chemically laced water for a cause, and that cause to them was the million ringgit.
It must be admitted that it was that single event that had the greatest impact on the 2008 elections, it was that event that shook the Barisan to the chore and instead of capitalising on that event both brothers decided their own personal interest came first.
The blow dealt to Barisan in 2008 saw an unprecedented number of Indians in Parliament and State assemblies.
That to a great extent that was the doing of this HINDRAF rally cannot be denied, that the BN lost its foothold in Parliament can be attributed to this rally again cannot be denied, but the HINDRAF leaders as we can see today were not in this for this, they were in it to replace MIC in government.
They Indians who made it to Parliament were not there on the Indian vote, they were there because they were the most suitable for office and not even because they were Indian, but because they were Malaysians, they were voted in mostly by the Chinese and the Malays and the few Indians you find in every constituency in the country.
No Indian can win a single seat in this country counting on the Indian vote alone, it is not possible as there are no Indian majority constituencies and so Indians of all people in this country must distance themselves from racial politics it is not in their interest.
After that entire fiasco instead of joining forces with the opposition by actually joining the parties in a joint struggle for a fair playing field these two brothers continued with their Indian politics, the dream of representing the Indians in a government that divides and rules, they were bent on being the "New Samy."
Uthay began making demands for specific allocation of seats to the HINDRAF, the HINDRAF split there was Makal Sakthi and HINDRAF and everyone wanted to jump the band wagon, even the two brothers split with each other, one decided to go it alone and lost his deposit in the last elections, the other decided to throw his support behind Najib for whom Najib had to arrange special protection when he went on campaign trail.
After getting into Parliament on charity accorded by Najib and UMNO Wythya was in no position to make any demands legitimate or otherwise, after all, all that he had now was on charity and beggars they say can't be choosers, it was what everybody expected, UMNO seemed to be telling him, "take your seat, take your money and shut up!!"
After they way they behaved prior to the elections, bargaining left right and centre for seat allocations which none of the parties including BN took seriously, the Indians or the majority of the Indians began discarding them, they felt that it was not worth supporting them, and UMNO is so fully aware of this, so why give serious consideration to the demands of this chap Wytha? After all they rewarded him handsomely for doing absolutely nothing.
If he had gone to Parliament on a PKR or DAP ticket, that is, if he played his cards right, he would have been able to make demands and put pressure on the Government, the government would take him more seriously, as they would have realised and acknowledged HINDRAF as a body that could really shake them up, but after all these wheeling and dealing, with him accepting a ministerial position whilst his brother was jailed no one took him seriously, leas of all Najib.
For all the good intentions he might have had, his approach and his strategy were all fouled up, he even lost the support of most of the Indians who supported him, many who say, "he turned his back on his own brother."
He was totally subdued in government by UMNO and we all saw that, so is this move of his only temporary, is it a subtle attempt to deceive the Indian voter again, will Najib promise a handout to the 10 per cent Indians in Kajang at the last minute to swing the vote, and will this man then go back to government at a more alleviated level for having served his masters so well. After all that is the function of the MCA, MIC and all BN components to serve UMNO and get individually rewarded.
The Kajang Indians must realise, like every Malaysian should, be more Malaysian and less Indian, Chinese or Malay for therein lies our future.
The PKR Issues
Issues should not be confused, it is an election, Anwar is standing in Kajang, there is discord in PKR, but being a democratic party it is transparent so you get to see what is happening, it is not hidden under the carpet.
Disagreements in democratic political parties are common, and Anwar being the defacto leader has to find a way to settle it.
As I see it Anwar is trying to strike a balance between both Khalid and Azmin and hence this move. Khalid is an excellent MB no denying it, he is the best, Selangor is the bes performing state in the country, but problems plague the party.
It will not be a loss for Selangor, to haveAnwar, who is PM material run the state, it can only get better.
PKR's issues are not hidden under the carpet that is what democracy is all about, and most supporters of the party will be glad that it isn't.
Khalid's decision to take on Azmin for the position of Deputy President must be lauded, Khalid has made many admirers both in the party and outside, if he wins which is very likely looking at the sentiment, it may spell a new and more dynamic era for the party something PKR must have.
Maybe Khalid has to be dropped from the MB position it will make him a more astute politician, and a better leader, these are the trying processes in building the kind of leadership we require for the nation.
In the meantime the people of Kajang have to be aware, and remain focused on the real issues effecting them, the BN has never done anything for the people but to bankrupt the states and Municipal treasuries, the present government of opposition states have brought these states and Municipalities back into the black, the funds are there to begin developing so stay focused and do not get fooled by the BN. Every BN politician has several agendas of their own and none genuinely for the people, we have seen it happen over and over again.
Kajang is not an Indian referedum as I said earlier.
Kajang is the town that will bury Najib, Wytha's boss.
Wythamoorthy is deflecting the issue.
If Kajang is won back by the PKR Najib must step down, after all he lost the popular vote at the last elections and that means the majority of the voters voted against him, it is only because of the way the constituencies are aligned that he won.
By losing the popular vote he lost the moral authority to rule, now if he loses Kajang a town just next to Putrajaya he has to go and that is what UMNO is brewing for him and rightly so.
Kajang has nothing to do with the Indians, Kajang will determine Najib's fate.
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