THE Indian vote was much sought-after during the 13th general election as the community’s political allegiance is spread across several parties.
They used to be solid behind the MIC but not anymore.
The young generation especially have their own ideas and their political goals are different from the age-old values held by the MIC.
Thus, many youngsters are totally ignoring the party and moving towards the future on their own terms.
However, the MIC still commands a lot of respect among the community and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak sees it fit to have two of its leaders as full ministers in his Cabinet and two others as deputy ministers.
Party president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel is Natural Resources and Environment Minister, while his deputy, Datuk Seri Dr S. SUbramaniam, is Health Minister.
Datuk Seri G. Palanivel
Aside these leaders from the MIC, Najib has also appointed two deputies from outside the party to beef up the Indian representation in his administration.
One of them is P. Waythamoorthy, chairman of the once outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force.
He was made a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department just days after he completed a 21-day hunger strike at a Rawang temple to push the Hindraf Blueprint on the plight of the Indians.
The other is Penang PPP chairman Datuk Loga Bala Mohan, who was appointed Deputy Federal Territories Minister.
Significantly, both the ministers and the four deputy ministers from the Indian community have been given key portfolios in Najib’s administration.
Yet, after the historic GE13 has concluded, there are still voices raised that these six members of the Cabinet are not doing anything for the community.
It is probably still too early for them to lay out their plans since the Cabinet was formed just two months ago and they have to first get to know the ground and work on the preparation first.
Or, it could be that they have been bogged down by messy internal party matters that make it hard for them to focus on the larger interests of the community.
For Loga Bala, while being an ‘Indian face’ in the administration, he comes from a multi-racial party and his struggle, rightly, is for all communities.
But his position provides him an opportunity to address problems or urban dwelling among the Indians.
This is essentially a big responsibility as some 800,000 Indians are said to have drifted into urban areas from the diminishing tracts of their previous rubber and oil palm estates.
He has a task to work closely with his boss, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor to address the plea of the community in the urban areas.
Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (Left) and Loga Bala Mohan
Voting the president’s post is slotted to be on Sept 22, ahead of the November elections for the deputy president and 25 CWC seats.
The branch elections have started and due to end on Aug 4.
Lobbying and speculations have already begun through the media and social networks on who will take on whom during the party elections, with the focus on the presidential post.
There is nothing wrong in contesting or having personal interest to hold a position in the MIC, which is the biggest Indian-based party in the country.
But, the question here is, if the MIC leaders are too busy fighting for positions, who is taking care of the Indian community?
Palanivel had said the MIC is “the mother party of the community” but the argument is the mother should not be neglecting her children while she indulges in other pursuits.
The MIC has lost much support of the Indian community in recent years. There is no time to waste if the party wants to rebuild its platform as the party for the Indians and to earn the community’s trust again before the 14th general election comes rolling by.
It has got to be steadfast in its task to change the mindset of the community, which is seen to be no longer dependent on the party to chart their future growth.
The MIC has to show courage in the face of incessant attacks from its critics in both the mainstream and social media.
Hindraf too has not been spared of criticisms but Waythamoorthy has chosen to ignore those who lambast his Blueprint and has set five years to solve the problems faced by the Indian community and to bring positive changes to their socio-economic position.
Hindraf, which gathered tens of thousands of Indians in a massive street march against the Government on Nov 25, 2007, has since changed its stance by bringing to the Najib the party’s much-touted Blueprint to resolve the Indian rights issue.
The prime minister accepted it and Hindraf agreed to throw its full support behind the Barisan Nasional in GE13.
Aside the efforts by the MIC and other Barisan components to lure back the Indian votes, Hindraf also helped to turn the ‘tsunami’ tide of 2008 in favour of the ruling party.
In the 2008 general election, the country saw a tremendous and historic change in the voting trend, which caused the Barisan to drastically lose its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament.
The Hindraf street march that saw over 30,000 supporters march down the streets of Kuala Lumpur is said to be the ‘trigger point’ of the 2008 political tsunami.
The Blueprint provides specific measures to resolve six major issues; covering the displacement of some 800,000 estate workers; 350,000 stateless Indian Malaysians; provision of adequate and equal educational opportunities; employment and business opportunities; police enforcement; and human rights practices.
Waytha, who was louder before joining hands with the Barisan, is not active as he was before, many claimed.
For instance, the issue of seats allocation for Indian students, has not grabbed Waytha’s attention yet.
Several parents, together with members of the Malaysian Education Awareness and Welfare Association (PKP-KIM), had claimed that Indian students had been shortchanged because the Education Ministry had allegedly not lived up to its promise of giving them 1,500 places for the matriculation programme.
P. Waythamoorthy
(PKP-KIM) had submitted the names of the “denied students” to the MIC via Dr Subramaniam and Kamalanathan but the list had apparently not been delivered to the ministry.
At the same time, the association has asked the ministry to make fresh offers to fill the seats that were rejected by the 278 students.
It has been eight weeks since the matriculation programme started but there is still no light at the end of the tunnel for the ‘denied’ students.
As the MIC and Hindraf are claiming to be the Indian community’s special agents, why is an NGO taking the responsibilities to fight for the Indian affairs?
Taking sides or pointing fingers at each other will not benefit any party but what matters is someone has to lend a hand for the community.
The MIC has to start being a community party instead of being purely a political party.
The party has the easiest access to help the community.
MIC asked for votes from the Indian community on behalf of Barisan during its preparation for the GE13.
Now what the party needs to do is to stand in the front line of the community and request the Government to pay back.
If the Indian community starts regretting on their choice of Government, the GE14 will definitely be a nightmare for MIC and if the party fails to win back the support from its people within the next five years, it may be the last term for the party in the Cabinet.
While, Waytha, should not let down the Indian community, whom once backed him marching down the streets of Kuala Lumpur despite splashed with tear gas in order to seek for a permanent solution for the poor community marginalization.
Or else he might lose his ticket in the Cabinet.
These six Indian reps in Cabinet should work closely in order to unite the community. Without the support from the people, these six envoys would not be able to stand strong in the parliament.
Rather than criticizing and dividing themselves apart for their own respective party interest, the six officials should come up with a plan which allows them to work in a team for a common good.
It is no longer about party what matters for the people, but who can voice out the community’s cry in the parliament is what matters. –TMT
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