As expected, leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force have been arrested before their planned gathering to hand a copy of a suit filed in the British courts questioning the British government's motives for bringing Indians to Malaysia and leaving them without any form of protection when the Federal Constitution was being drafted before independence.
On another note, the poor Chinese Malaysian student of Universiti Putra Malaysia is being suspended for one semester for having anti-establishment thoughts and participating in illegal student activities in the university. Therefore, it is clear that the Abdullah administration or the government of Malaysia will not tolerate any form of dissent from the two major minority ethnic groups in the country.
The Chinese Malaysians, though economically-strong and well-connected worldwide, are beginning to feel the pressure as the government comes down hard on them by continuing to provide opportunities in their hard-earned conglomerates for the bumiputera or sons of the soil.
The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) which started out as a welfare and social association of rich Chinese Malaysians is now the main tool for the government to propagate moderate thoughts amongst the Chinese Malaysians.
The Indians, on the other hand, have always been the ones that bore the brunt of it, having toiled as estate workers and labourers building everything from railroads to systematic plantations that brought the country its first taste of economic boom pre- and post- independence. But they still lag behind and are the most marginalised minority race.
It will be plain hypocrisy for the ruling elite Umno leaders to go around and be pictured hugging poor estate folks and then order the Federal Reserve Unit to fire tear gas and water canons at them when they come to the streets to demand their rights. Some policies and piecemeal changes to certain constituencies will not help. It will need assurance from the government of the day to see that it is implemented at all levels of the government delivery service.
For a start, policies regarding staff intake at all levels of government departments and agencies, even in government-controlled companies like Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Syabas, Telekoms should have a fair share of Chinese and Indian Malaysians in their make up. These policies should be done for the sake of national unity and long term prosperity rather than on a piecemeal basis to sooth the electorate. The youth want to be welcomed and cherished as Malaysians first before their ethnicity. But this will not see the light of day if racial sentiments, religious and class divides are fanned by the current leaders of the ruling elite in Umno.
Indian Malaysians have had enough and that is the reason why mass support has suddenly arisen. The authorities continue to ignore the rights of places of worship, conversion issues, burial rights of the so-called "converts" and the overall discrimination of Indian Malaysians from participating in the country's policies. The younger generation cannot be expected to sit back and be quelled into silence. They have to be urged to participate and voice their views. Freedom and equality is what makes a country develop from within, with a society that respects differences and live in unity.
It is not about elections. It is about governance and policies. Indian Malaysians are tired of the Malaysian Indian Congress and its leaders who seem to have lost their ability to debate, negotiate and bargain for a fairer and better deal for them. Hindraf's popularity is due to the government's continued neglect towards a minority that has made vast contributions towards the building of this nation.
We accept the fact that Malays and Indians coexisted for centuries in this country. What we need to realise and strengthen is that whilst our Malay brethren have progressed, our Indian brethren has been shut out and left behind. Malays and Indians are intertwined and cannot be separated by race or religion. Let us make our home a fairer place for all before we invite others to make Malaysia their second home.
