I refer to the Malaysiakini report ‘Samy Vellu ordered temple demolition' .

So here we go. Khir says Samy asked to demolish the temple. Samy says Khir did it on his own. Saravanan says of Khir: ‘He was arrogant and didn't bother to listen to anyone’. To Khir, Samy, Saravanan et al , do you all think many of us seriously care who said what to whom? We are tired and sick of you lot in the BN as demonstrated by our service of notice to you lot during the recent general elections. We further seriously think that you boys from Umno and MIC truly deserve each other.

Then we read this: Samy to Khir, ‘You are not only destroying your political career, you will also destroy my political career if you continue with the demolition'. Now this is a remarkable statement from a seasoned politician who is more concerned in protecting his own skin than that of the greater interests of the community he purportedly champions. And here are we left thinking that good old Samy is a selfless politician. Yeah, right I can see pigs flying!

Saravanan also says that the demolition of the Shah Alam temple was among the main reasons why BN lost Selangor in the March 8 general election. You’re wrong on that count, Mr Saravanan! BN lost because BN has become very irrelevant and arrogant and MIC, even more so (remember Mr Samy's boast that not even an army could defeat him in the elections? Hmmm!)

And if you want proof of the irrelevance, allow me spell it out for the MIC even if it is blindingly obvious.

Despite being a senior partner in the ruling BN government, MIC could not do a simple act of averting the destruction of an age-old temple. This is just one minuscule example of MIC’s impotence in today's BN brand of Malaysia. Even the 'mighty' Samy's apparent plea to the PM and DPM felt on deaf ears. Why do you think MIC has lost the influence it thinks it always had? The reason - Umno perhaps thinks that the MIC is a jerk. Umno thinks MIC is only a supporting act and a poodle to BN. Umno thinks that the MIC members and the community (with full Malaysian citizen rights ) are second class citizens.

Umno thinks that they can do without MIC or the PPP ( as explicitly spelt out by a high ranking Umno official Ali Rustam at one of the AGMs ). Now to the root question - why do Umno and the BN think that we are lesser citizens than the 'Malay' Malaysian. You know what? We don't really need Umno to tell us why we are inferior citizens.

MIC is doing a damn good job by itself without any help from our adversaries by fashioning us as inferior, by fashioning itself as a migrant/ minority political party, by alluding to us as inferior. MIC has done a damn good job in the last 50 years by compromising our Malaysian identity with an Indian identity, by readily trading our inalienable rights as full Malaysian citizens with third-rate citizenship, by accepting the small scraps that are thrown at us by the ruling BN government - like the BN's offer of one full minister and couple of deputy ministers in government which is thrown in to keep the MIC boys and girls happy.

Perhaps MIC is content with Tamil schools thrown here and there. Perhaps MIC is happy political patronage like ‘datuk-ships’ thrown here and there. Okay, okay, MIC might not be overly ecstatic with their marriage made in heaven to BN but they are nevertheless a happy lot of sorts, otherwise why is MIC still sleeping with BN after all these years of humiliation?

I have urged MIC, in the past and will continue to do so, to disband itself and get rid of the tribal mentality by fashioning itself as 'Indian'. Don't get me wrong, I am proud of my roots but it does not help our equal rights cause when you are fashioning yourself as ‘Indian’ on a political platform. Samy now says if BN doesn’t play ball with MIC, he will go abroad for help. Mr Samy, I have news for you.

You don't need to go anywhere around the world for help. The answer is at your doorstep. Just get your MPs and members to walk across to one of the Pakatan's component non-racial parties. If MIC cannot be relevant as part of the ruling BN government today, I cannot for the life of me see what hope is there that they will be relevant on the opposition benches as Muppets in the very near future.