Several Hundred Hindraf supporters attended the prime minister’s PWTC Hari Raya open house function. This has attracted attention from all sources to the grievance of the Indians, a significant section of Malaysian society.
Of course, we all have our own ways of interpreting things and we interpret events according to our interests. Some have questioned the appropriateness of this and clearly they are the ones who want to portray Hindraf negatively.
The Umnoputras and their cronies and the MIC. See anybody else?
The Umnoputras have decided to imprison the Hindraf leaders – leaders of a significant section of Malaysian society. Since Umno called the shot on this, they need to accept the consequences of this. They need to understand that there cannot be a normal functioning of Malaysian society under the circumstances of imprisonment of those that are revered by a section of the population.
Look around in the world. Did the white South Africans win by imprisoning Nelson Mandela? They kept South Africa on a boil during the period he was in jail.
There will always be something or other cropping up as long as they keep imprisoned leaders of significant section of the people. The situation will be on a constant boil. The Umnoputras really need to understand this. There is a crisis. They created it and they have to accept the consequences of it.
All the Hindraf attendees to the PWTC function wore orange T-shirts. They have made it a symbol of this crisis. And we are going to see more orange in the days to come. What also probably miffed the Umno ‘Tuans’ that day was the audacity of this orange-clad group to come in the numbers they did, in raw defiance of authority – so blatantly and so purposefully.
Are these people not afraid of authority anymore, are they not afraid of the ‘Secret Police’ anymore, are they not afraid of the courts, the jails, the potential incarceration anymore? The Umnoputras really have a problem on their hands when this fear is lost.
Authority can have effect only when people are afraid. When they throw away their fear in large numbers the authorities begin to have trouble. The Indians used to be seen as a docile and unknowing community. Can this be said anymore?
Instead they have become the vanguard for change now. The world has indeed changed. Umno cannot just parrot responses from an era gone.
Then look at how Utusan Malaysia has been portraying the Hindraf attendance at the function. One day the headlines ran ‘Hindraf terlaluan’, the next day it ran ‘Amaran kepada Hindraf’.
We must only say thank you to the editors of Utusan who have helped Hindraf achieve its objective of drawing attention to their issues – even though the Utusan reports centred on some lies to create an image of an uncouth Hindraf.
Whatever the editorial slant of their reports, the visibility of the grievances of a large section of Malaysian society continues to be kept visible and I must say very visible.
Then consider the largesse of the MIC chief. He says his efforts in getting the release of the five Hindraf leaders will be impaired by this act of defiance. In the first place, why is he intervening for the release when he worked hand-in-glove to get them arrested in the first place?
Now in his vain attempt at what he calls a re-branding exercise, he is trying to dispense from his unending store of ‘false generosity’.
In order to have the continued opportunity to express his generosity the MIC chief must perpetuate injustice. An unjust social order is the permanent fount of this ‘generosity’. True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish such false charity.
This is not his objective. His is to continue to lie and cheat and continue to keep the people in darkness so he can continue to dispense his brand of ‘generosity’.
In summary, the grievances of the Indian community are significant and cannot be ‘wished away’. Unless they are properly addressed there will continue to be open exhibitions of these grievances.
Use of the ISA, the police, the courts will only aggravate the matter and they do not make the problem go away. The colour orange is here to stay. Umnoputras, wake up to this!
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