COMMENT The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), or what’s left of its original leadership, has accused the DAP of plagiarising 11 of the 14 items in its blueprint (supposedly for the uplifting of the Indian poor and marginalised) in DAP’s Gelang Patah Declaration.

Plagiarism is an academic abomination, a commercial crime in some intellectual rights cases, and an indictment of policy bankruptcy and incompetency in politics if, say, Party A were to steal policy ideas from Party B.

But Hindraf is neither Party A nor Party B in the current scheme of things. Hindraf drew up its blueprint not as an academic or commercial item, but to demand that either side of Malaysian politics adopt same if they wish to have Hindraf’s support in the coming general election.