YOURSAY | ‘The minister is the new favourite target of conservative right-wing groups.'

From Hindraf to Seafield, Waytha reaps what he sows, says MIC chief

P Dev Anand Pillai: Why was a group hired to cause mischief at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya? And what does that have to do with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy?

If the temple was in the process of moving, the developers ought to have exercised caution and patience. Instead, what we saw were scenes of violence; to compound the situation, the mob-for-rent threatened to turn the issue into a racial conflict. Because they know very well that places of worship make emotions run high.

Indian Malaysians seem to be bearing the brunt of most racial and religious disputes, be it improper conversions, body snatching, statelessness, improper religious status in identity documents, and many more.

Temple demolitions are what woke the Indians up since the 2007 Hindraf revolt, which eventually led to the change in the political demographics of today.

Hindraf would not have emerged had MIC and other parties represented the community on issues such as this, which speaks to the core of Indian identity. So, to MIC president SA Vigneswaran, don't blame Wathyamoorthy.

BA Baracus: I feel sorry for Waythamoorthy. Since the day after May 9, the opposition has been attacking Harapan’s perceived weak points – like the de facto national unity minister and Education Minister Maszlee Malik.

If, for instance, someone more feisty like Gobind Singh Deo was in Waythamoorthy’s shoes, would we even be talking about the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd)? And more pertinently to yesterday’s events, would the Seafield temple incident even have occurred? I highly doubt it.

Regardless, Waythamoorthy is the new favourite target of the conservative right. I think they’d settle for his head, because they know that achieving any sort of success in the 15th general election is beyond them.

I don’t know if he has it in him to fight back, or whether that ‘Hindraf fire’ has been snuffed out within. What he and the rest of Harapan need to do now is to quickly mediate the settlement between the Seafield temple committee and the developer, throw the culprits in jail, and be the leaders the people expected them to be.

Only then will the conservative right groups crawl back into the woodwork and stew in their failures.

Anonymous 2319461440035118: Vigneswaran, you said it correctly, you reap what you sow.

When BN was in power, MIC treated poor and rich Indians differently. The richer got richer, while the poor suffered. Having done so for a long time, the Indians woke up. This is why MIC is not wanted by the community, except for the moneyed class, who still cling on to the hope that the poor Indians will one day return to the party.

Even if Hindraf is lying, why would Indian voters support MIC again? Don’t think they are stupid, they know what you are doing to them.

OceanMaster: Nov 25, 2007, was the first time Indian men and women of all walks of life took to the streets in the nation's capital in tears and bore the full brunt of the riot police.

Every Malaysian with an iota of self-respect empathised and agreed that the Indian community needed social and economic assistance. It should have been the day MIC left BN, since MIC claimed to be the flag bearer for the Indian community.

MIC, by design, failed and became irrelevant. Ten years down the road, 88 percent of people of Indian origin voted for Pakatan Harapan in the 14th general election, abandoning MIC lock, stock and barrel.

Every time people like the new MIC president come up and start blabbering, all I see are ignorant, intellectually bereft, corrupt, rotten scoundrels who sold the community to the devil.

MA: If I were Vigneswaran, I’d be ashamed of myself and the state MIC is in now. The temple, more than 100 years old, was sitting in limbo under MIC’s noses when BN was in power.

What has MIC done to work out an amicable solution to the land deal, if not something entirely more dubious? This is the direct result of such neglect, and Vigneswaran is crowing nonsense now.

Tholu: Vigneswaran, you seem to be venting your frustration on not being given the respect and privileges you enjoyed while BN was the government. You are targeting one Pakatan Harapan leader after another to berate them to compensate for your vexation.

And pray tell us what you mean by "What goes around comes around. This is a very good lesson." What is the 'lesson' Waythamoorthy is supposed to learn from these incidents? Or what is the ‘lesson’ you think he can learn?

That he shouldn't have been one of the organisers of the Hindraf rally? That he shouldn't have held a press conference with other lawmakers from Harapan?

Admit it – the truth is, you were talking just for your pleasure of feeling relevant and noticed by belittling him. My advice to you, Vigneswaran, is to lay low if you have nothing of substance to say.

Unspin: It is very irresponsible for the MIC president to insinuate a karmic relationship between the Hindraf rally 11 years ago with this recent incident.

The Hindraf rally was borne out of frustration with the marginalisation of Indians and it was arguably the ‘tipping point’ that resulted in regime change a decade later in May 2018 – or positive karma.

The karmic cycle for this recent incident is still open-ended. The karmic loop will probably close with the masterminds – who instigated this incident to divert attention from their own predicaments – being thrown into prison for corruption or abuse of power.

Dex: No difference from Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Malaysia is facing a crisis and here he comes trying to score brownie points. Shame on Vigneswaran. He is unfit to represent the Indian community.

Zahid flays 'hero' Waytha for 'provocation' in Seafield temple issue

Anon1: Zahid, the man who said he met the Saudi RM2.6 billion donor, the man facing 45 charges for corruption and money-laundering, the man accused of using funds from a charitable organisation to pay his whopping credit card bills in the hundreds of thousands of ringgit. Why would anyone bother about what this man has to say about anything?

Idiocracy: Zahid was the one inciting racial and religious tension using Icerd. The temple issue is a spillover.

If the temple is more than 100 years old, it should be a heritage site, the land should not just be sold conveniently to a developer without engaging the Hindu community stakeholders.

Planning and enforcement are needed before the erection of structure, not 100 years later. The state should be blamed for this. Now that both state and federal authorities are under the ruling coalition, Harapan should get its act together.

Pak Pandir Jay: Typical old school politics by dinosaurs. Race and religion will win, and only then you will learn your lesson.

Malaysia is moving forward. Not only that, politicising an event where people were hurt and where violence was evident is abhorrent. It is in the hands of the police now. Let them carry out their investigations.

For the rest of us, all we have to do is remain calm and let this incident pass.

Annonymous: Umno and racist groups have been on overdrive spewing seditious, toxic hate speech and threats since 2008 in their futile attempts to arouse civil conflict and pit good Malays against minorities.

Thank Allah that the good and educated Malays will not fall for this evil scheme, as they are aware of the many sins and hideous corruption plaguing the country by Umno leaders, the overdose of racism and the unnecessary threats by abusing the three Rs – race, religion and royalty.

Most will reject extremism and only want peace and progress. Well-educated Malays have a good sense of moral justice and are very well aware that should any conflict befall the country, the majority of Malays will suffer most.

Seems like the metaphorical arsonist who started the fire is now shouting fire. This is dangerous, as he is ramping up his desperate attempts to pour more fuel on a burning fire.

Sunshine: After such unfortunate incidents, responsible leaders should preach reason and non-violence. Not issue warnings and resort to accusations.

Zahid seems to be bereft of any such requirements. And considering the current status of him and his family, he should be mindful of possible positive or negative consequences resulting from his remarks.

AK47: Zahid, it is you who is provoking the public. Bear in mind the rakyat are more intelligent than you think.

RisinGstaR: After all, it was just a land dispute incident. Unfortunately, there were some troublemakers with evil intentions out there.

Ex-PJ: Why is the truth so sensitive to Zahid? Someone paid a group of Malays to attack and damage the temple. Let the investigations be completed and the guilty charged, including the mob that attacked the Fire and Rescue Department officer.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.