The revival of the caste system of voting that has been dormant for the past 20 years in the MIC, is set to split the party along caste lines and further segregate its members.
Former veteran party vice-president M Muthuppalaninappan (left) told Malaysiakini that the double jeopardy of caste selection of candidates and money politics will see the election of weak leaders who may not live up to party or community expectations.
"They may be better leaders in the marginalised castes of the Indian community where everyone is treated with equal rights in the say of the party," Muthuppalaniappan said.
"But these talented party members' have a weakness. They do not have a say and voice because of their small number and they do not have the financial means to call the shots at party elections," he said.
Mahatma Gandhi, he said, had fought against the caste system in India and had and today people from the lower castes as political leaders, statesmen and successful businessmen."
Muthu wondered rhetorically, why the same could not happen to Malaysian Indians.
"Why must Malaysian politics be always nurtured along the divide and rule principle of race, caste and religion that has divided Malaysians for the past 52 years?" asked Muthu.
He sees some hope in Prime Minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia policy which is really a Malaysian Malaysia policy, to unite the various races under one political umbrella.
He criticised party leaders whom , he said were going a step back to a caste-based elections this year, adding that every party member could contest any party post as an Indian no matter what caste he belonged to.
He said that MIC does not mean `Malaysian Indian- caste Congress', which seems to be the direction the party is heading for and is against Najib's proposed policy of uniting all Malaysians.
Muthu said the March 8 tsunami had jolted the Indian community to look for new dynamic leaders who could address the grouses of the marginalised members of the community.
"The mistake that all BN component parties, including MIC, did during the last general election was not listening to the views of the grassroots in picking the right candidates to contest." Muthu said
Intelligent feedback ignored
He also said that the feedback from the special branch, military intelligence and other government information agencies were not taken into consideration by the BN leaders on the political climate of the country before calling for the general elections last year.
He said that "the results showed that they paid heavily for their short- sight in wrongly assessing the country's political climate."
The MIC veteran also believes that all party state posts should be contested to ensure that elected leaders are answerable to the branches and divisions and ultimately to the Indian community.
Muthu said that the present policy of appointing state leaders has made them complacent and they were not committed to the party's political struggle of uplifting the community's social status in society.
He claimed that he was instrumental in bringing about the election system for the Youth and Wanita wings.
Of late, Muthu has been seen to have patched up with party supremo S Samy Vellu after his aborted attempt to contest the party's top post.
He has also said that he will not be contesting for any posts in the upcoming party elections.
However, a party source said that Samy Vellu may consider him for the treasurer-general's post when the president announces his party line-up next month.
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"They may be better leaders in the marginalised castes of the Indian community where everyone is treated with equal rights in the say of the party," Muthuppalaniappan said.
"But these talented party members' have a weakness. They do not have a say and voice because of their small number and they do not have the financial means to call the shots at party elections," he said.
Mahatma Gandhi, he said, had fought against the caste system in India and had and today people from the lower castes as political leaders, statesmen and successful businessmen."
Muthu wondered rhetorically, why the same could not happen to Malaysian Indians.
"Why must Malaysian politics be always nurtured along the divide and rule principle of race, caste and religion that has divided Malaysians for the past 52 years?" asked Muthu.
 |
He criticised party leaders whom , he said were going a step back to a caste-based elections this year, adding that every party member could contest any party post as an Indian no matter what caste he belonged to.
He said that MIC does not mean `Malaysian Indian- caste Congress', which seems to be the direction the party is heading for and is against Najib's proposed policy of uniting all Malaysians.
Muthu said the March 8 tsunami had jolted the Indian community to look for new dynamic leaders who could address the grouses of the marginalised members of the community.
"The mistake that all BN component parties, including MIC, did during the last general election was not listening to the views of the grassroots in picking the right candidates to contest." Muthu said
Intelligent feedback ignored
He also said that the feedback from the special branch, military intelligence and other government information agencies were not taken into consideration by the BN leaders on the political climate of the country before calling for the general elections last year.
He said that "the results showed that they paid heavily for their short- sight in wrongly assessing the country's political climate."
 |
Muthu said that the present policy of appointing state leaders has made them complacent and they were not committed to the party's political struggle of uplifting the community's social status in society.
He claimed that he was instrumental in bringing about the election system for the Youth and Wanita wings.
Of late, Muthu has been seen to have patched up with party supremo S Samy Vellu after his aborted attempt to contest the party's top post.
He has also said that he will not be contesting for any posts in the upcoming party elections.
However, a party source said that Samy Vellu may consider him for the treasurer-general's post when the president announces his party line-up next month.
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