GEORGE TOWN: DAP national chairman Karpal Singh has given his support to the calls for the party to revive its once vibrant Indian affairs bureau.
The Bukit Gelugor MP said it was crucial to re-active the bureau at both the national and state levels as part of the party's preparation for the general election.
He said the bureau had been pivotal in developing and choosing the right Indian candidates for the party and drumming up the community's support for DAP.
Karpal told FMT that he would propose to the central executive committee during its next meeting to revive the bureau.
The veteran politician said DAP cannot ignore this issue since the party's Indian members and leaders were pushing for the bureau.
“We have to resolve it once and for all by reviving it. The bureau is important to safeguard the interests, rights and political standing of Indians in the party,” he stressed.
Indian elected reps blamed
Karpal was responding to recent calls by the party's Pahang deputy chief J Apalasamy and branch chiefs in Penang, K Gunabalan (Jalan Tembikai) and G Asoghan (Bagan Luar).
The grassroots leaders said the bureau was “dead and buried” after DAP registered its biggest electoral success in the last general election and blamed the party's elected Indian reps for this.
They claimed that the elected reps did not want to re-activate the bureau because they did not want a watchdog for their performance.
However, the three said the bureau was important in order to receive and accumulate grassroots feedbacks, and propose policies and action plans for the benefit of the Indian community.
Meanwhile, Karpal recalled that the bureau was formed during the time of the late P Patto to safeguard the interests of not only DAP's Indian members, but also the community's in general.
Over the years, he said the bureau represented the Indian community's interests in the opposition camp.
Now, he said, DAP did not only sit in the opposition parliamentary bench, but also helmed the Penang Pakatan Rakyat government and was part of the Selangor government.
“Thus it is imperative to re-active the bureau to represent Indian interests in the state governments as well,” he added.
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