(Malaysiakini) The MIC representatives who attended a meeting at the ministry of education last Tuesday, over the controversial 'Interlok' for Form Five students, met again at the MIC headquarters yesterday to reiterate their demand at the meeting that the textbook be withdrawn.
Yesterday's meeting was chaired by MIC education bureau chairperson T Marimuthu. Also present were S Kumaran from the Indian Studies Department of University of Malaya, Aru Nagappan and SV Lingam, Krishnan Maniam, EM Sahadevan of the Curriculum Development Centre and a few other NGO representatives.
The purpose of yesterday's afternoon meeting was to reiterate their demands that the book be withdrawn from the Malay literature syllabus on grounds that it is unsuitable for students.
The discusion lasted more than two hours, during which they reiterated their unanimous demand for the withdrawal of the textbook.
The meeting also directed Marimuthu (below, left)to convey this decision to acting MIC president G Palanivel and deputy president Dr S Subramaniam. Kumaran and Aru, when contacted, confirmed this.
The meeting also decided that MIC should convene a central working committee meeting to endorse the demand for the book's withdrawal and that the decision be made public.
“MIC is a member of the ruling coalition. Its decision on this matter is important as it will make all the difference,” Kumaran said.
“This is a matter that concerns the entire community and as MIC claims to represent the community, it must make its stand on this matter public,” concurred Nagappan.
Both Kumaran and Nagappan had told the meeting that should MIC back down from the demand, they “will not attend any more meetings concerning this matter”.
'No consensus reached'
On the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's claim yesterday that "MIC and other organisations" had reached a consensus with the ministry, Kumaran denied it.
“That was the position taken by the ministry officers and the other representatives. It was not our view.”
“We were unanimous in our stand at the said meeting that 'Interlok' contains remarks that disparage Indians.
“It is not a question of this word or that word. There are more than 20 instances that are clearly derogative of Indians. I did refer to them at the ministry meeting”, he added.
Nagappan also confirmed that no consensus of any kind was arrived at during the ministry meeting.
Yesterday's meeting was chaired by MIC education bureau chairperson T Marimuthu. Also present were S Kumaran from the Indian Studies Department of University of Malaya, Aru Nagappan and SV Lingam, Krishnan Maniam, EM Sahadevan of the Curriculum Development Centre and a few other NGO representatives.
The purpose of yesterday's afternoon meeting was to reiterate their demands that the book be withdrawn from the Malay literature syllabus on grounds that it is unsuitable for students. The discusion lasted more than two hours, during which they reiterated their unanimous demand for the withdrawal of the textbook.
The meeting also directed Marimuthu (below, left)to convey this decision to acting MIC president G Palanivel and deputy president Dr S Subramaniam. Kumaran and Aru, when contacted, confirmed this.
The meeting also decided that MIC should convene a central working committee meeting to endorse the demand for the book's withdrawal and that the decision be made public.
“MIC is a member of the ruling coalition. Its decision on this matter is important as it will make all the difference,” Kumaran said.“This is a matter that concerns the entire community and as MIC claims to represent the community, it must make its stand on this matter public,” concurred Nagappan.
Both Kumaran and Nagappan had told the meeting that should MIC back down from the demand, they “will not attend any more meetings concerning this matter”.
'No consensus reached'
On the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's claim yesterday that "MIC and other organisations" had reached a consensus with the ministry, Kumaran denied it.
“That was the position taken by the ministry officers and the other representatives. It was not our view.”
“We were unanimous in our stand at the said meeting that 'Interlok' contains remarks that disparage Indians.
“It is not a question of this word or that word. There are more than 20 instances that are clearly derogative of Indians. I did refer to them at the ministry meeting”, he added.
Nagappan also confirmed that no consensus of any kind was arrived at during the ministry meeting.
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