By S JayathasThe single biggest strength Umno sees in Hindraf Makkal Sakti and the Human Rights Party today is their almost zero internal problem and that they are able to focus on the real culprit, the racist Umno.
It is the shrewd Umno top politicians and the Bukit Aman special branch agenda powered by multi-million ringgit, if not unlimited funding, to create the make belief situation of the non- existent or so-called “divided five Hindraf leaders.” This is to demoralise the Indian poor with the belief that when even these five Hindraf leaders are not united, how are they going to unite the 2.5 million Malaysian Indians.
From the very beginning, there has never been “five Hindraf leaders”. Why should this be so for Hindraf when all other NGOs, political parties and organisations have only one leader? Logic dictates that there should only be one captain to a ship. Why is Umno trying to impose five leaders on Hindraf? Isn’t is plain and obvious?
P Waytha Moorthy is the one and only Hindraf leader (chairman). His brother Uthayakumar has repeatedly denied, and so has M Manoharan, being a Hindraf leader. But Uthayakumar has publicly agreed to being one of the five Hindraf lawyers together with his long standing friend Manoharan even to this date. The other two newcomer Hindraf lawyers’ involvement with Hindraf was only for about three months prior to the Nov 25, 2007 rally. (See Uthayakumar’s book “25th November 2007” in www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com for the full chronology of their participation).
The fact remains that there have been five Hindraf lawyers, never five Hindraf leaders. The five Hindraf leaders propaganda is the top Umno and police special branch ploy and agenda to include one police plant, non-lawyer ASP Vasantha Kumar and also to project him as one of the top five (non-existent) Hindraf leaders for the “destroy Hindraf from within plan”, dubbed Ops Padam Hindraf.
This ASP was appointed a “Hindraf leader” by no less than the then inspector-general of police Musa Hassan on Dec 13, 2007 by merely being detained as one of the five “ISA detainees cum five Hindraf leaders”.
A Google search before this ASP’s supposed ISA detention reveals zero postings or involvement in any NGO, let alone any political party. Was he clutched from thin air?
The other three of the supposed “five Hindraf leaders” suffered a great deal during their ISA detention as they were caught off guard and never expected to be detained as they were never part of the day-to-day operations of Hindraf but merely invited as speakers by Uthayakumar and Waytha Moorthy at the various nationwide Hindraf public forums in the prelude to the rally.
Also they have never been involved in the policy making and decision making process in Hindraf. And after their release, they are back happily with their families and concentrating on their careers, never wanting to risk getting arrested again for the Hindraf cause. We respect their wish.
For people in the know, Uthayakumar, unlike all the other five Hindraf lawyers, including Waytha Moorthy, has been a human rights activist for about 20 years and his ISA arrest was his tenth arrest.
Waytha Moorthy has given up legal practice and is working full time on Hindraf from London. So has Uthayakumar who has also given up legal practice although he has a practicing certificate.
One of these non-existent five Hindraf leaders told us that he earns up to RM30,000 per month and that his law library alone is worth RM800,000 and has applied to migrate to Australia. Another has become the director of the lucrative Selangor sand mining company Semesta and another a state assemblyman. This accounts for the rest of the three non-existent “five Hindraf leaders”. We don’t blame them. In fact, it is their right not to want to risk another arrest.
If indeed there was this “five Hindraf leaders” as Umno and their Pakatan Rakyat Indian mandores keep repeating from time to time (especially in the Tamil media to confuse and divert the Indian poor) with the latest being now, immediately after the Feb 27 Hindraf rally when Hindraf’s ratings went up:-
1. Why has the “director” as one of the “Hindraf leaders” refused to return the RM50,000 bail money from the Hindraf public donations to our Chartered Accountants Pathmarajah & Co Maybank account No. 514075010438 especially so now that 53 Hindraf supporters have been prosecuted in court and are in dire need of bail money and money to pay their lawyers and fines? Wouldn’t it be something that comes naturally for a genuine Hindraf leader?
2. Why have these “five Hindraf leaders” refused to represent the 53 Hindraf supporters prosecuted in court? (except for Manoharan and Uthayakumar)
3. Why didn’t these “five Hindraf leaders” independently organise another Hindraf rally at KLCC in two weeks’ time (or ever do so) to protest against Umno’s atrocities and the non-fulfillment of Hindraf’s 18-point demand? This will be the most accurate litmus test as to whether one is a true Hindraf leader.
4. And organise nationwide forums on Umno’s non-fulfillment of the Hindraf-18 point demand.
5. Why have they abandoned the Hindraf 18-point demand?
6. Note that these “five Hindraf leaders” have refused to speak up against the very serious Umno racism and religious supremacy vis-a-vis the Hindraf 18-point demand.
But instead Umno and their top police special branch very desperately want the “five Hindraf leaders” up in one platform with the primary ulterior objective being that these five will end up quarrelling. They also use the Tamil media to yet again divert the people’s attention away from the real problems of the Indians.
As had been the case of S Samy Vellu and S Subramaniam fight in the last 30 years and many other Indian mandore fights such as those involving PPP’s M Kayveas and T Murugiah, Makkal Sakti’s R Thanenthiran versus Ipoh Vethamurthi, the real culprit, Umno, gets away scott-free.
While we acknowledge the media coverage in the three Tamil dailies on the Indian poor, we regret however that creating this Indian versus Indian fight under Umno’s instructions is the single biggest disfavour they are doing to the Indian poor. (See Malaysia Nanban 6/3/2011, page 3).
To us, we will not bite this Umno bait.
S Jayathas is the information chief for Hindraf Makkal Sakti and the Human Rights Party.
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