The country's largest Indian party, the MIC, is upset at Hindraf for
setting pre-conditions to meet Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"It is not reasonable to have a pre-condition to meet (the prime minister), they (Hindraf) are the one who wanted to meet and they are now setting pre-conditions," said MIC secretary-general S Murugesan when contacted today.
He was responding to Hindraf's official statement this morning calling on the government to lift the ban on movement before it will meet Najib.
"If you already have conditions, what is the point of the meeting in the first place?" he said.
Asked if Najib's attempt to engage Hindraf is an indication of MIC's failure to address the plight of the Indian poor, Murugesan (right), while rejecting it, pointed a finger at Pakatan Rakyat.
"The very fact they want to talk to the prime minister shows that Pakatan has not delivered on their promises.
"Of course if the prime minister doesn't want to meet (Hindraf), then they will say the prime minister is not listening to a segment (of society)," he said.
'MIC still represents Indians'
Murugesan insisted that MIC still representsthe Indian community and Najib's olive branch to Hindraf was just the premier's approach of being inclusive.
The landmark Hindraf protest in 2007 and its support in part helped propel the opposition to power in five states with the BN recording its worst performance since its inception.
However, after the 2008 general election, the movement had a fallout with Pakatan.
Hindraf had since commence re-engagement after open request announcement on Aug 29 on its willingness to meet both the government and opposition.
The movement had since met Pakatan Rakyat twice and on Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said the government, too, wanted to engage with Hindraf.
"It is not reasonable to have a pre-condition to meet (the prime minister), they (Hindraf) are the one who wanted to meet and they are now setting pre-conditions," said MIC secretary-general S Murugesan when contacted today.
He was responding to Hindraf's official statement this morning calling on the government to lift the ban on movement before it will meet Najib.
"If you already have conditions, what is the point of the meeting in the first place?" he said.Asked if Najib's attempt to engage Hindraf is an indication of MIC's failure to address the plight of the Indian poor, Murugesan (right), while rejecting it, pointed a finger at Pakatan Rakyat.
"The very fact they want to talk to the prime minister shows that Pakatan has not delivered on their promises.
"Of course if the prime minister doesn't want to meet (Hindraf), then they will say the prime minister is not listening to a segment (of society)," he said.
'MIC still represents Indians'
Murugesan insisted that MIC still representsthe Indian community and Najib's olive branch to Hindraf was just the premier's approach of being inclusive.
The landmark Hindraf protest in 2007 and its support in part helped propel the opposition to power in five states with the BN recording its worst performance since its inception.
However, after the 2008 general election, the movement had a fallout with Pakatan.Hindraf had since commence re-engagement after open request announcement on Aug 29 on its willingness to meet both the government and opposition.
The movement had since met Pakatan Rakyat twice and on Wednesday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said the government, too, wanted to engage with Hindraf.
No comments:
Post a Comment