A fair share of them scorned at Hindraf's collaboration with the BN. Others disagreed with Waythamoorthy's acceptance of his appointment as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
Some depicted him as a traitor or even worse, as someone who deserted his original ideals for position. Such disagreements and criticisms are understandable.
I have great respect for freedom of speech. Such bold opinions are definitely welcome especially with Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih in recent days seeking the right to free speech.
While I admire these individuals for their courage and am sure they speak out of care for the country, I must disagree with sophism.
The failure to understand Waythamoorthy's and the Hindraf's struggle resulted in specious arguments and nothing more than a series of allegations thrown at a noble individual.
Waythamoorthy's ideas are original, far ahead of our time. He is a sort of a maverick, with unconventional and nonconforming ideas.
Therefore it is difficult for some to understand the steps he took and the decisions he made. Some of the accusations against him were strongly influenced by ideology while others were loyalty-based.
Yes, Hindraf was at one time fiercely against the BN. That is the reason the organisation held numerous meetings with Pakatan with one goal, among others, to oust the BN.
The crucial question to answer here is why did Hindraf plot with Pakatan to oust the BN?
Hindraf had a single goal - to install a government that will instantly implement the Hindraf blueprint because BN had failed to do its share for the Indian community for more than 55 years.
Waythamoorthy had that one goal in mind - the improvement of the socio-economic status of ethnic Indians through implementation of the blueprint.
After numerous meetings however, Pakatan refused to sign the blueprint dumping Hindraf into a completely unexpected dilemma.
From the onset of it, Hindraf never promised that it would remain loyal to Pakatan under all circumstances.
Hindraf had always maintained that loyalty is issue-based, one that will be determined by mutual agreement and respect.
As a result of Pakatan's ditching of Hindraf, Hindraf was left with no other choice but to collaborate with those that Hindraf had previously condemned.
Again this is issue-based, the original goal of improving the shattered lives of ethnic Indians.
The BN, unlike Pakatan, was willing to sign the blueprint. Hindraf agreed, and reluctantly threw its support behind the BN. Why didn't Hindraf push for seats with the BN?
Again it is because the organisation adopted a wait-and-see attitude before forging a long-term alliance with the BN. If the issues stipulated in the blueprint are not fulfilled, I believe Hindraf will leave the BN.
I mentioned earlier that many allegations made against Hindraf and Waythamoorthy were influenced by ideology and loyalty.
For these accusers, bond and devotion to a party is sacred. They loved Hindraf when Hindraf was with Pakatan.
As soon as Hindraf made a 180-degree turn, they began to show disdain for Hindraf.
Others failed to appreciate Hindraf's unique ideology-free stand. Both ideology and loyalty are important but there things that are equally significant, such as issues.
Some political issues deal with life and death matters including the survival of a community.
In fact loyalty itself should be to the people we represent not the party. Pakatan promised to implement the blueprint but refused to sign it in writing.
What do you expect Hindraf to tell the hundreds of thousands of struggling ethnic Indians if Pakatan comes to power and not implement a verbal promise?
These people waited patiently since 2008 for PR's help with little delivered in states run by Pakatan.
Don't you see that it will be the greatest disservice to the community if Hindraf relied on a verbal promise for the next five years? Hindraf cannot take that chance.
Sleeping with the enemy therefore naturally became the better option. Try telling a starving person to wait another five years because a strategic error occurred.
Should any responsible organisation end up in such a predicament?
Waythamoorthy devoted the last seven years of his life for the Indian cause. Therefore the cause is supreme, not loyalty to a party or ideology. This man sacrificed his livelihood.
Additionally, he was prepared to sacrifice his life too as evidenced by his hunger strike that lasted three weeks.
The cause took precedence. He is the best available choice for heading the unit within the PM's department to solve ethnic Indian problems in Malaysia.
I cannot think of a more suitable candidate. Waythamoorthy's perseverance, resilience, and altruism earned him the right to spearhead and steer the government's renewed efforts to improve the Indian lot in this country.
For those who hold on to the false dogma that Waythamoorthy accepted the deputy minister post for selfish reasons, I can say one thing - he could have secured that a long time back if he wished.
If you are still unconvinced about the person, at least support what he stands for.
Let us leave bitter feelings behind and move on. There is so much he can do for you as minister rather than as Hindraf chair.
SUGUMAN NARAYANAN PhD is a political science professor at a university near Dallas, Texas, US.
2 comments:
Waytha should just start doing something for the Indians since he now has a platform to act. Once he begin to show results the Indians will start to accept him. We really can't blame anyone in being disappointed with Waytha for collaborating with BN with all the recorded grievances against the Indian community since Independence and still continuing. What the Indians are looking for is policy changes which will give them pride and dignity. This will be very difficult to achieve considering the deep hurt that the Indian community had to bear since Independence.
With due respect to the PhD you have earned, I must note that the bias you display does a disservice to that accolade: Your easy use of the term "ditch", how Pakatan Rakyat's stance is described - though PR was actually sympathetic to all demands except those which were "racial", and even those were asked to be defined under poverty etc where the beneficiaries would still be the same marginalised sector that Hindraf was championing. The scorn we have for Waythamoorthy (and that does not necessarily translate to Hindraf, as the author fails to notice) is the sledgehammer he used to negotiate with PR as compared with the kid-gloves he used with BN baring for all to see the glaring agenda that was to play our eventually. Your offer of the wait-and-see reason doesn't wash. Are you seriously telling us that the mere signing of the blueprint by BN earns it the people's voting in 2/3 majority? I find it difficult to believe that you have actually given serious thought to this! The fact that Waythamoorthy has (conveniently) given himself 5 long years for solving the issue of stateless Indians (merely one of so many problems to be solved - and one in which PR has said it will solve in 100 days) confirms quite plainly he is not leaving BN for any reason, not by a long shot. Your premise that people waited 5 long years in Pakatan run states with nothing to show purposely confuses Federal issues - like ICs - as if these could have been solved by States run by PR. I agree with you on only one point: the cause is supreme. And Waytha becoming Deputy Minister can come to be proven to be irrelevant...
Post a Comment