Waytha wonders if Mahathir can ever redeem himself

The question that arises is whether Mahathir can be trusted to lead the “Save Malaysia” campaign.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has of late been portrayed as “the saviour” in the wake of a campaign to “Save Malaysia” from corrupt leaders.

However, the question that arises is whether Mahathir can be trusted to lead the “Save Malaysia” campaign.

He has promised institutional changes, noted Hindraf Makkal Sakthi Chairman P. Waythamoorthy in a statement.

The Hindraf chief, who was briefly in the Cabinet after GE13, charged that Mahathir suddenly seems enlightened. “He sees massive powers at the disposal of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.”

“He sees the need to curb those powers.”

Waytha wants to know what institutional changes Mahathir has in mind. The former Prime Minister has not specified what he intends to change and the reasons behind it other than vague statements raising hope, he pointed out.

Politics was more than what the eyes can see and the mind can perceive, he cautioned. Hence, there was debate on whether one should support Mahathir “blindly” in removing a dictator and replacing him perhaps with another dictator. “Politics is a strange and dangerous game,” warned Waytha.

For example, he claimed that Mahathir tried to entice Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi with the Prime Minister’s post if he joined him (Mahathir) in getting rid of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“This was just a week before the recent twin parliamentary by-elections in Perak and Selangor,” alleged Waytha. “Mahathir promised to return to Umno and support the party if Zahid joined him to oust Najib.”

Hindraf was taking the position that Mahathir had only himself to blame for the mess the country was in today.

Hindraf has also taken the view that Mahathir has to apologize to the people for his perceived failures.

It was taking the cue from an open apology by Mahathir for pushing through a law, two decades ago, that removed the Agong as the final approving authority before any Bill passed by Parliament becomes law.

Waytha argued there were many other “admissions” that Mahathir has to make.

The former Prime Minister was a “dictator” during his 22 years in office, charged Waytha. “He imprisoned his critics and opponents.”
The Hindraf chief went on to “list down a few of his (Mahathir’s) past mistakes which he has to own up”.

For starters, he alleged Mahathir squandered over RM100 billion of public money as a result of financial scandals “during his 22 years through cronyism and nepotism”.

Elsewhere, he pointed at interference by Mahathir in the judiciary including sackings, chipping away at the doctrine of separation of powers, the Prime Minister’s Department emerging as a hyper ministry, and as much power as possible being amassed in the person of the Prime Minister.

Mahathir, continued Waytha, virtually turned the civil service into an all Malay affair. “The civil service no longer reflected the demography of the nation.”

RCI needed to address plight of ‘underclass’ Indians

.02The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, the ad hoc apolitical human rights movement working across the political divide, has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the plight of the “underclass” Indians in the country who have been left in the twilight zone by independence and fragmentation of estates.

The underclass, according to Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, is made up of at least 800,000 displaced estate workers and 300,000 stateless people. Earlier figures cited were as high as 850,000 and 350,000 people respectively.

Statelessness keeps the people affected as a readily-available domestic pool of slave labour who don’t figure in official records.

“Only an RCI can establish the tragic reality behind these figures and the plight that has led to marginalization,” said Waytha in revisiting his exit from the Federal Government last year, after a brief few months, over a 5-year RM4.5 billion Hindraf-Barisan Nasional (BN) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on underclass Indians.

Waytha, at that time, had blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for the failure of the MOU to take off. It was used by Najib to slash Indian support for the Opposition in 2013 to 55 per cent, down from the 85 per cent in 2008. “The Government has been in complete breach on the MOU and only a RCI can help rectify this,” he said. “The RCI’s recommendations should be incorporated in the 11th Malaysia Plan.”

The emphasis in the MOU was on making land available for agricultural pursuits, training opportunities for the acquisition of marketable skills, scholarships, recognition of degrees of universities abroad which Indian students attend, and personal documents under Article 30 of the Federal Constitution.

The RCI can also be expected to ask why a population of 7 per cent is responsible for more than 60 per cent of the violent crimes in the country and leading to many deaths in police custody.

Waytha expressed regret that with Hindraf out of the Government, the BN has gone back to its old ways of dishing out crumbs to Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition, to keep Indian voters away from the Opposition, if there’s resistance against supporting it.

The Government, he pleaded, had obligations, responsibilities and duties towards all citizens and urged that it adopt a needs-based approach instead of playing to the gallery on race and religion in the hope of remaining in power for as long as possible. “It’s not the done thing to live in a state of denial on the plight of a large number of people in the country and only pay lip service every General Election.”

The Government, he reiterated, was barking up the wrong tree by continuing to place its hopes on the discredited leaders of Indian-based political parties, within and outside the ruling coalition. “This approach has been tried since independence in 1957 and has not worked. It’s no use throwing good money after bad or down a bottomless pit.”

Hindraf: More than 25 temples destroyed in Putrajaya!

NGO ticks off Perkasa Youth for making issue of one temple allowed to stand in the Federal Administrative Centre.
FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, an apolitical human rights NGO working across the divide, has warned Perkasa Youth not to make an issue of one Hindu temple allowed in Putrajaya while remaining silent on the more than 25 others which were destroyed by the authorities when four large estates made way for the Federal Administrative Centre.

“The recent moronic statement by the Perkasa youth wing in questioning the building of the temple in Putrajaya is without any basis and without any historic knowledge of the land that is currently occupied by Putrajaya and Cyberjaya,” said Hindraf Chief P. Waythamoorthy in a statement.

He was delving into the history of Prang Besar, Sedgeley, Galloway and Medingley, four large estates totaling 8,000 acres which hosted more than 25 temples.

“When the Federal Government acquired the estates, thousands of plantation workers were displaced and shortchanged,” he said. “They allocated only one piece of land for the temple which is currently being built and destroyed the others.”

Besides losing their temples, their way of life, and their livelihood, the plantation workers were shortchanged, he added. “We can see the predicament of these folks in Kg Permata in Dengkil, Kajang.”

Some 400 families from the four estates were sold unfit low cost apartments that came to national attention in 2012, he recalled. “They were forced to camp in their compound as the government-built apartments were so shoddy that they had to be declared unfit for occupation.”

The fact that Putrajaya residents are mostly non-Hindus is besides the point, added Waytha. “The Federal Constitution is secular and enshrines freedom of worship.”

He charged that the existence of Perkasa and similar groups in the fringe only showed the “incompetence” of the authorities and their inability to prevent the polarisation that has taken root in the peninsula from worsening.

Waytha was made a Senator and Deputy Minister in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s administration after the May 2013 General Election. He quit eight months later in protest against the Prime Minister’s apparent inability and unwillingness to control the “little Napoleons” who placed numerous obstacles in his way and made his position untenable.

Waytha’s prayers for Uthaya

“Our paths may have differed, and may still differ to an extent, but we are equally committed to ending the marginalisation of the minorities and ending entrenched racial policies.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman P. Waythamoorthy, in openly conceding for the first time a parting of ways in the past with his elder brother P. Uthayakumar, has reiterated that the latter should not have been charged under the Sedition Act and incarcerated for speaking the truth.

“The letter he wrote to then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a statement of truth and we in Hindraf maintain this fact,” said Waytha who was briefly a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Senator after the 13th General Elections in May last year.

“We have always held that the Government should initiate an independent inquiry into the truth of Uthaya’s allegations on the plight of the marginalised and the underclass.”

Waytha was welcoming the release of Uthaya from prison after a long stretch.

Waytha pointed out that Uthaya’s jailing under the Sedition Act after having been released from detention under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) was double punishment for him.

“It was mean, vicious and vindictive of the government,” said Waytha. “It was to silence him, thwart his struggle for the marginalised and underclass and prevent him from developing the Human Rights Party Malaysia (HRPM) as an alternative voice in politics.”

The younger brother remains convinced that the jail sentence will not prevent his elder brother from speaking up on behalf of the voiceless, the poor and marginalised. He has always shown courage and determination in championing the plight of the underclass, he added.

“Our paths may have differed, and may still differ to an extent, but we are equally committed to ending the marginalisation of the minorities and ending the entrenched racial policies that have caused so much misery in the lives of so many,” cried Waytha.

Uthaya can now take time to rest and spend quality time with family and true friends.

P. Uthayakumar began his political career with the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) which despite its call for reformasi went on to distance itself from him and label him a “racist”.

He then formed Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia, the forerunner of HRPM.

He also formed an NGO, Police Watch to keep a watch on extra judicial killings of youths, many Indians, and deaths in police custody.

'My brother should have been acquitted'

 

Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) chief P Waythamoorthy said today his brother P Uthayakumar should have been acquitted of sedition by the Court of Appeal, which instead reduced Uthayakumar's sentence.

The former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department said he was "disappointed" with the court's decision.

"Uthayakumar should have been acquitted instead of the sentence being reduced," he said.

Waythamoorthy (right) took oath as a deputy minister on the same day Uthayakumar was jailed after refusing to appeal his sentencing under the Sedition Act.

Uthayakumar was found guilty of sedition for a letter he penned to former British prime minister Gordon Brown in 2007, at the height of the Hindraf movement that the brothers had once led.

Waythamoorthy said the Malaysian government should have investigated claims made by Uthayakumar that the government practised "ethnic cleansing" on Indians, instead of taking action against him immediately.

"The Malaysian government should have acted responsibly in investigating Uthayakumar's claims, instead of silencing the voice of justice.

"The Court of Appeal, in considering Uthayakumar's appeal, should have scrutinised the whole contents of the said letter and its intentions instead of just looking at the alleged offending words literally," he added.

Waythamoorthy previously had asked his brother to appeal his sedition sentencing, which his brother did belatedly after being imprisoned in the Kajang prison.

Uthayakumar (right) is set to be freed on Oct 3 after his sentence was reduced by six months by the Court of Appeal.

He leads the unregistered Hindraf movement while Waythamoorthy's faction, PHM, was registered as a NGO prior to his short-lived participation in the government.

Uthayakumar had previously accused Waythamoorthy of wanting to be the new S Samy Vellu, the long-serving former MIC president, and also "sacked" his brother from the Hindraf movement prior to the 2013 general election.

Waythamoorthy campaigned for BN during the election while Uthayakumar contested as an independent candidate for both the Kota Raja parliamentary seat and the Seri Andalas state seat.

Uthayakumar lost his deposits for both seats.

Waytha: BN has to fulfill obligations to Hindraf otherwise face court -FZ.COM

MELBOURNE (June 25): The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Hindraf and the federal government on April 18, 2013 is legally binding and could lead to court action if the BN fails to honour it.

So said Hindraf leader, P. Waythamoorthy, during a forum in Melbourne last night titled Malaysia At The Crossroads.

Waythamoorthy told the small crowd that the first line in the MoU clearly states that it is a binding agreement, and that the BN has to honour that despite him resigning from his government posts earlier this year.

The agreement caused an uproar within the Indian community when it was signed just weeks before the GE13, after which Waythamoorthy was appointed senator and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He relinquished both positions eight months later claiming that the government had dragged its feet over implementing the MoU.

“But it doesn’t mean just because I’ve resigned that they shouldn’t fulfill their obligations, right?” Waythamoorthy said.

“We can take them to court but within two months the case will be thrown out and the matter will be forgotten. But we're not giving up."

“We’re consulting our team and re-strategising. Hindraf is very clear on what we want - solutions for our people. So we pressure the government to fulfill its promises and if it doesn't then at the right time, we have to take them to court.”

“We had no choice but to trust Umno”

The main question in the room last night was why Waythamoorthy even considered striking a deal with BN to which he replied that Hindraf had “no choice”.

He explained that Hindraf had held close to 25 meetings with Pakatan Rakyat in 2012 but reached a dead end when the opposition coalition refused to endorse any of the six demands.

“At the height of our discussions we even asked them to agree to just one of the demands but they still refused,” Waythamoorthy said. He however declined to elaborate on the reason behind Pakatan’s reluctance.

Hindraf was then “forced” to turn to BN which agreed to four of the six demands. According to Waythamoorthy, the BN also acknowledged that the Indian community had been neglected for 30 years and that the government had failed to register those born in Malaysia.

“We knew we were signing a pact with the devil but we couldn’t find the angel,” he said. “We were then obviously forced to support the government but our heart was bleeding. It was very difficult for us to openly tell our people to support BN.”

“But we did it for the sake of the poor and downtrodden, and because we had no choice. We could keep on fighting while the community continued sinking so we had to do the unthinkable.”

"Najib intended to fulfill his obligations"

After his resignation Waythamoorthy had hit out at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for being a “weak leader” who lacked the political will to make decisions and push for agreements to be implemented.

He reiterated this last night saying that Najib truly intended to fulfill his obligations towards Hindraf as he had been very involved in the negotiations, but he didn’t receive backing from his Cabinet.

“There were also objections from the MIC because if we were able to solve these issues then they would be irrelevant,” he added. “There were also the ultra-Umnos who didn’t want us to do our work because they couldn’t forgive us for raising the sensitive issue of Article 153.”

Waythamoorthy had declared in February that Hindraf would no longer strike any partnerships and would go solo in its quest to uplift the Indian community.

When asked if he would reconsider this stand if BN agreed to all Hindraf's six demands before the next general election, he was swift to answer, “Of course not!”

RM35mil for Indians 'news to me' says Waytha - Malaysiakini

 

 Former deputy minister P Waythamoorthy said the RM35 million allocated to resolve the Taman Permata flats issue in Dengkil is “news” to him, as this was never cropped up in his discussions with the prime minister on the matter.

While welcoming the allocation he, however, stressed that this is only one of many issues that his NGO, Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia, sought to resolve.

“Dengkil is not the only thing. There is also the Bukit Jalil estate and so many estates left in the country, where people need to be resettled properly and houses built for them properly.

“Settling one problem alone will not settle the entire Indian community’s problems. We have a very long list, because we have been overlooked for over 50 years,” he told a press conference today.

He was asked to comment on Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s statement yesterday, defending Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Abdul Rahman (left) said that Najib gave his ministry RM35 million to resolve the issue after Waythamoorthy had urged the prime minister to take action, so it is not true that Najib had not been paying  heed to Indian issues.

The Taman Permata flat residents were originally estate workers, but temporarily resettled there to make way for the construction of Putrajaya, pending new low-cost terrace houses for them.

Tents as homes for months

The houses never materialised andwhen cracks appeared in the flats, they were forced treat tents as homes  for months.

The residents said in a Facebook post last month that they had received word from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government that the federal government will build new houses for them.

PHM believes that there are some 800,000 displaced estate workers nationwide without proper access to jobs and infrastructure, when the estates they had worked in - sometimes for generations - vanished to make way for development.

Among others, Waythamoorthy had said a week after being sworn in as senator last year, that he had asked Najib to allocate  him a budget for the remainder of the year and the following year, to set up a new unit under Prime Minister’s Department to implement Hindraf’s plans, and an expert steering committee to conduct studies.

This was tabled as part of his proposals of his first 100 days in office.

However, he said he only managed to receive verbal commitments from Najib meeting, after meeting, and little else.

He also gave the prime minister a list of 19 issues that needed to be urgently addressed namely a number of Tamil schools, Indian temples and settlements, deaths in custody, unrecognised doctors, forced conversions, and religious disputes.

Between him and his two secretaries, he was only able to resolve a small number of the 709 complaints made to him, he said.

“By the end of October, I realised nothing was moving. I did not see  political will on the part of the prime minister. I could only hear  his commitments, but beyond that I could not see anything moving.

“Not with him, not with the other ministers, not with other ministries and government agencies,” he said.

He then wrote a letter to the prime minister, giving him a month to come up with a plan to fulfil his promises failing which he would resign. He then went on unpaid leave from November onwards.

On the 3rd week of November, he was called to a meeting with Najib.

Since there was no allocation for Waythamoorthy’s unit under the Prime Minister’s Department under the 2014 Budget, he said, Najib promised to set aside RM750 million  from his own budget and money from unused allocations in other ministries.

Again there was no further progress.

“As I have said earlier, the civil servants were not cooperative and I had no choice. I had to report to the PHM Central Executive Committee (CEC) and I told them I do not have any more confidence that will be able to perform as a deputy minister with the purpose of delivering on  the promises made to the Indian community,” he said.

Yes boss culture made vivid

After this, he said, the CEC arrived at the unanimous decision that PHM should leave the government.

When asked to comment on criticisms from his former colleagues that he was not a ‘team player’, Waythamoorthy said he did not join the cabinet to be part of a team, but to implement Hindraf’s blueprint.

“I don’t understand what they mean by ‘team player’. I think that they are so used to being in power, so used to seeing Indian ministers who claim to represent the community in the cabinet for a very long period of time.

“So they are used to, ‘Ya, tuan. Boleh, tuan. Jangan takut, tuan. Orang India semua sokong, tuan. (Yes sir. Can, sir. Don’t worry, sir. The Indians are all supportive, sir.)’

“They are so used to that kind of language, but they are not used to our language. Our language is different, our language is ‘human rights’, ‘dignity’, and ‘fulfilling promises’,” he added.

Dua kali Najib dimalukan

Bukan sahaja beliau meletakkan jawatan malah Pengerusi Hindraf itu mendesak Najib berundur.
ANALYSIS

PETALING JAYA: Dua kali Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dimalukan. Kali pertama pada bulan November lalu apabila Ustaz Elias Kazim menolak perlantikan ahli majlis tertinggi Umno sedangkan Umno sudah membuat pengumuman rasmi mengenai perlantikan tersebut.

Kali kedua, minggu lepas apabila Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, P. Waythamoorthy meletakkan jawatan kerana kegagalan Najib memenuhi janji-janji dengan Barisan Bertindak Hak-hak Hindu (Hindraf).

Bukan sahaja beliau meletakkan jawatan malah Pengerusi Hindraf itu mendesak Najib berundur. Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin merupakan menteri yang pertama mempertahankan Najib.

Menurut beliau, Waythamoorthy sebaliknya perlu menyalahkan dirinya sendiri kerana gagal bekerja sebagai satu pasukan dan tidak efektif dalam membawa perjuangannya ketika diberi peluang menganggotai Kabinet.

Khairy yang juga Ketua Pemuda Umno mendedahkan, bekas Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri itu bertindak menuntut kesemua bajet kerajaan melibatkan masyarakat India untuk diletakkan di bawah kawalannya.

“Waythamoorthy ingin mengawal semua transaksi kewangan dan membelakangi kementerian-kementerian dan agensi kerajaan. Kerajaan tidak beroperasi sebegini. Apabila beliau tidak mendapat perkara tersebut, beliau berhenti dan menyalahkan Perdana Menteri,” katanya dalam akaun Twitternya semalam.

Hari ini Menteri Pertahanan, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein menyifatkan desakan Wathyamoorthy itu sebagai biadab dan melampaui batas.

Katanya, sikap Waythamoorthy yang cuba menyalahkan kerajaan khususnya Perdana Menteri pada hakikatnya, merupakan permainan politik beliau untuk menutup sikapnya yang mementingkan diri.

Naib Presiden Umno itu berkata tindakan beliau selaku Timbalan Menteri yang menuntut agar semua bajet kerajaan untuk masyarakat India diletakkan di bawah kawalannya mencerminkan sikap tamak dan tidak ikhlas beliau dalam memperjuangkan nasib kaum India secara holistik, seperti yang dilaung-laungkan sebelum ini.

Menurut Timbalan Presiden MIC, Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam ,P. Waythamoorthy hanya bergerak sendiri tanpa merujuk kepada MIC berhubung permasalahan kaum India sepanjang menjawat jawatan sebagai Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri.

Beliau yang juga Menteri Kesihatan berkata, jika betul Waythamoorthy ingin memperjuangkan isu-isu masyarakat India di negara ini, beliau seharusnya berusaha mendapatkan maklumat daripada MIC.

Kata beliau, sikap pemimpin Hindraf itu menggambarkan beliau seolah-olah bergerak secara peribadi dan bukan mewakili keseluruhan pemimpin masyarakat India di negara ini.

“Beliau tidak gunakan peluang yang diberikan untuk membantu masyrakat India, beliau hanya bergerak secara peribadi tanpa mengambil kira pandangan pihak lain, perlu diingat segala prosedur kerajaan kena diambil kira,” katanya dalam sidang akhbar semalam.

Bagi Ketua Penerangan PPP, Datuk A. Chandrakumanan pula, P. Waythamoorthy diminta mencermin dirinya sendiri sebelum menuding jari terhadap Perdana Menteri, kononnya gagal menaik taraf kaum India.

Beliau mendakwa, Waythamoorthy sebenarnya telah mengkhianati amanah terhadap kaum minoriti itu kerana lebih mementingkan agenda peribadi beliau.

“Siapa dia untuk mengeluarkan kenyataan agar Perdana Menteri perlu meletak jawatan? Dulu dia gunakan alasan yang sama dan membuat demonstrasi. Kemudian ‘melarikan diri’ dan hidup mewah di London.

“Kemudian dia kembali lagi, diberi pula jawatan Timbalan Menteri dan Senator. Waythamoorthy menggunakan alasan sama kononnya masyarakat India terbiar hanya kerana permintaan kewangan tidak dipenuhi, saya minta dia cermin diri dulu,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan.

Nampaknya isu peletakan jawatan Warthamoorthy akan menjadi isu yang panas seminggu dua ini. Siapa yang bersalah dalam soal ini? Adakah Najib penipu seperti kata Warthamoorthy atau adakah beliau tidak faham bahawa beliau bukan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri?

Beliau adalah sekadar timbalan menteri. Apa yang timbalan menteri boleh buat? Bukannya beliau seorang menteri penuh seperti Khairy atau Hishammuddin yang ada kuasa eksekutif untuk mengawal bajet kementerian. Meletakkan semua bajet yang ada di kementerian masing -masing semata-mata untuk membantu kaum India memanglah tidak lojik.

Contohnya, pinjaman TEKUN terletak di kementerian lain, maka sudah tentu bajet itu tidak dapat dipindahkan di bawah kawalan Waythamoorthy. Begitu juga peruntukan sekolah tamil terletak di bawah Kementerian Pelajaran. Takkan peruntukan itu hendak dipindah ke Jabatan Perdana Menteri.

Tambahan pula takkan Najib mahu membelakangkan MIC kerana MIC dianggap parti yang mewakili orang India di Malaysia. Seperti kata Dr Subramaniam, Waythamoorthy sepatutnya merujuk kepada MIC untuk mendapat maklumat mengenai bantuan kerajaan kepada orang India.

Dari dahulu ramai yang berkata langkah Najib melantik beliau sebagai timbalan menteri memang satu tindakan yang silap kerana Najib mengiktiraf Hindraf sedangkan pertubuhan itu tidak berdaftar dengan ROS. Sudah tentu tindakan Najib itu menyinggung MIC yang begitu lama setia dalam Barisan Nasional.

Oleh itu biarlah Waythamoorthy berada di luar kerajaan. Kalau beliau rasa Hindraf itu kuat, maka biarlah Hindraf mencabar MIC dalam PRU ke 14 nanti. Biar masyarakat India menentukan siapa yang patut mewakili mereka, sama ada MIC atau Hindraf?

In the Chinese Press: Waytha denied a RM4.5b allocation?

(fz.com) – Former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waythamoorthy resigned from the post because he was denied a whopping RM4.5 billion of annual allocation, Sin Chew Daily reported today, quoting a government source.

The source said the Hindraf leader had demanded the government to set up an Indian community unit with 531 personnel and an annual allocation of RM70 million to cover the salaries and operation fees.

In addition, he also asked for an annual allocation of RM4.5 billion for the Indian community.

However, the source explained, the government could not approve such a huge amount of allocation without a practical proposal.

“He wanted to enroll staff, however, he does not have any experience in promoting community enhancement program,” the source said.

Apart from that, the source also alleged that Waythamoorthy wanted to take full charge of the proposed Indian community unit besides making a request that 300 vacancies out of the total (531) be filled by Hindraf members.

The daily was also told that Waythamoorthy had carped about the selection of the committee members of the Expert Steering Committee (ESC) that Hindraf and the government had agreed to set up.

The committee was meant to oversee the implementation of the programmes listed in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Hindraf and the government.

Yet, after finalising the list of candidates, Waythamoorthy has failed to submit Hindraf’s list of representatives and forced the first meeting of the ESC to be postponed to the next day.

Nevertheless, the meeting did not take place in the end as he had called it off at the last minute unilaterally, the source alleged further.

As such, the source believed Waythamoorthy had tendered his resignation due to his unfulfilled demands.

“When the government refused to implement the programmes under the MoU unprofessionally, and unable to allocate fundings without a check and balance mechanism, Waythamoorthy resigned.”

Waytha, a hero Indians never needed - Malaysiakini

COMMENT Something changed about the movement called Hindraf on April 18, 2013.

Shortly after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak, P Waythamoorthy, leading the splinter, albeit recognised group Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM), rallied his supporters to return BN’s two-thirds majority in the elections.

However, right after the event, as Waythamoorthy attempted to leave the venue, an anxious member of the public insisted on asking a question to be directed at both Waythamoorthy and Najib. The young man was hell bent on asking some uncomfortable questions - including prodding how Waythamoorthy’s MOU will solve the woe of the Indian poor.

However, the greater surprise for many in the crowd there, including journalists, was the manner in which Waythamoorthy walked off the stage without fielding the question, leaving the then acting Prime Minister’s officers and several Hindraf staffers to ask the young man and his father, rather abruptly, to leave the venue.

He was initially told there would be a question-and-answer session after the event, something which never materialised.

10 months of elegant silence

The manner in which Waythamoorthy walked off that day during the MOU signing event riled up quite a number of ardent Hindraf supporters who didn’t mince their words in calling the pledge of support to BN a “betrayal”.

The fact that only four out of the 18 demands originally made by Hindraf was signed on by Najib in the Hindraf-BN five-year blueprint, and that the MOU was not even made as a publicly available document to their own supporters, thereafter turned away a part of the crowd from being Hindraf loyalists.

What followed was 10 months of nothing but elegant silence from Waythamoorthy. BN, of course, did not win the two-thirds majority. While there seemed to be a slight increase in the number of Indians who voted for BN compared to the 2008 elections, the community was still not voting strongly in any one direction.

Nevertheless, Najib wanted to honour his promise and gave Waythamoorthy a deputy minister’s post in his own Prime Minister’s Department (PMD). According to the MOU, Hindraf should have been given an allocation to run a unit under the PMD on their own to address the socio-economic problems of Indians.

However, the allocation never came. It was ominous in its absence from Budget 2014. Waythamoorthy started his tenure issuing statements on matters that concern Indians, but whether he did that from his office in the PMD or from the comfort of the Hindraf office was anyone’s guess.

Waytha not in his colleagues’ good books

It was not long before he ran into the bad books of Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for being vocal about the gunning down of five alleged criminals in Penang by the police. Zahid had then told Waythamoorthy to resign if he wanted to run an NGO.

While Zahid’s (right) staunch defence of the police’s actions was blinded, he was somehow right in his riposte to Waythamoorthy. You would expect a member of the government to at least use his hotlines to talk to his colleagues on matters that concern him.

Did Waythamoorthy ever pick up the phone and bother to engage Zahid and express his concerns before issuing public statements denouncing the police? We would never know.

When Najib himself admitted publicly that a member of the government should toe the line, it was obvious that Waythamoorthy was not in the good books of many of his colleagues in the government.

Soon after being told off by his superiors, Waythamoorthy acted like he was never a part of the PMD. His statements were undersigned as the Hindraf chairperson. He was never seen on the ground and in Parliament answering a single question about the programs that the government has done for the Indian poor.

It was a complete, elegant silence. But what we would never know is whether he left the PMD with his head held high, or low- because he personally never announced his resignation.

He “elucidated” the reasons behind his resignation to Najib, but never to the Malaysian public, or the Indian masses who helped propel him to being a part of the government in the first place.

Despite his NGO claiming that he had quit by noon on Tuesday (Feb 10), Waythamoorthy in reality did not hand in the letter until 5.05pm, five minutes after most civil servants left their offices in Putrajaya. It was almost done in an incognito manner.
  
Raised more questions than solutions

Virtually uncontactable by the press throughout his tenure, Waythamoorthy had only raised more questions instead of giving definite solutions to the Indian socio-economic dilemmas.

Why did he accept the appointment if he was not prepared to politically lobby his superiors to see his side of the argument?

Maybe Waythamoorthy genuinely believed that good things come to those who wait.

Like how he waited in his hunger strike for either BN and Pakatan Rakyat to sign the Hindraf blueprint.

Like how economically deprived Indians had been taught to wait for a downfall of handouts from those in power instead of empowering themselves.

And that’s how Waythamoorthy waited for an allocation while there was desk with his name on it in the PMD, virtually used for no great reason for seven months.

And he (or the Hindraf central committee) got tired of waiting. Waythamoorthy may be a ‘hero’ to some for his sacrifices, his exile and his hunger strike, but he did nothing to inspire the Indian poor, who, generation after generation, are still waiting for greater recognition.

My verdict, however damning, is this: a complete waste of one year of political space.

While the might was shown in November 2007 on the streets, nothing but meekness prevailed when given an opportunity to be as firm, if not stronger, within the halls of the political potpourri.              
A hero he may be. But one we never needed.

Maybe it’s time for Indians to stop looking for a hero to uplift them.

---

RAM ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

Broken-hearted Waytha Moorthy gives up, as Barisan fails to deliver, says ex-ISA detainee

It has been a rough eight-month ride for Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy (pic) who finally threw in the towel when he announced his resignation as deputy minister in the Najib administration today.

Hindraf adviser N. Ganesan said the central committee had unanimously decided that Waytha resign, as it was felt the government had been dragging its feet in delivering the aid promised to the Indian community.

Hindraf had signed an MOU with Barisan Nasional (BN) just before the general election last year, whereby the ruling coalition had promised to resolve the chronic socio-economic problems afflicting the Indian community if BN was returned to power with Hindraf's support.

Lawyer R. Kengadharan said Waytha was a "broken man" as the Barisan Nasional government had failed to implement any of those pledges.

"He joined the prime minister's administration on the basis that the government will encourage the implementation of programmes for poor Indians and that he could oversee them," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Kengadharan, who was once Hindraf legal adviser, said Waytha’s resignation served to show that Putrajaya was not serious in resolving problems faced by Indians over the last 50 years.

"This includes education, housing and economy," he said, adding that more socio-economic problems cropped up when Indians were displaced about 20 years ago upon the conversion of rubber estates into oil palm plantations.

He said this caused the unskilled workers to be displaced when their families moved to urban centres in search of employment.

"We spoke about a month ago and he indicated his frustration," said Kengadharan who was among the five Hindraf leaders who were arrested in December 2007 under the Internal Security Act which has since been repealed.

All were freed soon after Najib was appointed prime minister in April 2009.

Kengadharan said BN could not boast that it could protect the interest of Indians following Waytha's departure.

"All their pledges before the election have proved to be hollow," he said.

He pointed out that Hindraf, which was formed in June 2007, was founded on the principle that it would represent the Indians in general.

"We made no distinction between the poor and rich," he said.

He said after their release from Kamunting, Hindraf was reduced to a mere mouthpiece for the voiceless poor.

Waytha had a public spat with his brother Uthayakumar when he signed the MoU with BN for the betterment of the Indian community, as Uthayakumar did not agree on the pledging of the support of the Indian community to BN.

"Waytha hijacked Hindraf and pledged support to BN, which is against the founding principles of Hindraf," Uthayakumar, who was one of the five who served time under the ISA, had said at the time.

"Do not vote for BN. Whether they want to vote for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is up to them, but Hindraf will not take responsibility for Pakatan's non-delivery if they get to Putrajaya," Uthayakumar said.

Uthayakumar is currently serving a 30-month sentence in jail after he was found guilty of sedition last June.

Waytha's appointment as senator was also questioned along with four others who were made minister and deputy ministers.

However, the High Court ruled that the appointments of Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar and Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan as ministers in the Prime Minister's Department, and deputy ministers Waytha, Dr Loga Balan Mohan Jaganathan and Ahmad Bashah Hani were constitutional.

In August last year, the Hindu rights activist came under fire when he alleged that five Indian criminals in Penang were shot "execution-style" by police.

Waytha was admonished by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Cabinet members Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to toe the line and reminded that he was a member of the government.

Waytha's resignation as deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department will take effect Monday, according to media reports. – February 8, 2104.

Hindraf: Waytha Moorthy to quit all govt posts

(The Star) - Hindraf chairman P Waytha Moorthy has tendered his resignation from all positions in the government and the Senate, effective Feb 10, according to a statement from Hindraf.

Hindraf secretary P. Ramesh said the central committee unanimously decided that Waytha Moorthy should tender his resignation, claiming the government had been “dragging its feet” in delivering its promises to aid the poor Malaysian Indian community.

“Hindraf owes its loyalty to the Malaysian Indian poor community and to them only.

“We did the most unthinkable – signing a pact with our one-time nemesis, entirely in the interest of the Malaysian Indian poor and in the honest belief that Barisan Nasional will fulfil its promises.

“We have given up hope of that happening, after eight months of trying,” he added.

Hindraf signed a memorandum of understanding with the government on April 18 last year, just before the May general election, in a bid to resolve the socio-economic problems afflicting the Indian community in Malaysia.

The memorandum’s contents were not disclosed at the time, but Ramesh said the Prime Minister, in his speech, had apologised for the past lapses by the government and promised action.

Ramesh claimed that it was agreed that a Hindraf representative would lead the charge.

Although Waytha Moorthy had been appointed senator, and then as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Hindraf claimed he had met with nothing more than an “unending series of delays and dead ends.”

“It is now clear to us that the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional are not going to honour the memorandum, as they have neither the political will nor courage to deliver.

“Hindraf’s only regret is that we have not been able to deliver the changes to the Malaysian Indian poor which we had promised with this initiative.

“We sincerely apologize to them for the hopes we raised,” said Ramesh. Attempts to reach Waytha Moorthy for comment have been unsuccessful.

Narendra Modi meets Mr. Waytha Moorthy, Deputy Minister in Malaysia’s Prime Minister Office

On Thursday 30th January 2014 Shri Narendra Modi met Mr. Waytha Moorthy, who serves as the Deputy Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office in Malaysia.

The two leaders discussed avenues of cooperation between Gujarat and Malaysia and they spoke of a youth exchange programme between India and Malaysia. The Minister also shared the message of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Lament for a vanishing genre

 

REVIEW Column-writing calls for the melding of reportage and commentary. Writing a political column on a regular basis, say, twice a week, requires not only a good’s reporter eye for colour, the pithy anecdote or quotation, but also a ruminative mien that can make arguments resonate long after the reader has turned the page.

The time S Thayaparan got that elusive blend down to a gem was when he fused a spot of reminiscences about the admirable conduct of a nazir agama (chief of religious affairs) he knew in the armed forces in the 1970s with critical scrutiny of a call by Umno types in 2011 for more representation for ulama in their party’s supreme council.

The piece sang from its ‘intro’ - as they say among journalists - to its conclusion with an eloquence that prompted this reviewer to recall what a famous poet said on encountering the work of another: “I wanted to go to the man that wrote it and say something.”

Unfortunately, that piece - actually, it was a letter that appeared in theSun - is not among the compilation of articles ‘No Country for Righteous Men’ that Thayaparan wrote during a two-year (2011-13) stint for Malaysiakini, though it was the best of a slew of missives from him that had enlivened the theSun's letters column and got him an invitation to write for the portal.

Had Thayaparan’s letter praising Warrant Officer Haji Mohd Said as a multicultural exemplar been included in ‘No Country’, it would have served as useful basis to suggest why that piece was memorable while much of what has been included here is ephemeral.

The latter description, though, is no reason to resist engagement with this collection, subtitled ‘Essays in a Culture of Offendedness’, which can also be seen as a 383-page jeremiad on the evanescence in Malaysian life of what may be called the ‘pluralistic personality’, of which Mohd Said was a quintessential embodiment.

In our multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious country, the pluralistic personality approaches others to study their differences from him/herself, is willing to discover that learning comes by way of a certain humility, displays a certain hesitance to judge others too quickly, is equipped with watchfulness for possible errors in one’s own perceptions, and has a capacity for laughing at foibles that does not sour into cynicism about underlying values.

That personality, examples of which abounded in the 1960s and 1970s, spawning period of Thayaparan’s self-enriching discovery of his multifarious milieu, is almost extinct these days.

In its stead is a profusion of one-dimensional types who wall themselves away, smugly satisfied with the monisms of race or religion.

Is it a surprise that in the latter environs, the culture of easily taken umbrage is rife, leaving a sociopolitical commentator like Thayapayan (left), of evident distaste for this prickliness, exposed to the ire of one-dimensional partisans of our social spectrum?

In this straits it helps that this former naval commander who read law while in service can dish it out as well as he takes, maybe even better.

The racial and other shibboleths he took on in his letters to The Sun were splendid cuts to the bone of the issues involved, leaving readers with the feeling that it is not good for one’s self-esteem to be in Thayaparan’s editorial cross-hairs.

Editorial miscue

It must be said, though, that an excess of the polemical strain in a writer detracts from a columnist’s craft. The latter’s job is to try to get behind the news, to understand the personalities and forces that hog it, to give a wider perspective to the events making the headlines.

The difficulty of shining a steady columnar light on newsy developments that are can spurt and twist confusingly is exacerbated by the short attention span of readers. TS Eliot captured this attention deficit disorder thus: “Readers of the Boston Evening Transcript/Sway in the wind like a field of ripe corn.”

In pursuit of one shift in the gusts, Thayaparan tracked Hindraf’s P Waythamoorthy (left) in the immediate prelude to last May’s general election, an effort that left the columnist with a sour aftertaste as the Indian rights’ exponent made a deal with the BN that was either going to be a stunning coup or a sellout - more the latter it has now transpired.

It’s easy to be wise in hindsight. But had Thayaparan been in the reporting business before graduating to column-writing, he conceivably would have been aware of the number of Hindraf’s early enthusiasts who had already left the movement to join the opposition, especially PKR.

That fact would have raised suspicion that Waythamoorthy was posturing on behalf of remnants of a NGO whose main drivers had already left to join what they felt were more effective political vehicles for the aspirations of the Indian Malaysian poor.

Hindraf, in the time that Waythamoorthy was on a theatrical fast simultaneous with a lookout for a deal with either of the two political coalitions vying for Indian support in the upcoming polls, was by early 2013 a shell of the body that had jolted the Malaysian political landscape with an impressive demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25, 2007.  

Thayaparan’s editorial miscue on Waythamoorthy was a minor blemish in an otherwise energetic and arresting engagement with the socio-political concerns of Malaysians, the heightened focus of intensive debate in web news portals, blogs and newspapers after the general election of March 2008.

This mostly “digital democracy”, as Muss Hitam (right) put it, was among the beneficial aftereffects of that political tsunami when BN lost its supermajority in Parliament.

Six years on from that landscape churning event, historians and commentators may plausibly argue that there is now a pre-2008 period to modern Malaysian history and a post-2008 phase to it - seminal was the impact of the 12th general election.

In the future, scribes wishing to make sense of this bifurcation would find ‘No Country’ a useful guide. They are certain to be enlarged and even entertained by what they find.

They may not always agree with the author’s views and evaluations, but perhaps that would only encourage them to share his conviction - that the waning of the multicultural archetype in our society is a suicidal loss of our essence.

---

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for four decades now. He likes the profession because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them.

‘No Country’ will be launched tomorrow.

Kohilan: Waytha playing his role as deputy minister

Amidst calls by fellow cabinet members for Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy to step down, the latter has found support in Gerakan vice-president A Kohilan Pillay who called on the senator to “shouder on”.

Kohilan (left) said that Waythamoorthy was only “playing his role” as deputy minister when he “voiced his concern” over the police shooting of five Indian suspected gang members in Sungai Nibong, Penang last week.

“Waythamoorthy was only playing his role as the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department tasked with the responsibility to uplift the Indian community.

“It is understandable and reasonable for him to stand up defending the Indian community and to a greater scope the whole society on the grounds of universal human rights against any forms of social injustice and violence” he wrote in a statement today, saying such a move must not be frowned upon.

As such, Kohilan said there was no need for ministers such as Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to “jump the gun” against constructive criticism “ well-meant to help and improve the enforcement by the police and local security”.

“It is hugely important for government leaders to be more open to criticism. Waythamoorthy should soldier on and not to compromise on any unreasonable demands to quit the cabinet simply out of their unwillingness to accept criticism,” said Kohilan.

Aside Ahmad Zahid (right), Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had all called for Waythamoorthy’s resignation if he can’t stand in line with the government.

This was followed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself, who told the senator to “toe the government line” as the latter is a member of the government.

Waythamoorthy was leading the Indian rights NGO Persatuan Hindraf Malay when he was handpicked by Najib as a senator.

Najib: Waytha should toe government line

Blame Najib, not Waytha

By Sonia Ramachandran

SHAH ALAM: Blame Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak instead of getting upset with Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department senator P Waythamoorthy.

This is the opinion of political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat when asked about the recent call by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin for Waythamoorthy to step down if he still wants to act as a representative of a non-governmental organisation.

The ministers made the call when they accused Waythamoorthy of not valuing collective responsibility in the government when he questioned the “execution-style” shooting by the police of five alleged Indian gang members in Penang.

But Waythamoorthy is digging in and is not about to toe the government line, saying that he joined the Najib administration precisely to “solve these complex problems in appropriate ways”.

Although Wong agreed that under the principle of collective government responsibility Waythamoorthy had crossed the line, he questioned Najib’s rationale in bringing him (Waythamoorthy) into the government.

“Now that Waythamoorthy has joined the government, he would have expected human rights to be more respected and for Indians not to be gunned down so easily.

“Has Waythamoorthy got that impression? Then that person who would have sold that expectation to him is the prime minister. Where is the prime minister? Why are the ministers and the deputy minister fighting?

“Waythamoorthy should be blamed at most for his naivety. The person who should actually be blamed is Najib,” said Wong.

On whether Waythamoorthy should leave the government, the outspoken Wong said: “I think Waythamoorthy should hold Najib responsible and ask him what happened to the deal struck between them.

“He should ask Najib why he was brought into the government? He must hold him accountable before he walks out. If he just leaves, he will look like a newbie in politics.”

In April this year, Waythamoorthy, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader, had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Barisan Nasional government to improve the economic condition of the Indian community.

After the general election, he was appointed a senator and handpicked by Najib as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Indian affairs.

Social scientist Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, however, feels that Waythamoorthy’s concern (over the shooting incident) was wrongly perceived.

“He is not obstructing or interfering with police work but has raised concerns over the shooting, the circumstances and the explanation provided. This is something the community and political leaders must do without fear or favour,” said Denison.

He agreed that there were different channels to raise questions once a person held a federal post but stressed that there was no harm in raising public concern over issues of public importance.

“The matter was not about questioning a cabinet decision but was an expression of concern on the way the shooting was carried out and the explanation given,” said Denison.

He said that the decision on whether Waythamoorthy should stay or go should be the prerogative of the prime minister as it was the latter who appointed him.

BN leaders come to Waytha’s defence

But, they say the deputy minister must check his facts before making any future statements.

PETALING JAYA: There is no need for deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy to quit his government post over his remarks on the police killing of suspected criminals in Penang last week.

Several non-Umno BN leaders believed there was “no reason” for Waythamoorthy to resign despite calls to do so by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaffar.

“The only mistake he made was that he should’ve asked for a proper investigation over the matter before accusing the police of not following procedures when firing at those gangsters,” Kedah Gerakan Youth Chief Tan Keng Liang told FMT.

“I don’t think there is a need to step down. Why should he step down?” he asked.

“He should have checked his facts first before making accusations,” he reiterated.

Labis MP Chua Tee Yong said the progressing political scenario should enable Cabinet ministers to “state their stand” on an issue.

“However, he must also acknowledge collective responsibility. It is important that he makes statements after getting the facts,” he said.

Asked if Waythamoorthy should step down from his ministerial post, Chua said there was “no need to”.

“If he said it is based on the sentiments of the public, then it is not correct. But if he is highlighting a relevant issue, then it should be investigated,” he said.

Tan said there was no pertinent need for Waythamoorthy to resign as “people are bound to make errors in life and become emotional in a matter”.

“It’s a learning curve for him (Waythamoorthy) as a new deputy minister to check before barging at the police or some others in future,” he said.

“I don’t think there is a need for him to resign at this state. There is just no reason to.”

Umno man echoes leaders’ call

However, Cheras Umno division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee maintained that Waythamoorthy should step down from his post for speaking out against the police over the shootings.

“As a Cabinet minister, he should be open minded, not relate the issue to a certain race,” he said.

“This is not an issue of Indians getting shot at, but of law and the action of the police to combat crime. Why is Waythamoorthy acting like he is blaming the police?” he asked.

“If he cannot differentiate his role and responsibility as Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force) chairman and a Cabinet minister, then he should resign immediately.”

'Waytha will not be pushed out by ministers'

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy will not be pushed out of the government by cabinet ministers bent on seeing him go, says Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia adviser N Ganesan.

"Waytha is not going to resign because of his cause. He is going to continue to try to materialise the memorandum of understanding (that Waythamnoorthy signed with the BN just before the 13th general election of May 5).

"That is what he is in government for. We consider these (calls by the ministers that he quits) as just incidents along the way," Ganesan (left) told Malaysiakini.

He added that Waythamoorthy, who was a founding member of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), remained steadfast that the ministers who were critical of him should instead work with him on the problems faced by Indian Malaysians.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, have called on Waythamoorthy to step down for criticising the police in their handling of five gang- members who were shot dead in Penang.

Waythamoorthy joined the government after he entered into a pre-election pact with the BN, under which the coalition agreed to implement Hindraf's five-year blueprint to uplift the Indian Malaysian community.
Ganesan said the only thing that would make Waythamoorthy resign would be if he failed to push the government into implementing the blueprint.

In a statement issued later, Ganesan called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to expedite implementation of the blueprint.

He lamented that the unit headed by Waythamoorthy in the Prime Minister's Department has yet to be named; neither has its charter been publicly confirmed.

"Najib must expedite work on blueprint'

The government's expert steering committee, which is to propose specific plans for income opportunities, housing and skills training for displaced estate workers, has yet to be identified, Ganesan said.

Furthermore, he said, the unit's infrastructure had yet to be purchased and its budget allocation has not been deliberated, let alone the planning for next year's budget.

"The process seems to be painfully slow. It is ironical that, on the one hand we have this situation with regard to crime being addressed in a hurried manner with these shootings and arrests, and which do not assure sustainability anyway.

"On the other hand, we have a plan that promises to be a sure and sustainable remedy and which will have long-term positive effects that is being effectively delayed," Ganesan said.

He pointed out that the large involvement of Indian Malaysian youths in gangsterism was due to their displacement from their traditional abode in the estates.

He called on Najib to implement the blueprint with the similar rigour that the government now has in combating crime.
"The current lacklustre and half-hearted approach is not going to win the hearts and minds of the affected Indian estate workers whose expectations are sky high because of the public promises during the recently-concluded general election.

"If Najib fails to keep his promises, he is looking at the imminent resignation of Waythamoorthy from government and we believe this will permanently shift the Indian voter completely away from BN on a long-term basis," he said.

Ganesan added that a report card on the status of the implementation of the blueprint would be prepared next month to update the Indian Malaysian community on its progress.

NIAT defends Waytha against quit call

“And why hasn't Najib spoken up?” asks the group's chairman.

PETALING JAYA: The National Indian Action Team (NIAT) today defended Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy against criticism for his comments on last week’s police killing of five suspected criminals.

Commenting on recent statements by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, NIAT chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim said: “They have no locus standi to tell Waythamoorthy to quit his job because it is the Prime Minister’s prerogative.”

Thasleem also remarked that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had the obligation to make public his views on the issue.

“The question now is, why is Najib being silent?”

Last week, Zahid ticked off Waythamoorthy for demanding an explanation from the police for the Penang killing. He said the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was speaking like a Hindraf leader instead of a government official.

Hishammuddin was quoted by Bernama today as saying he agreed with Zahid that Waythamoorthy should resign.

“Indeed, I thoroughly agree with Ahmad Zahid,” Hishammuddin reportedly said. “What he said was 101% correct. As a member of the Cabinet, we cannot place our self-interest over our collective interest.”

Thasleem called for maturity among politicians, especially members of the Najib administration. He said they should welcome differences of opinion among themselves.

“Being in the government does not mean you cannot voice out the sentiments of the people,” he said.

Referring to killing of the five alleged guns for hire, Thasleem called it “a racially profiled shooting” and a case of “treating the symptom instead of the disease”.

He congratulated Waythamoorthy for questioning the propriety of the shooting. “It is good and I stand by him,” he said.

Two other Indian NGOs also commented on the issue today.

Blame MIC

Warga Aman urged the government to rehabilitate gangsters instead of killing them off.

“Indian criminal offenders should be given a thorough rehabilitation and the system should ensure that they lead a normal life after they have been released from prison,” said the group’s secretary-general, S Barathidasan.

“We do have a rehabilitation system in place to treat hardcore criminals, but why do we still have repeat criminal offenders?”

Tamilar Action Force (TAF) member and PKR Puchong division chief S Murali said MIC was partly to blame for gangsterism among Indian youths.

As a member of the ruling coalition, MIC had failed to address the issue, he alleged.

He said many Indian students who could not make the grade in school saw gangsterism as a way of making a living.

“Imagine a poor and jobless Indian youth being offered RM1,000 to commit a crime on someone’s behalf,” he said. “It’s big money to him. He might not think twice.”

Murali urged the police to go after the criminal syndicate bosses instead of “wiping out small fishes” in their bid to curb crime.

MIC vice president and Perak state assembly speaker SK Devamany has meanwhile urged Waythamoorthy, Zahid and Hishammuddin to talk out their differences.

“They are cabinet colleagues and their contradicting statements can create a negative perception on Najib’s administration,” he said.