BN, meet with Hindraf leaders - Malaysiakini

The Barisan Nasional government must adopt an open mind and engage the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders in a dialogue to resolve the woes faced by the Indian community, said a business group. In view of this, The Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba) called on the government to meet with the Hindraf leaders. "Hindraf surely has valid grounds in its demands as things were not so good for Indian Malaysians over the past 52 years," said Miba president P Sivakumar in a statement. "Look at the number of Indian youths incarcerated without trial that prompted Hindraf to set up the police watch website. The number of deaths in custody was of grave concern to all who believe in fundamental rights," he added in a statement. Despite repeated appeals, Sivakumar said the country has yet to see a proportionate number of non-Malays in the civil service while the economic equity remains less than one percent for the Indians. He added that the government had also erred in invoking the Internal Security Act against the Hindraf leaders, and this was one of the contributing factors to the ruling coalition’s dismal performance in the last general election. Sivakumar also took MIC to task for making a 'dubious' claim that Indians were driving big cars and earning more than other races. He said recent events proved that Indians don't even have money to pick up the Amanah Saham Malaysia shares that were allocated to them. Hindraf has strong support Sivakumar reminded the government that Hindraf has strong grassroots support and therefore the authorities must act swiftly to dialogue and prevent future agitations. "There is no better approach to solving issues than to sit down and talk things over," he said, adding that the issues raised by Hindraf had also won the support of other communities. If concrete actions are not taken, Sivakumar said a new opposition Indian party could come about and this would prove disastrous for BN. Hindraf, which has since been outlawed, saw five of its key leaders detained under the ISA in December 2007. The five - P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, R Kenghadharan, V Ganabatirau and T Vasanthakumar - were arrested shortly after organising a mammoth street protest in Kuala Lumpur. In April, newly minted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ordered the release of two Hindraf leaders Ganabatirau and Kenghadharan. Last Saturday, the remaining three were freed.