The five who were then arrested and held under the Internal Security Act became our heroes, not just for the Indians, but for many others as well.
Many of us were disappointed when you quietly left the country. However, your campaign overseas proved otherwise. You somehow managed to raise the plight of the Indian community in many parts of the world.
However, you have, in the meantime, allowed your appointed people or those who claimed to have been appointed by you to make their own personal deals with the government. Yes, they were making hay while the sun was shining.
When
I met you in New Delhi in early 2012, I was impressed with the
international acclaim of your struggle. You did speak to me of your
disappointments with some of your former supporters.This was proof of the loss of grip of your leadership here in Malaysia. I also noticed that you have not, in many ways, recognised the sufferings of your close allies, some of whom moved towards the opposition because of the lack of proper local leadership.
Initially, when you returned to Malaysia, I rejected the information passed on to me that you have already some secret dealings with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or his representative.
This trust I had in you because of my faith in you of superbly tackling the 2004 tsunami relief work as our representative in Sri Lanka. You made great personnel sacrifices then.
MOU shocker
But, your comments on the terms you had laid to the political parties differed and when you agreed to sign the memorandum of understanding with Najib for lower demands shocked me.
I was invited for the ceremony but I refused to attend it after reading the draft content. I just could not believe it!
You
seemed to have abandoned many of those who toiled with you, including
the five ISA detainees who had their lives almost turned upside down,
and the many people who were hounded by the police Special Branch.You never went out of the way to personally discuss with your former colleagues who rallied around you. Pardon me if I am wrong, for I inquired and I was informed of the negative.
Out of the blues, you had new advisers whom you seemed to trust more.
Even with all these doubts I did make my personal decision to give you a chance. Obviously, you have failed or rather blundered! You filled your office with many of your “trusted” people as your staff or volunteers.
A government department does not work that way. My one visit to your office last year was enough to learn that you do not trust anyone than those of your team.
You willingly went into that office and your open criticism of the government within days of being in the government showed that you have no knowledge of procedures you have to follow in a post you requested to be in.
Your brother needs help
Dear Waytha, I am so sorry for you because you went into this post in government without the backing of the majority of Indian NGOs.
After you returned from overseas, you have only trusted a handful of people. In 2007 you had the support and trust of hundreds of NGOs and general community backing in Malaysia. Living on past glory never works.
You may claim that you have the support of grassroots. Yes, perhaps you have. But, they must be seen to be with you.
Anyway, do not give up hope. In this effort you need the support of all parties and do not isolate them. It is time to unite and work peacefully for a fair deal.
Please go and look after those who slogged for your cause. Your brother needs help. Many of those whose cases are pending need to be dealt with.
I am always free for discussion.
Yours in service,
A Vaithilingam
A VAITHILINGAM is a former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).
No comments:
Post a Comment