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!”
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