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International media attention on Malaysian Indian poor brought to Manmohan’s K.L visit.
(Media Statement 25/10/10)
In a series of media statements HINDRAF and HRP has appealed to the Prime Minister of India to take up the issues of the violation of Human Rights against the Indian minority in Malaysia and about their welfare.
The Press Trust of India, the official news agency of India carried a statement on the 20th of Oct “ P.Waytha Moorthy, the leader of a prominent Hindu rights group today appealed to the Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh, ahead of his visit to Malaysia to take up the issue of “serious human rights violations” of the ethnic community with his Malaysian counterpart. This statement was feeder to the media throughout India.
On the 23rd of Oct, The Hindu, one of the oldest daily in South India elaborated on that statement. Welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s planned visit to Malaysia next week, the Hindu Rights Action Force Makkal Sakthi (HINDRAF) has urged him to raise issues concerning the welfare of ethnic Indian minority in that country. They appealed to Dr. Singh to show a sense of “moral responsibility” towards the Malaysian Indians
by placing the “concerns” of ethnic Indians on the agenda with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Referring to the planned opening of “Little India” in Kuala Lumpur, Mr. Uthayakumar of the political wing of HINDRAF wrote: “The significance is only symbolic. Little India is no more than a little flower bazaar. Of greater significance to the Indian community in Malaysia will be … the provision of scholarships … [for] study in Indian universities.”
In making this statement HINDRAF and HRP was again bringing focus to the issues of discrimination against high performing Malaysian Indian students in the awards of scholarships, places in Universities and in the matriculation Pre –U stream in Malaysia
Meanwhile on the 22nd of October, BBC Tamil radio carried a live interview with Mr.Waytha Moorthy , the Chairperson of HINDRAF, on the status of the Indians in Malaysia. On the question of whether any of the utterances coming out of the UMNO General Assembly, meant any difference, Mr Waythamoorthy’s responded that it was all just rhetoric coming as it does just a few months before a possible snap poll in 2011. Waytha Moorthy reiterated that HINDRAF’s struggle was a long struggle and it is a peaceful struggle to achieve a better future for the Indian minority in Malaysia.
All of this attention to the issue of the welfare of the Indian Minority rights coming up as it does on the heels of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit does raise a few interesting questions. The politics within Malaysia does not now seem to have answers for the distressed situation of the Indian community in Malaysia? There is plenty of rhetoric, but little in the form of effective solutions. There is clear need for change in the political arrangements within Malaysia if this problem is to be ultimately resolved. There is now a need for intervention.
1) Given the intricacies of International diplomacy will India intervene and accept to play any role in this issue?
2) What will be the ramification of an Indian community that continues to be in distress in Malaysia to India and to India-Malaysia relations as India develops in stature around the region?
3) Is business and regional security, the only plane on which India will engage with Malaysia, does it not have a moral responsibility for the welfare of people of Indian origin here due to its historical and cultural affinity, like the rest of the Islamic world have for the plight of the Palestinians?
4) Given the growing business clout of India should it not use some of that to
bargain a better life for the Indians in Malaysia?
5) Will India not benefit from an upliftment of the Indian community here in
Malaysia?
6) And finally how will Malaysia view intervention from India?
N.Ganesan , the Advisor to Hindraf and HRP adds, “ it is timely, with Dr,Manmohan Singh’s visit that some of these questions, be squarely addressed. Ignoring them – Dr. Singh and the Government of India have not responded to several approaches by HINDRAF and HRP for positive intervention on these issues, is to lose a significant opportunity for leadership. India as a leading nation in the region, coupled with the cultural and historical affinity to the Indians in the country does have a moral responsibility to intervene. Does the Government of India have the vision to see it in this light?”
P. Uthayakumar
Secretary General (pro-tem)
