Last Tuesday (15/3/2011) the 150 year old Bukit Jalil Estate was slated for “ethnic cleansing” of the last Indian plantation village in Kuala Lumpur of their homes, Hindu Temple, Hindu Cemetery and their Tamil school by the racist UMNO Junta.But this Sungai Siput Indian MP like his 10 other fellow Indian P.R MP’s almost all the Indian elite are ever so over conscious in not wanting to be seen to be pro-Indian let alone risk being labelled an Indian racist. Instead they prefer to be identified as the so called “multi racial Indians”. Minority Complex Syndrome? Inferiority Complex Syndrome? To us while it may be their right as to what stand they take, they are in a state of denial which is made worse by PSM and the other PKR, DAP, and PAS Indian mandores trying to siphon off and erode further whatever little Indian support away from the serious Indian poor concerns to the “multi-racial” Orang Asli, Malay and Chinese concerns which in any event is getting more than their fair share of attention anyway. To the contrary direct there is almost zero effort by PSM and the other PKR, DAP and PAS to get Malay, Chinese and Indian elite support for the Indian poor concerns. What more when neither PKR, DAP or PAS have the sense of justice to seriously challenge UMNO racism against especially the Indian poor, who are by far the worst effected by UMNO racism.
That morning as always the PSM’s sole MP good doctor but in his typical state of denial and pseudo “multi racial Indian” mindset refused to call the racist UMNO spade an UMNO spade. This Indian MP, almost all the Indian elite, PSM, PKR, DAP, PAS, NGO’s etc will speak up on just about every other Malaysian communities concern except on UMNO’s gross act of racism targeted against the Indian poor by virtue of them being the softest targets and in UMNO preserving the Indian poor and creating the future Indian poor.
In his address at Bukit Jalil Estate this MP said that not only are the victims of the poor and homeless merely the Indians but also the Orang Asli who were only given a mere two(2) acre land and their ancestral land was taken away by the government. (Note: We have documented media reports of ten(10) acres of land granted to the Perak Orang Asli by the previous P.R Perak Government, 10 acre Felda Scheme land in Pulau Gaya for the Sabah natives etc and scores of other land ownership schemes for the poor Orang Asli, Kadazan,Iban and Malays). Pray tell us of one such land scheme for the Indian poor, Mr.Y.B. M.P. for Sungai Siput? So how are the Orang Asli worst off than the Indian poor? Going by this, this MP has refused to also champion that in the circumstances the 41 Bukit Jalil settlers should accordingly be granted 82 acres of land but the government has refused to grant them even the total four(4) acres plot that they are asking for to rebuild their homes.
Where is the PSM sense of justice ie four acres for the 41 Bukit Jalil Indian families and the denial of two acres of land to each and every Orang Asli family and the impression created that the Orang Asli are worse off. We have media reports of Indian poor being unable to even pay the RM 124.00 monthly rentals and water bills and are locked out of even their low cost flats and end up squatting in family and friends homes, becoming new squatters or thrown on to the streets. And this is what is most likely going to happen to Bukit Jalil ex plantation workers who are already in their golden years..
It did not come naturally. Only after our suggestion made through the Bukit Jalil villagers an Emergency Motion was filed in Parliament. To show sincerity why not a public forum or public protests on the “ethnic cleansing” of Bukit Jalil Estate their hindu temple, hindu cemetery and their Tamil school. Had it been an Orang Asli, Malay Village or a Chinese New Village, it would have taken a different dimension as it appeals to the 90% political gallery. The bottom line is political expediency, political power and what appeals to the 90% Malay, Natives and Chinese majority that matters. Where is the sense of Justice?
This “multiracial Indian” PSM MP said in his speech that there are also poor Malays and poor Chinese. We are tempted to add on that there are also poor Jews! This M.P. is quite fortunate as he is “not alone”. He like almost all the Indian elite and the Pakatan Rakyat MP’s by false pretences create the impression that for every Indian poor suffering there is an equal number of suffering poor Chinese, Malay, Orang Asli, Iban and Kadazan. This Indian elite “multiracial” mindset is designed to dilute and divert away from the very real day to day serious and critical Indian problems perpetuated under UMNO’s racist agenda against the Indian poor as is documented and reported on a day to day basis in www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com.
But to PSM, Indian elite, P.R and the Malaysian Civil Society they rather play to their 90% majoritarian Malay, Natives and Chinese political gallery which is of the utmost and paramount importance to them. Their not acting in the public interest, irrespective of the gravity and level of seriousness of the Indian poor concerns if not for their selfish political survival which is plain and obvious. And never mind the at least 70% Indians who are poor and hardcore poor “kena nyaya” on a day to day basis by the racist UMNO junta. And despite the backdrop of our estimate of a mere 1% of the Chinese being poor and the 99% of the remaining 4% (Malays) still living of in poverty (NST 16/7/10 at page 22) whose problems are being aggressively addressed by the racist UMNO and almost always at the expense of the Indian poor. And despite the fact that there is a whole Department with a multi-million Ringgit budget to address the Orang Asli poor concerns. And despite the fact that the Kadazan poor having 25 Members of Parliament and the whole Sabah State Government to care for their interests and the Iban poor having 31 Members of Parliament and the whole Sarawak State Government to care for them. And despite the fact that the Malay Muslim poor having the UMNO controlled Malaysian government to address their concerns. But who speaks for the Indian poor? PKR? DAP? PAS? PSM? NGO’s? BAR COUNCIL? Malaysian Civil Society? Anwar Ibrahim? Karpal Singh? Lim Kit Siang? Hadi Awang? Certainly not UMNO, MIC or BN!
And this PSM MP refuses to concede that the poor Indians are poorer then the poor Orang Asli, Malay, Kadazan, Iban and Chinese who all at least have their traditional villages and their ancestral land and their community support as their social safety net. Even the poor Chinese have their 507 Chinese New Villages nationwide. Why? Even the poor Indian worker from Tamil Nadu, Myanmar or Bangladesh has a village to go back to when he goes back to his country at the end of the day. To the contrary, almost all Indians in Malaysia do not have a village as their social safety net. We may have odd village named Kampong Muniandy, Kampong Kasipillai etc, but almost all of them are deemed squatters as the titles were never issued to them unlike for the Malay, Chinese Orang asli, Iban and Kadazan villages.
A poor Orang Asli, or poor Malay, Kadazan or Iban can open up as much forest or jungle land as he wants to engage in agriculture, livestock breeding, fish farming etc for upward mobility opportunities but which option is segregated and excluded to the Indian poor. It does not matter to this Sungai Siput MP, Indian elite, P.R MP’s or the Malaysian Civil Society that the only way out of misery for almost all of these Indian poor is to contemplate if not actually commit suicide out of sheer hopelessness. So much so that the Indian suicide rate arising out of poverty is 600% higher than in the Malay community. But for the Indian elite the so called “multi racialism” prevails and when you point to this level of UMNO racism specifically targeted against the Indian poor who happen to be the softest target, even Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim accuses Hindraf and HRP as being racist. Which to us is a very shrewd political strategy in diluting and diverting away from a very real and serious issue of UMNO’s state sponsored racism against the Indian poor to preserve the Indian poor and to create the future Indian poor. But otherwise they preach multi-racialism.
This elite “multi racial” Indian mindset P.R, NGO’s and the race biased print and electronic media has today definitely contributed to the current critical state of the Indian poor mostly by omission, notwithstanding the fact that UMNO is the real culprit and the real perpetrator by commission.
And the previously genuine activist turned Indian politician mandore Secretary General of PSM while addressing the Indian poor at Bukit Jalil Estate said that not only hindu temples are being demolished but also suraus, citing the Kampong Berembang surau demolished some five years ago or so. He too is doing damage control for the racist and religious supremacist UMNO by giving the false impression that for every hindu temple demolished there is an equal number of suraus and masjids demolished. This is far from the truth. But this PSM Indian Mandore has refused to reveal that by official statistics revealed by the Selangor Menteri Besar in 2008, in every ten days one hindu temple is being demolished in Selangor alone or one hindu temple being demolished every week nationwide in Malaysia. This was revealed at the Selangor State Assembly where PSM also happens to have a state Assemblyman representative. But he would not mention that the last surau demolished was some five years ago or so. And he refused to reveal the whole truth that this surau was actually replaced with a far bigger, more beautiful and fully equipped surau which was fully funded by the UMNO government. Pseudo “Multi racialism” gets to be the order of the day in the a la Malay-sian civil society, but where the Indian poor are segregated and excluded.
Unlike in the Western Civil Societies where the Whiteman Christians bend backwards to champion and protect the interests of the minority blacks, Asians, Indians, Hispanics etc. Even the 85% Hindu majority India has a sense of justice for their 12% Muslim minority. But in Malaysia the majority Malays, the economically powerful Chinese and the Indian elite all bend backwards to largely champion the Malay Natives and Chinese majoratirian interest vis a vis the 90% political gallery.
Teoh Beng Hock and Aminulrasyid being the latest and classical examples. Hundreds of Muniandys, Kuppusamys and Ramasamys had been killed by police shooting and in police lockups which we have recorded in last 20 years. But just because their names were not Teoh Beng Hock or Aminulrasyid they did not get the level of attention media coverage, Parliamentary Emergency Motions, Royal Commission of Enquiry or justice the Malay and Chinese victims got. P.Gunasegaran was killed at the Sentul Police Station on the very same day Teoh Beng Hock was. But almost all of the Malaysian “civil society” has never heard of him. Why? A la Malay-sian civil society! Well this is Malaysia’s brand of civil society, fairness and sense of justice.
To this MP and the Indian elite, we quote a Tamil proverb that if you cannot help (in the Indian cause of the poor) for any reason you should do no harm. Please do not further dilute, divert, harm or damage the cause of the Indian poor. They are already about at their lowest ebb and “scrapping the barrel” so to speak. Thus our Race against Racism.
P.Uthayakumar
