“There will be another ‘tsunami’ if the prime minister does not address the demands of the minority Indians,” Hindraf Makkal Sakthi national information co-ordinator S. Jayathas told reporters today in his trademark bluster.Hindraf Makkal Sakthi launched an 18-hour hunger strike, which began at 9 pm yesterday and is scheduled to end at 3pm today, to press Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resolve the grievances of the Indian community.Just three months after the first Hindraf rally, Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority and four more states in the historic Election 2008 that has been described as a “political tsunami”.
Today, Jayathas accused Umno of ensuring that the Indian community remained mired in poverty.“What we can see is, this is Umno’s plan... to stop the Indians from coming out from poverty. About 70 per cent of poor and hardcore poor are Indians,” said Jayathas.“The only way to uplift them is through education,” he added.Jayathas claimed that many top-scoring Indian students were not given places in public universities or government scholarships and loans.
“About 28 per cent of the students at public universities were Indians during Independence. But now, less than one per cent of [those] at public universities are Indians,” he said.He also pointed out that the Najib administration had spent millions to resolve the issue of Mat Rempits, but failed to help young Indian criminals.“They just take them (Indian youths) and put them under the EO (Emergency Ordinance),” accused Jayathas.A claimed 5,000 Indian youths are detained annually under the EO for gangsterism, according to the Hindraf Makkal Sakthi website. The estimated figure was based on the 300 Indian youths reportedly detained under the EO within four months in Selangor alone.
When asked if the group had approached MIC for help, Jayathas answered: “The king is still Umno.”“The duty of the prime minister is to address the issue of the minority Indians,” he added.While police fired tear gas and water cannons at the first Hindraf rally, today’s protest was free from such violence.After a brief prayer and three shouts of “Kami mahu hak kami” (We want our rights), the Hindraf Makkal Sakthi members sat down on the pavement at the Suria KLCC entrance in quiet conversation.Dressed in bright orange shirts, most were Indian men while a handful were Indian women.
About 10 police officers could be seen talking among themselves in close proximity of the protestors.“We expected about 30 to 40 people. This time, we just called our activists,” said Jayathas. Exactly three years ago, however, an estimated 10,000 Indian protestors rallied in support of a RM13.5 trillion lawsuit against Britain for bringing Indians as labourers to the then Malaya and allegedly exploiting them.The gathering was to submit a 100,000-signature petition for Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community in the suit.
Today, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi volunteer V. Santhi, who also attended the first Hindraf rally, vowed to continue fighting for the rights of her community.Yesterday evening, she prepared herself for the hunger strike with a bowl of plain oats and an accompanying cup of Milo.“The government ignores the Indians,” Sakthi told The Malaysian Insider.“Many Indians can’t get scholarships or places in public universities,” she added.
The 46-year-old businesswoman, dressed like the others in a bright orange Hindraf Makkal Sakthi shirt, said she had taken leave today to fight for the future Indian generation.“We fight for our rights. I’m doing it for my coming generation,” said Santhi
Source : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/few-turn-up-in-sign-of-hindrafs-flagging-support/
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