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Yesterday (March 30th), the President of MIC, Dato Seri S.Samy Vellu called for the release of those Hindraf leaders detained under ISA. I reproduce herewith the news clipping, a response from one of a member from a yahoo group and my reply to him.
News Report:
Release the HINDRAF 5, says Samy Vellu
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu today asked the government to release the five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders under detention, saying two of them should be freed sooner because one was ill and the other was now an elected representative. He said R. Kenghadaran, 40, "is very sick" and M. Manoharan, 46, had won a seat in the March 8 general election. Manoharan had won the Kota Alam Shah state seat in Selangor on a DAP ticket.
Samy Vellu also said that V. Ganabatirau, 34, and K. Vasantha Kumar, 34, had not been very much involved in the massive rally organised by the unregistered Hindraf in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 last year, which was a reason for the five to be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). The fifth Hindraf leader under detention is P. Uthayakumar.
The MIC president spoke at a news conference after opening a workshop on "Rebranding the MIC" attended by the party's 150 divisional leaders, here. He said Ganabatirau, and Vasantha Kumar were "not very much involved (in the rally), so the government has to make a decision."
The MIC supremo also said that his asking the government to release the five Hindraf leaders was not for publicity or a move to win back Indian support for the party, touted to be the largest Indian-based political party in the country.
"This is done in fairness, sympathy and, also, we feel that we as Indians have to do something about it. It is not a publicity stint," he said.
He said that though the party had received harsh criticism from certain quarters for failing to safeguard the welfare of Indians in the country, it would continue to do what it can on matters concerning the community.
"If they (those detained) go ahead with the advice of their lawyers, many things could happen. They should not simply be attracted to those people who want to argue for them. Many people like to argue for them so that they can get publicity. We don't want the publicity, we want the truth," the MIC chief said.
Source: NSTThis was the response from one the members from a yahoo group:
On 3/30/08, jegan@fn.com. my <jegan@fn.com. my> wrote:
See below article from the Samy Velu - what he is trying to prove!!!!
- Did I just heard the word "Samy Vellu"? How come he did not felt 'sympathised' the moment the 5 HINDRAF leaders were sent to Kamunting? How come he did not considered the term 'fairness' at that time and how come he did not even thought of himself 'being an Indian' and 'doing something about it' during that time?It is really sickening to see that it took approximately four freaking months for you and your so-called party members to finally THINK and come up with a wise statement, directed to the government to free the HINDRAF leaders. He personally DECLARE OUR 5 Hindraf Brothers - PENGANAS. WHY ON sUDDEN hE WANTS TO help!!
- When he was in power ( 27 yrs) don't bother to fight for Indians Rights & future of Indians. Why on sudden!!
- Wat is the SV explanation on MAIKA!! Doesn't mean he lose the election he can escape from MAIKA scandal!! SV should answer for this & must refund our MAIKA investMENT AMOUNT (PRINCIPLE) WITH INTEREST.
- FIGHTING FOR BETTERMENT OF ESTATES COMMUNITY FOR - BETTER LIVINGS, WAGES ETC... WHY NOW!!! WAT HE HAS DONE FOR PAST 27 YRS!!!
- THE BEST PART HIS HE IS PLANNING TO "TRAVEL WHOLE MSIA " TO EXPLAIN & TO GAIN SUPPORT BACK FROM INDIAN COMMUNITIES. WELL PLS FREE TO DROP BY TO OUR STATES & OUR TMN, VILLAGE ETC...OUR SLIPPERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU.
AS A INDIAN FEEL SHAME WITH HIS BEHAVIOUR - THE ROOT CAUSE OF MIC FAILURE HIS "SAMY VELU" & HOW COME THE MIC MEMBERS ARE STILL SUPPORTING HIM BLINDLY!! WHY THE UMNO & OTHER COALITION ARE NOT RESPECTING OUR COMMUNITY & OUR REPRESENTATIVE - HIS BECAUSE OF SAMY VELU & HIS BEHAVIOUR WHEN HE IS POWER. A TRUE INDIANS WILL NEVER BEHAVE LIKE THIS ....
A RELIABLE SOURCE IN MIC MENTIONED SAMY VELU PLANNING TO STAND FOR PARLIMENT FOR NEXT GENERAL ELECTION ( ~2012) IN SAME CONSTITUTION IN SG SIPUT. THAT'S AREA SON HE START TO WORK HARD & PORTRAIT HIMSELF AS THE SAVER, DEFENDER OF INDIAN COMMUNITY!!. I TINK SAMY VELU STILL TINKS HE CAN TRICK MSIAN INDIANS WITH HIS 50's POLICTICAL GIMMICKS.
WAT HE SHOULD BE DOING HIS TO STEP DOWN FROM MIC & LOOK AFTER HIS GRANDSON/DAUGHTER ( IF HE HAS ONE). EXPLANATION FOR ALL THE CONE/SCANDALS OF MISMGT INDIANS FUNDS......
This was my reply to Jegan:
What is wrong with Jegan? He is taking the attitude of damned if you do and damned if you don't! Dato Seri Samy Vellu has called the Hindraf 5 to be released from ISA. Instead of welcoming another voice in a move to free those detained, he has taken a defensive political posture. Is this going to help the cause of those detained? Or are certain quarters' sinister motives better served by having the Hindraf 5 under detention whilst they play up to the gallery?
MIC has fought for the Indians all this while and will continue to do so despite what some think or say. That MIC and BN has been dealt a severe blow in the last election is something that we recognize and accept. Point taken. Now lets move forward. If you are still unhappy with us by the next election, you can once again cast your votes to express your choice but stop being so "holier then thou". Is "our slippers are waiting for you" part of our culture, Jegan? Would we want to teach our children to do that to another no matter how much we hate that person? Stop perpetrating this politics of hate. It does no good to anyone.
If Jegan is genuine in ensuring a better future for our nation and community then he must welcome what is good, despite our political differences. We can have our differences but don't let that stop us from working on our common aspiration.
Murugesan Sinnandavar
MIC
4 comments:
Dear all,
Jegan said….”WELL PLS FREE TO DROP BY TO OUR STATES & OUR TMN, VILLAGE ETC...OUR SLIPPERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU.”…………. AS A INDIAN FEEL SHAME WITH HIS BEHAVIOUR - THE ROOT CAUSE OF MIC FAILURE HIS "SAMY VELU" & HOW COME THE MIC MEMBERS ARE STILL SUPPORTING HIM BLINDLY!! WHY THE UMNO & OTHER COALITION ARE NOT RESPECTING OUR COMMUNITY & OUR REPRESENTATIVE - HIS BECAUSE OF SAMY VELU & HIS BEHAVIOUR WHEN HE IS POWER. A TRUE INDIANS WILL NEVER BEHAVE LIKE THIS ....
Where did we pick up this habit of using slippers to hit at people or anything? Or maybe this is the way the true Indians behave ?…no wonder people don’t give us the so call respect that we want….very well for those who wants to use slippers, keep it up ..good way to loose self respect as well……
Well I did not know that the MIC president has so much power of which he single handedly dictated on how UMNO and other coalition showed respect for us as a community….!
Lets contemplate,…and let us not be herds….
Sincerely
jei
Good day!
"As an Indian I feel ashamed of"…. Jegan and his comments. I’m embarrassed just reading it and not to mention fed up, as I have read countless similar critiques. This is a clear example of the average Indian in Malaysia. Educated but lack intellect, old but not mature, involved but not evolved.
Let’s blame Samy Velu because we need somebody to blame. It is after all in keeping with our Indian psyche to behave in such loutish, puerile fashion. We are so apt at blaming everyone for everything but not ourselves.
Jegan, you are giving Samy Velu too much credit. Has one man the power to cause so much damage? If that was indeed true, Samy Velu’s picture should adorn the walls of all Indian homes in Malaysia, and the man should be venerated as a demi God.
Come on let’s not be bashful, let us also take some credit for the inertia in our community, after all we were and still are an animate, participating component of our community.
Being animate, participating components of our community, we are quick to voice our opposition and dissatisfaction. Curiously, our voice as our infamous Indian punctuality is more often then not delayed. Another Indian platitude that we can never seem to shake of is that we are never united. Jegans trite comments confirms this.
If comments such as Jegans were indeed true, think, wasn’t it people like Jegan who had actually allowed SV to consign his inaptitude for 27 years? This certainly says a lot about Jegan and all the countless other Jegans out there.
It is odiousness such as this that has given decent Indians a bad name. In this respect the Jegan types and the SV that Jegan has described are not all that different. It is the opaque arrogance displayed by the Jegan variety that caused others to view our community with disdain.
Yes, SV has to be held accountable for a number of things for which he must not be granted reprieve. Nonetheless what I fear most is the Jegan mindset will not allow our community nor those who genuinely champion our causes any reprieve either. I fear we and our advocates will be met by the slippers of the Jegan types.
Beware of the Jegan mindset, it is this disposition that risks nullifying our hard fought progress and regress us back swiftly, albeit barefoot. My advise to Mr Jegan; If u meet people with slippers in your hands, it is your soles that will be pricked by thorns.
Adithya
Sorry, for commenting late.. but could you please explain me this (http://myhindurights.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/hindraf-accusing-the-govt-blindly-says-samy-vellu/) muru.. i want to be fair and understand better of your MIC statergy in pre & post election era. Do you still defend the MIC actions?
From my view, trust is something, which once lost, very hard to regain.How do MIC plan to regain.
cheers,
vineeth
(vineemenon@gmail.com)
Dear Vineeth,
Yes I agree with you that trust once lost, is difficult to regain.
Our pre-election strategy didn’t work very well. This is self evident from the election results.
As for our post election strategy, we at MIC intend to go back to the basics and look at its founding principles. MIC was formed to fight for and uplift the Indian community in a newly independent multi-racial nation. We were also to represent our community in government to ensure its smooth functioning, in a multi-racial context.
However, over the years MIC had ended up explaining to our people the government’s policies and the reasons why we should accept them. I admit, our voice was muted when it came to the ‘fighting for our people’ part.
Unlike NGO’s, opposition parties and citizen’s groupings, we had to exercise great discretion in all our actions as it will have far reaching consequences for the community. MIC had to balance its role between being the ‘champion’ of the community and its ‘channel’ in the government.
Had we chosen to play up to the gallery we could have ended up pitting our entire community against the government with dire repercussions. We didn’t think we had the community’s mandate for it.
We cannot regain people’s trust by mere strategy. We can only regain it by continuing our work with dedication and sincerity. There are many in MIC whom are committed to this.
Murugesan Sinnandavar
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