By G Vinod (FreeMalaysiaToday) KUALA LUMPUR: Amidst the rousing support shown to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his counterpart from India, Manmohan Singh, during the launch of Little India in Brickfields, there were some who dismissed it as a cosmetic fanfare.
According to Kampung Tawas PKR division chief MS Arjunan, it was akin to applying make-up to hide the ugly truth.
Training his guns on Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Deputy Minister M Saravanan, he said the former was there “just to show the Indian prime minister that Tamils here are well-off”.
Arjunan was among the seven arrested for staging a protest at the launch yesterday. He claimed that some 200 people turned up for the protest, but dispersed when the police arrested the key leaders.
The seven were released later in the night.
“If Manmohan was really concerned about the Tamil community in Malaysia, he should visit those in rural areas,” Arjunan told FMT when quizzed on the objective of his protest.
‘Chinese own the shops in Brickfields’
The PKR leader added that it was pointless that the government spent so much of money for the project which was not benefitting the Indian traders there in the first place.
“About 90% of the shops in Brickfields are owned by Chinese and the Indian traders are just renting the premises. If the shop owners chase them away, what will happen to the traders?” he asked.
He also questioned the rationale of naming the area “Little India” when most traders there are of Tamil origin.
“The Tamils have been doing business there for the past three centuries, therefore it is better to name it ‘Bandar Tamil’ (Tamil City),” he said.
Arjunan said if the government was really concerned for the welfare of Indian traders, it should offer loans for them to purchase the current premises.
‘Should have been Najib or Samy’
He was also disappointed with the government’s decision to invite an “outsider” like Manmohan to officiate the event.
“It is a Malaysian event. Naturally a local leader should have officiated the event. Either Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak or even MIC president S Samy Vellu could have done it,” he said.
Furthermore, he described Manmohan as someone who was least concerned with the welfare of the Tamil community.
“Look at what happened in Sri Lanka. The Tamils were massacred by the Sri Lankan army but he was very quiet about it. The Sri Lankan army also attacked Tamil fishermen in Rameswaram (India) but Manmohan was mum about it as well,” he said.
Asked about his next course of action, Arjunan said he would first hold a meeting with several Tamil-based organisations before charting a plan.
29/10/10
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