The Indians in the party feel that they are being sidelined and they are fed up with mere lip service.
At a meeting on Monday night the Indian leaders presented a litany of woes to the PKR leadership.
The meeting was helmed by PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and sources say it turned out to be a heated affair.
Apart from Azmin the closed door meeting was attended by vice president N Surendran, deputy secretary general T Kumar, Kapar member of Parliament (MP) S Manikavasagam, Subang MP R Sivarasa, Hutan Melintang state assemblyman S Kesavan, Bukit Selambau state assemblyman S Manikumar and Port Dickson state assemblyman M Ravi.
Others included Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin and Indera Mahkota MP Azan Ismail.
The meeting attended by more than 150 Indian leaders in PKR was aimed at drawing-up strategies to win back the Indian support for the opposition bloc — Pakatan Rakyat, which comprises PAS, DAP and PKR.
But the Indian leaders took the opportunity to tell the party that the Indians and the community’s problems were sidelined.
The leaders, a source said, questioned why Indian leaders were not given positions in Pakatan led states.
“We also raised the Tamil schools land issue, the lack of business opportunities and the level of poverty in the community,” he said.
The source said Manikavasagam claimed that the PKR-led Selangor government was discriminating against Indians in the state.
“He also raised the issue of sand mining in the state. The state government recently refused to renew the sand mining license of KL Larut Sdn Bhd just because the company belongs to an Indian.
“He also questioned why there were no Indians appointed to high post at state government linked companies,” said the source.
Lack of funding
The issue of the controversial Interlok novel was also raised, added the source, with local leader Dr P Sri Ram from Petaling Jaya Selatan division asking the party to clarify its stand on the novel.
The PAS-led Kedah government also came under heavy criticism for not helping the community in the state.
“Azmin could not answer our queries. He could not even answer a single question raised. Surendran tried to answer but this was not enough. The deputy president sat silent like he was under a spell or something,” said the source.
The Indian leaders also raised the issue of funding as many were not satisfied with the lack of funds to run grassroot programmes.
“What can we do if there is no money. The main problem is that Indians are still poor and without money we can’t reach out to help them. Mere lip service alone will not do,” said a leader who attended the meeting.
The leaders also questioned the Selangor government’s move to finance Malay and Chinese village headmen but limited financial assistance were given Indians.
“Many Malay and Chinese village heads get up to RM8,000 to RM10,000 through allowances, other goodies, while the Indian village heads just get a monthly allowance of RM450,” said the source.
Talking strategies
A notable absentee at the meeting was Selangor exco Dr Xavier Jeyakumar. The Seri Andalas assemblyman, it is learnt, could not make it for the meeting because he was attending the Pakatan Rakyat executive council meeting in Langkawi.
Azmin, on his part, sources said requested the leaders to hit the ground to regain the lost Indian support for the party and the opposition coalition.
PKR is on a drive to win back Indian votes, especially after the community started moving back to the Barisan Nasional (BN).
The support of the community is also vital as it would enable Pakatan to cling on to Selangor. The BN on the hand has vowed to retake the state at the next general election.
Meanwhile, Surendran denied that the meeting was heated.
“It was a calm meeting and we spoke about the strategies to be used for the upcoming general election..it was a normal meeting,” he told FMT.
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