HINDRAF
is the most successful Hindu/Indian resistance movement outside of
India, which offers certain basic lessons in running effective Hindu
movements. On 24th Nov 2007
HINDRAF organised the most successful demonstration in Kuala lumpur
which had hit all major news channels around the world. About 30-40
thousand people participated. However, according to certain reports, if
the government had not created blockades in the city the numbers could
have swelled to 100 thousand.
I believe to study a movement, a good starting point would be its leader , who in this case, happens to be P Waytha Moorthy.
Moorthy, a simple man who was running a Vivekananda youth movement,
became a Hindu hero and icon, who exposed & brought the racist
Malaysian government down on its knees. From 2008 until a few days back I
was privileged to spend hours & days with Moorthy in England.
During the initial days, we met as Hindu activists,
in the midst as friends & towards the end as brothers. (End implies
end of his stay in London. Moorthy returned to Malaysia on 1st Aug 12
after an exile of about four & half years). At some point in my
life, I would like to write in much detail about the time I spent &
the time I hope to spend further with the incredible man called Moorthy.
I have chosen to be selective & brief in writing this article for
the sake of secrecy & confidentiality as the HINDRAF struggle is
still on going….
The problem
for Moorthy’s enemies is that he gets tougher if you get tough with
him. A rare trait that lacks in Hindu leaders who start softening after a
point in the name of following Buddha’s middle path or creating a win
win situation. Forgetting that it is truth alone that needs to triumph.
Truth & deceit can never co- exist in the first place. There can be
no midway & one’s rights can never be achieved with conditions tied
to them. This is reflected in HINDRAF slogan “Rights not Mercy.“It
is noteworthy that Moorthy is not only fighting for the cause of 1.5
million Hindus but for the 15 million non Muslims too who feel
discriminated & systematically marginalised by the Malaysian
government. It would not be a Dharmic cause he were to fight for the
rights of Hindus alone. Would it ?
While brainstorming
Moorthy has an uncanny ability to bring in all the details that one
needs to factor in & would describe the threats & opportunities
that lie within. Before disclosing his strategy he would ask your
opinion & would integrate it into the bigger picture that he seems
to see so clearly. For all major situations he has at least four
contingency plans & he would never forget to brief all the people
involved for their respective plans. Should the need arise he changes
his strategy completely within no time & little effort. This really
works well when you are braving a state, who are eavesdropping upon you
24×7 and reading your patterns. A completely new
strategy acts like an intellectual ambush for a big bureaucratic state
machinery which is not able to manoeuvre & deal with the new set of
conditions swiftly enough….
Moorthy probably happens to be the pioneer & master of Intellectual Guerrilla tactics. I asked Moorthy, if he had
read books like Art of War or Chankaya. He never had but employs all
those strategies & tactics. They are embedded in his mind
intrinsically.
Moorthy is always infused with ideas that can
bolster his cause & movement. One such idea was of suing the British
government. One fine day he chose to sit & brainstorm the basic
draft of the civil suit with his very accomplished lawyer friends. He
kept thinking & hovering around the room for hours everyday &
finally came up with the draft after several days of discussion &
rumination. He would get it chiseled every now & then from legal
eagles in Malaysia, India, US & Europe. Recently, Moorthy filed a
civil suit on 2nd July 12 in London & is right now touring different
parts of Malaysia to build awareness about it.
Besides all the strategic
planning & contingencies, Moorthy knows that there is always a risk
involved, after all it is a small group of Hindus braving an autocratic
Islamic state. Moorthy is a big risk taker & meets with all kinds
of risks with courage alone. Before leaving for Malaysia, I asked him
several times, on several occasions, in several different ways, ” …what
if you get arrested & are put into the prison ?” & his standard
answer would be , ” Will make the best of it…” He never said anything
beyond this & I still keep wondering what did he exactly meant by
that ?
I have met & worked
with many Hindu leaders. Some are very well grounded in their local
areas but do not have a global view. Though well intentioned &
dedicated, they are generally clueless about where the world is headed
& the changes that are likely to affect the people they are leading
& even themselves. Others tend to have a global view but are
absolutely disconnected with the people they claim to represent &
lead.
Moorthy
is connected with the grass roots & is a true globalist at the same
time. He is able to understand & interact with his people at all
levels and likewise deal & negotiate with foreign governments &
International Human rights organisations across the world. When he
speaks you can feel the grit & determination in his voice. I have
never seen him reading from a script or even looking up at bullet points
but what he speaks is specific & measured. One can’t help noticing
his sincere & honest eyes which reach far & deep corners of your
comprehension, where words before getting there generally dissolve and
become meaningless.
His eyes dart & pierce
into your heart as if injecting the truth itself. One suddenly starts
seeing the deeper meaning of life and a certain force commands you to
stand by him. I have seen many people standing by him through thick
& thin, who otherwise would never ever contribute towards a noble
& honourable cause.
However, the very basic reason for Moorthy’s success is his unflinching faith in Hindu Dharma
that in return earns him the faith of the 1.5 million Hindu Malaysians
that he leads. He stands behind them & they stand by him during the
toughest of times. Quite a few times during his stay in London he showed
me emails promising him international diplomatic support and
resources/donations IF he replaced the “Hindu” word with …….
“Indian” for his organisation HINDRAF-
(Hindu Rights Actions Force) , but he did not. Instead, he chose to
lead a life of altruism in England and diverted all the resources he had
towards the movement in Malaysia.I witnessed that, at the cost of his
health, he would sleep less, eat at odd hours or not eat at all &
spend hours together late in the night liaising with his people in
Malaysia. Waking up early mornings & rushing to attend meetings in
London with British MPs, Human Rights organisations & influential
international delegations etc.
Working tirelessly
across three time zones of Asia, Europe & the US, finally in Feb
2009, the inevitable happened, he had to be hospitalised in London as he
has a heart condition & to top it all diabetes too.
We had to beg him to ask his wife to join him here
in London, who was actively contributing to the movement in Malaysia.
(After she arrived his condition improved and has been stable since). On
the other hand, we come across Hindu leaders who often give complexly
constructed reasons, sometimes alibis clearly, to give up a campaign or
cause in between but Moorthy never.
He is so focused & single minded that his personal life
and prosperity seem secondary & sometimes even incidental. Whilst
in Malaysia, not just his wife but his young daughter who was about 6
then (2008), was arrested by the police along with a few other people.
Moorthy was concerned then but not deterred. Clearly the terrible
sufferings & plight of Hindu Malaysians & other non muslim
groups remain continuously before his eyes & mind.
Even a situation like
this could not force him to change or suspend any of his plans &
campaigns. As mentioned earlier, he only gets tougher than
the situation that his combatants or destiny may present before him.
The fundamental mistake
that the Malaysian government has been making in dealing with HINDRAF
& Moorthy is its flawed understanding of Hindu heritage. The sole
reason why Islam could never take over India even after centuries of
conquests & temporary subjugation is because of the endless chain of
resistances it had to deal with & finally had to give in to.Men like Moorthy belong to such lineages & shall continue to manifest in this body & next until justice finally prevails….There is no beginning and end of this chain….It is Sanatan….Sanatan Dharma.
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