At the 2008 electoral outing, BN, then under the leadership of
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, lost its long held two-thirds majority in
Parliament. It also lost four state governments Kedah, Penang, Perak
and Selangor. Kelantan has traditionally been in the hands of PAS, a
member of the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat - made up of PAS, DAP and
PKR.
The MIC assembly comes at a crucial moment, taking into account the
looming general election. Pundits have pointed out that Najib’s speech
may include an apology to the community for sidelining Malaysian Indians
from the wave of development. They also expect, the prime minister to
splash large amounts of money for the community.
It
has to be noted that Najib todate had allocated nearly RM900 million
for Indians in the last two years. Yet, he faces difficulty in getting
back the Indian votes, which was solidly behind BN until 2008.
What does the community really want? Why is it so difficult to get
the Indians back to the BN? The answer to these two questions needs some
history lessons.
One look at Umno’s version of Indian history in Malaysia reveals a
lot. According to Umno, Indians are a group of uncivilised people
brought to Malaya from India by the British government.
They are traditionally divided into castes where most Malaysian
Indians are from lower caste. Words like ‘pariah’ and ‘keling’ were
often used to describe them.
This is how Umno had painted out the Indians, turning them into a
disgruntled underclass. The community complained of being neglected and
marginalised by the Umno-led government.
However, Malaysian Indian roots run deep dating back to the first
century, when an ancient Indian kingdom ruled the northern part of
Malaysia.
Evidence of such a kingdom was found in Lembah Bujang in Kedah. Since
the site was rediscovered by explorers in the 1930s, more than 50
temple ruins have been excavated in the valley, making it Malaysia’s
richest archaeological treasure trove.
Systematically sidelined
However, till today the government, for whatever reason, has yet to
recognise or acknowleged that the ruins were part of the ancient Indian
kingdom. A sign board at Bujang Valley museum describes the ruins as an
“old Malay kingdom”.
It is things like this which has simmered for sometime among the
Malaysian Indian community. During the post colonial era, Indian were
professionals in terms of employment. While, many had worked in estates
in the early days, quite a number of them understood the importance of
education and pushed the second generation towards this.
The community produced numerous doctors and lawyers in the
1960s.However, this has changed. While the community still places
emphasis on education, not many are given seats at government run higher
education centres to pursue professional courses. Seats are now awarded
based on the race based quota system.
Umno had also systematically sidelined the once hardworking and
economically vibrant Indian community into a “forgotten community”
through its ethnic and religious policies.
People like Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas (first Asian banker in
British Malaya), Janaki Davar (one of the women involved in the fight
for the Malayan independence), Sybil Karthigesu (only Malayan woman to
be ever awarded with the George Medal for bravery), SA Ganapathi (first
president of the 300,000-strong Pan Malayan Federation of Trade Unions
(PMFTU) which fought for the country’s independence) and Dr TJ Danaraj
(University Malaya’s medical faculty founder and former Dean), have been
omitted from the history books.
Today, Indians lag behind other ethnic groups in almost all areas.
While they form just 7% of the total population, they account for 63%
arrested under the Emergency Ordinance for violent crimes. They also
constitute 41% of beggars and 20% of child abusers.
Indians rank lowest in national elementary-school examinations, about
one in every 12 Indian children do not even attend primary school.
Umno’s racist policies had pushed the Indian community to the wayside of
nation-building since independence.
Thus, the MIC annual general assembly to be held at the Putra World
Trade Centre tomorrow would be the right venue for Najib to rewrite
history.
Najib says his government is helping the Indians. Giving out loans to
small-business and financial aid for students would not impress the
community. The community wants to be recognised.
This does not cost a single sen. The government should acknowlege the
contribution of Indians to this country. And the recognition must come
in seven key areas – politics, government affairs, education, jobs,
culture, history and socio-economy.
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