Kayveas: Is Palani powerless or just ignorant?

The PPP chief, while telling MIC to stay out of their spat with Nanban, questions the party chief's credibility in standing up for the Indian community.

PETALING JAYA: People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president, M Kayveas, condemned MIC’s support of Malaysia Nanban over its humiliating statements against the Indian community.

The Tamil daily, in an article on Feb 20, opined that the Indian community could be won over with “free food and tasty mutton”, and that PPP was prone to doing that to rake in votes.

The article questioned if such a move by PPP, which is a Barisan Nasional component party, would favour the ruling coalition in attracting the Indian community’s votes.

Angered by the article, party members and Kayveas were reported to have ambushed the daily’s headquarters in Jalan Ipoh, seeking clarification.

Kayveas, in denying the news reports, said: “First of all, we didn’t ‘ambush’ the daily. We were in fact invited to the Nanban office by the director Ahmad Mydin Sikandar Batcha.

“He wanted to show us proof that what was written was indeed true. They promised a public apology the next day but instead now claim that we had ambushed them.”

‘Why should I apologise?’

Kayveas also said that a number of MIC men were present, claiming to be “security” personnel when he and other PPP members visited the Nanban office.

“Why does MIC need to send ‘security’ [personnel] for Nanban? They have nothing to do with this. Police officers were already deployed and they helped settle the issue before we left,” he said.

Kayveas also said that MIC Youth chief T Mohan and strategy director S Vell Paari have told him to apologise to Nanban for his actions.

“Why should I apologise to them? What did we do to harm them? Why are they not standing up for the Indian community? What is their motive really?” he asked.

When asked if he had contacted the MIC president G Palanivel with regard to this issue, he said: “I only received a reply from Palanivel saying ‘you are free to do your part’.”

“This clearly means that he isn’t going to do anything about this. Is he powerless or is he just being plain ignorant?” he said.

Kayveas assured that PPP will continue to fight for Indians and suggested that it was best for MIC to stay out of this matter as “I know how to handle this issue amicably”.
- See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/02/27/kayveas-is-palani-powerless-or-just-ignorant/#sthash.omrePo5b.dpuf

Go to the moon, Vell Paari tells Perkasa

Responding to Perkasa's stinging criticism, the MIC leader says that it is them and not him who is the real liability to BN.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malay extremist group Perkasa has launched a scathing attack against MIC leader S Vell Paari and defended academic Ridhuan Tee Abdullah over his controversial article.

In an online news report, the movement’s secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali described the MIC strategy director as a publicity hound attempting to reverse his sinking political fortunes.

Calling Vell Paari a liability to Barisan Nasional, he said Indian community leaders close to Perkasa had advised the MIC leadership to ignore Vell Paari because his voice was no longer important.

Responding to the criticism, the MIC leader said that he was willing to sponsor mirrors for the members of Perkasa.

“It is obvious that they have not looked at themselves in a mirror. These imbeciles label me a burden to BN when Perkasa was responsible for alienating non-Malay votes with their racism.

“So I hope with these mirrors, they could take a good look at themselves before pointing their stained fingers at others.

“It also seems that my voice was important enough to draw a reaction from Perkasa,” he told FMT.

Furthermore, Vell Paari said unlike Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, who hopped from BN to the opposition, and then back again, he continued to remain with the ruling coalition.

“Their leader is a frog, who would never turn into a handsome prince no matter how many times you kiss him and these people have the audacity to talk about me. I find that amusing,” he added.

Barking for the right reasons

As for him being a publicity hound, Vell Paari quipped that he was glad to be compared to an animal that was considered grateful.

The MIC leader added that at least he was in the news for barking in defence of preserving this nation’s multiracialism unlike Perkasa which was in the news for being rabid, and therefore should be put to sleep.

“Once again, with the mirrors I am willing to present Perkasa, they could at least stand before them and ask, ‘mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the biggest threat to BN of them all’,” he added.

Commenting on Syed Hassan’s remark that Indian leaders close to Perkasa had advised MIC’s top brass to ignore him, Vell Paari said he was shocked that the movement’s leaders had Indian friends.

“And if there are Indian community leaders willing to be close to such bigots, it is their voices which must be ignored, not mine.

“I love my country more than I love the party that I belong to. So I would not stop criticising those who threaten my nation with their venom,” he stressed.

Does Perkasa represent the Malays?

Vell Paari also took Syed Hassan to task for claiming that the former’s views did not represent the sentiments of the Indian community.

“This is the problem with those who only read certain newspapers and live in a cocoon.

“It is Perkasa’s views that do not represent the feelings of the ‘true’ Malays as illustrated by the handful of supporters who turned up for their so-called counter protest against Bersih.

“We could even ask the Malays in PAS and PKR if Perkasa represented their voice,” he added.

Quizzed on Perkasa’s defence of Ridhuan’s article, saying that there were some elements of truth in it, Vell Paari said that statement alone proved the mindset of the movement’s leaders.

“These people are criticising me for criticising a racist. Perkasa and people like Ridhuan belong on the moon and not in a multi-racial nation like Malaysia,” he said.

On Syed Hasan’s warning that Vell Paari and opposition Indian leaders should refrain from making threats and hurtful remarks, the MIC leader said the Perkasa secretary-general should advise his president first.

“Ibrahim Ali called for the burning of Bibles. I am asking for action to be taken against a racist. So in what warped logic, am I the greater threat?” he asked.

“Ridhuan stands accused of plagiarising and being a fraud. Is this the type of people Perkasa wishes to defend? That speaks volumes about Perkasa, doesn’t it?” he added.

The MIC leader also clarified that he was not demanding an apology from Ridhuan but rather wanted him sacked for his insensitive remarks.

Kesabaran kami ada had

Jangan terus meluku apabila mangsa tunduk dan mangsa pula jangan terus tunduk apabila diluku.
COMMENT

Pada penelitian saya, selewat-lewatnya sejak awal tahun 2008 – menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12 – kebanyakan penduduk kaum India di negara ini sudah mula menyedari dan menggunakan hak mereka untuk bersuara.

Hakikat yang boleh dipertikaikan tetapi tidak boleh dinafikan adalah bahawa di Malaysia, kumpulan-kumpulan minoriti masih menjadi mangsa penindasan, kezaliman, diskriminasi, ketidakadilan dan penipuan oleh pihak yang “ada kuasa”.

Saya berpendirian bahawa golongan minoriti seperti ini amat memerlukan ruang untuk bersuara. Secara lebih khusus, kaum India memerlukan kekuatan untuk berani menuntut apa-apa yang sebenarnya memang menjadi hak mereka menurut peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu (5 Ogos 1957).

Satu-satunya pemimpin Islam yang paling saya kagumi ialah Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. dan seperti diriwayatkan Abu Daud, baginda pernah bersabda:

“Berwaspada! Barang siapa yang menzalimi dan mengasari kelompok minoriti Bukan Islam, menyekat hak mereka, membebankan mereka dengan lebih daripada apa yang mampu mereka tanggung, atau merampas apa sahaja daripada mereka tanpa izin; maka aku akan mengadu terhadap orang itu pada Hari Pembalasan.”

Dalam pada itu, seperti diakui dalam agama Islam, Hindu dan semua agama seluruh dunia, Tuhan akan memakbulkan doa orang yang tertindas atau dizalimi. Dalam hal ini, saya percaya bahawa doa golongan kaum India di Malaysia juga akan didengar dan dimakbulkan-Nya.

Walaupun “maru malarchi” – kebangkitan semula; revival – mula menampakkan bibit selewat-lewatnya pada tahun 1999, semangat reformasi dalam kalangan kaum India yang bermaruah (ingat: yang bermaruah sahaja) semakin hebat menjelang akhir tahun 2007. Perhimpunan Hindraf (25 November 2007) serta Perhimpunan Bersih (10 Julai 2011) menjadi antara bukti nyata.

Kuasa yang ditunjukkan oleh masyarakat awam melalui undi pada PRU-12 menambahkan keyakinan kaum India terhadap kemampuan “makkal sakhti” iaitu “Kuasa Rakyat” atau apa yang saya gelarkan sebagai The Third Force.

Suara dan keberanian kaum India yang tidak rela diperkotak-katikkan dan diperlakukan sesuka hati juga terpancar semasa kontroversi novel Interlok: Edisi Murid sepanjang tahun 2011. Khususnya apabila ada pihak yang bermati-matian mahu mengekalkan novel berkenaan sebagai teks wajib Komponen Sastera Dalam Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Malaysia (Komsas) walaupun terbukti terdapat pelbagai perkara yang menyentuh sensitiviti dan menjatuhkan maruah kaum India.

Akhirnya MIC tunduk pada desakan (pujukan?) pihak tertentu dengan meluluskan percetakan semula novel itu dengan pindaan minimum yang tidak selaras apa yang dijanjikan oleh Menteri Pelajaran tersayang, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin di Dewan Rakyat pada Mac 2011.

Usaha menjahanamkan impian Najib

Untuk rekod, MIC adalah sebuah parti politik di Malaysia yang mengiktiraf sendiri kedudukannya sebagai parti politik tunggal yang kononnya layak mewakili kaum India dalam komponen Barisan Nasional (BN). Mujurlah tidak semua penduduk kaum India berpendirian demikian; khususnya generasi muda yang menolak parti politik berasaskan kaum.

Isu terbaru yang cuba “menguji” tahap kesabaran kaum India adalah sebuah rencana bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” oleh Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (Tee Chuan Seng) yang disiarkan di akhbar Sinar Harian (18 Februari 2013).

Rencana itu secara terang-terangan menggunakan isu kontroversi filem Vishwaroopam (2013) sebagai “alat” untuk Chuan Seng mengutuk, menghina dan menjatuhkan maruah kaum India beragama Hindu di Malaysia. Ringkasnya, lelaki mualaf (Cina-Muslim) itu ternyata sedang cuba menjahanamkan semangat perpaduan, persefahaman, tolak ansur dan saling menghormati yang sedang diperjuangkan oleh Perdana Menteri tercinta, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dalam keadaan amat terpaksa menjelang tarikh PRU-13.

Setiausaha Pemuda MIC Kebangsaan, Sivarraajh Chandran mengeluarkan kenyataan media yang turut disiarkan di media alternatif pada 19 Februari 2013. Beliau menyeru masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan agama memulaukan Chuan Seng dan mana-mana penerbit yang tetap menerbitkan/menyiarkan tulisannya pada masa hadapan.

Kenyataan Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) berhubung perkara sama disiarkan (antara lain) di akhbar Malaysia Nanban pada 21 Februari 2013. Reaksi orang ramai – kaum India dan Bukan Kaum India; penganut Hindu dan Bukan Hindu – juga diluahkan menerusi laman rangkaian sosial seperti Facebook dan Twitter.

Keberanian untuk bersuara mewakili golongan minoriti (kaum India) dalam isu-isu seperti ini mungkin amat kurang dan jarang sebelum tahun 2008. Maka, hakikat yang nyata dan membanggakan adalah bahawa rakyat Malaysia semakin bersatu sebagai “Bangsa Malaysia” sejak PRU-12 dan tidak bersedia membiarkan mana-mana kaum/agama dizalimi, ditindas, dihina dan diperlakukan secara tidak berperikemanusiaan oleh mana-mana pihak; termasuk pemerintah.

MIC yang sebelum ini menjadi “tuan kecil” yang paling berkuasa menentukan nasib dan masa depan kaum India juga terbukti tidak lagi mampu mengatasi “Kuasa Rakyat” – The Third Force – yang sudah berani untuk bersuara mengikut hak dan kuasa yang diberikan secara sah oleh undang-undang dan Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Terbaru, Pengarah Strategi MIC, Vell Paari mengirim surat kepada presidennya, Datuk G Palanivel untuk mendesak supaya tindakan segera diambil terhadap perbuatan Chuan Seng menghina orang India-Hindu dan Ibrahim Ali (Presiden Perkasa) yang menghasut orang Islam membakar Al-Kitab pada Januari 2013.

Surat terbuka itu turut disiarkan di Free Malaysia Today (22 Februari 2013) supaya mampu dibaca oleh orang ramai. Vell Paari dengan tegas mengatakan bahawa jika tiada tindakan diambil terhadap Chuan Seng dan Ibrahim Ali, maka beliau akan mengetuai gerakan meminta masyarakat India tidak mengundi mana-mana calon BN pada PRU-13 (Tamil Nesan, 23 Februari 2013).

Seperti dinyatakan Vell Paari, apa-apa yang ditulis oleh Chuan Seng dalam rencana bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” boleh dianggap sebagai bertentangan dengan gagasan “1Malaysia” yang dipelopori Najib. Dr Mohd Faizal Musa (Faisal Tehrani) juga berhujah bahawa pendapat Chuan Seng “sangat berlawanan” dengan gagasan Najib (Projek Dialog, 22 Februari 2013).

Sinar Harian akui ada nada perkauman

Tambahan pula dalam keadaan di mana Najib secara bersendirian begitu terdesak untuk mendapatkan undi kaum India dalam PRU-13 sehingga sanggup menabur wang, masa dan tenaga bagi menjayakan Perhimpunan Semenyih (12 Januari 2013), Pesta Ponggal Sayangi Selangor PM Bersama Rakyat (13 Januari 2013), Thaipusam (27 Januari 2013), Ponggal Perpaduan (2 Februari 2013) dan sebagainya.

Sementara itu, susulan bantahan sekumpulan orang di hadapan Kompleks Media Karangkraf, Shah Alam pada tengah hari 22 Februari 2013, penasihat editorial akhbar Sinar Harian, Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali dilaporkan memohon maaf kepada kaum India beragama Hindu atas penyiaran rencana tulisan Chuan Seng.

Agak menarik juga untuk diperhatikan bahawa Abdul Jalil dilaporkan berkata bahawa rencana yang disiarkan itu memang sudah disunting “untuk mengurangkan nada perkauman”. Maka, bayangkan betapa banyak “nada perkauman” yang disuntik oleh Chuan Seng dalam manuskrip asal rencana yang dikirimnya kepada editor. Semoga Sinar Harian tidak cuba “menandingi” Utusan Malaysia sebagai akhbar yang khabarnya dibenci orang ramai.

Sejak lebih 55 tahun lalu, kaum India yang merupakan warganegara sah di sini sudah serik dipanggil “pendatang” dan diminta “balik India”. Apatah lagi apabila kedatangan pendatang asing tanpa izin (PATI) dari India, Pakistan, Bangladesh dan negara-negara lain pula khabarnya dialu-alukan dan diberikan dokumen pengenalan sah; asalkan mereka bersedia mengundi pihak tertentu pada PRU-13.

Biarlah ditegaskan bahawa “kesabaran kaum India ada had” (meminjam nada tajuk rencana Chuan Seng dan Faisal Tehrani). Ada sebuah peribahasa Tamil yang membawa makna “jangan terus meluku apabila mangsa tunduk dan mangsa pula jangan terus tunduk apabila diluku”. Meluku, menyekeh atau menduku merujuk pada perbuatan mengetuk kepala dengan buku jari.

Minoriti yang dianiaya dan dinafikan hak juga sudah berani melaungkan “Tidak!” seperti yang dipaparkan secara penuh simbolik menerusi filem Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Jika ada pihak yang masih menggelar kaum India di negara ini sebagai “pendatang” dan melakukan penindasan, maka bersedialah untuk melihat “vishwaroopam” (bukan judul filem) yang pasti menggerunkan.

Nabi Muhammad pernah bersabda, “Bantulah mereka yang dizalimi dan yang menzalimi.” Para sahabat bertanya, “Kami boleh membantu mereka yang dizalimi tetapi bagaimana membantu mereka yang menzalimi?” Nabi menjawab, “Cegahlah mereka daripada melakukan kezaliman.”

Rasulullah juga diriwayatkan bersabda kepada Muaz bin Jabal, “Takutilah kamu akan doa orang yang dizalimi kerana tiadalah sesuatu hijab (penghalang) antara doanya dengan Allah.”

Maka, kepada Chuan Seng, Ibrahim Ali, Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin Albukhary serta puluhan individu, puak, pertubuhan, akhbar, politikus, penerbit dan golongan etnosentrik yang sentiasa menganiaya mana-mana golongan minoriti serta menjadi pencetus perpecahan dan perkauman, percayalah bahawa minoriti tertindas tidak akan lagi berdiam diri.

Keluhuran Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu melindungi mereka; selain jaminan Nabi Muhammad dan Allah yang sentiasa mendengar doa golongan yang ditindas, dianiaya dan dizalimi. Atau adakah anda mahu menafikannya?

Uthaya Sankar SB tidak menyokong mana-mana parti politik. Beliau sering bersuara mewakili golongan marginal, minoriti dan tertindas.

Mahathir: Even 5 years for Pakatan is dangerous

2:06PM Jan 3, 2013  

As the polls draw nearer, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad again raised the red flag for voters that handing over Putrajaya to the Pakatan Rakyat, even for just five years, would be dangerous.

"Five years for the (PKR de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) or (PAS president Abdul) Hadi (Awang) -led opposition to govern is dangerous. Many things can be destroyed in five years. We have some experience in this.

"Already we see this person who claims to fight for free speech suing and resorting to the courts to shut the mouths of his critics. Other powers of the government will be similarly abused, "said Mahathir. (right)

"Nepotism and cronyism will be employed as indeed they are in the party he now heads," said the veteran politician in his blog posting today titled "Change".

Mahathir said Pakatan would ensure there will be no return for the BN and government officers would be used to threaten whoever tries to change the administration should Pakatan capture Putrajaya.

Dr M lists Anwar's shortcomings

He also revisited his arch rival Anwar's track record when the latter was his deputy and finance minister during the 1998 Asian financial crisis, to back his claim that Pakatan cannot rule the nation.

"The then deputy prime minister and minister of finance tried the International Monetary Fund (IMF) solution without the IMF loans.

"Banks and companies were faced with the threat of bankruptcy from non-performing loans. Imports cost more. Cost of living shot up.

"The record is there. Malaysians must not allow themselves to be hoodwinked as I was hoodwinked by the appearance of religious piety in the past," he said, referring to Anwar's background as the leader of Islamic NGO Abim before joining politics.

He also slammed Anwar (left) for promising changes to the voters but had failed to introduce any positive change when he was in the government.

"All he was interested in was getting up Umno's leadership ladder in order to become prime minister. How he achieved his objective does not bear scrutiny."



'BN people friendly coalition'

Mahathir trumpeted BN's achievements, contrasting with the current financial crisis in Eurozone and the United States.

"The BN has listened to the people and has changed many laws and policies. All that the people need to do is to urge the BN to carry out whatever change the people desire.

"But changing the government can and will result in this country becoming unstable and unable to grow."

On the other hand, the promises offered by Pakatan to change the nation into a welfare state by waiving various fees and increasing petrol subsidy, would lead Malaysia onto the footsteps of Greece, Mahathir argued.

"That's what happened to Greece. It's bankrupt now. The whole of Europe cannot put it back together again.

"Admittedly the BN has ruled this country ever since independence. But look at the record and compare it with other countries which gained independence at the same time.

"Compare it even with the developed West. They are in deep financial trouble and try as they might, they have not been able to overcome the crisis."

DAP draws a line against politicos in business

Terence Netto
2:20PM Jan 3, 2013

COMMENT It's been bruited about on the grapevine that the DAP has drawn a line against its elected legislators getting involved in business.

The issue came up when it was revealed in the Perak State Assembly last month that the party's state chief, Ngeh Koo Ham, and his cousin, Nga Kar Ming, have landed interests in Kelantan.

Word has it that the duo would shortly announce a move that should see them divested of their holdings in Kelantan which had qualified them to be members of the landed gentry, a dubious distinction for politicos from a party of social democratic aspirations.

The business-politics nexus is the widely acknowledged cause of Umno-BN's decline as a political power. The corruption and nepotism that this nexus has engendered has left the once powerful coalition too enfeebled to implement the reforms deemed necessary to regain its popularity among voters.

Once this nexus is forged, it's fiendishly difficult to eradicate. Unchecked, its tendrils penetrate to every corner of the polity and soon enough the conglomerate that holds power is in a freefall to disaster.

The DAP, poised with the rest of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat to take federal power in the country at the coming polls, would be loath to see this canker in the ruling coalition replicated by some among the party's Perak power brokers.

The question now arises whether the move by Ngeh and Nga in being involved in the business of plantation agriculture was due to a lapse of judgement or was the result of a mindset in which the acquisition of political power is prelude to the accumulation of wealth.

Fong Po Kuan troubled

For some years now, the DAP has been at a loss as to how to deal with the Foochow cousins who rule the roost in a state where the party has almost 200 branches and 17 state assembly representatives, figures that provide the contingent with formidable clout at both internal party elections and in state coalition politics.

Word of their overbearing nature started to spread from the time DAP's MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, intimated that she was not willing to re-contest her seat at the 12th general election in 2008.

Though she was publicly discreet about the reasons for her reluctance, speculation arose that it was due to her dismay at the machinations of Ngeh and Nga, who combine like a tag team to wrestle away any threat from quarters they view as rivals to their grip on party affairs in Perak.

The feisty Fong reconsidered her reluctance and chose to stand again but elected to remain distant from the state party affairs.

She retained her Batu Gajah seat in the 2008 general election and went on to become the DAP's most regular attendee whenever Parliament is in session.

This is a feature of no mean worth given that at one time, when the DAP-backed Pakatan Rakyat held state government reins in Perak, the party had up to nine legislators serving in state executive council positions while being federal reps which compelled a juggling of responsibilities regarded as almost impossible to bring off.

Assiduity in the execution of a single role was Fong's response to the schemes of the territorial barons in Perak.

Because Fong chose not to publicly bleat about her discontent with Ngeh and Nga, observers could only speculate about the way the cousins operate.

When the DAP state assemblyperson for Jelapang crossed the aisle in February 2009, a desertion that brought the 11-month Pakatan government of Perak to an end, she muttered about the conduct of the cousins as having prompted her to leave.

However, the word of a quisling is seldom credible and so what blame there was to be apportioned for her desertion could not be fixed on the cousins.

‘One candidate one seat' policy 

But matters were different when a short while later the party's MP for Ipoh Barat and national vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran verged on a decision to quit his posts when tensions from rivalry between state factions got to him.

It took a late night trip to Ipoh by the party's national leaders to persuade Kulasegaran (far right) to stay put.

The latter's grouse: party branches with his supporters were being deregistered while new ones, stacked with the cousins' proxies, were being opened.

The party's principal Indian leader who have worked hard to build up Indian support for a Chinese-dominated party seeking to widen its support base could not help but cry foul, particularly when the cousins enticed Indian leaders Kulasegaran had groomed to ditch him.

Against this backdrop the call sounded from national chairperson Karpal Singh for a ‘one candidate one seat' policy that he said the party should adopt to widen opportunities for DAP members to be elected to state and federal legislatures. The Perak cousins were both state assembly representatives and MPs.

Soon anti-DAP blogs began to circulate stories of the business interests of the cousins, one item being Nga wife's interest in a tailoring concern that was said to have had a contract to suit Ipoh City councillors when Pakatan was in charge of the state government.

But nothing more damaging to DAP's image as a party set against corruption and cronyism emerged than when news broke last month that Ngeh and Nga had proprietary interests in a huge estate, slated for palm oil cultivation, in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

Casual observers of parliamentary proceedings in the month of October recalled that both Ngeh and Nga held forth on the oil palm industry in Budget debates, without declaring that they had a pecuniary interest in the matter.

This gave retrospective justification to all the earlier murmurings against the cousins in Perak. The national leadership of the party knew they must act: they have chosen to give the thumbs down to any attempt by their elected representatives to mix politics with business.

In the next days, DAP's Perak cousins will have to tell of how they have trimmed their business sails to accord with the party's directive.

Musa Hassan enggan komen kisah terbaru kes pembunuhan Altantuya

Oleh Amin Iskandar
Penolong Pengarang Berita January 03, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Jan —Tan Sri Musa Hassan enggan diheret ke dalam kisah terbaru pembunuhan Altantuya Shaariibuu pada tahun 2006 berikutan penerbitan sebuah buku yang mendakwa bekas Ketua Polis Negara (KPN) mempunyai maklumat dalaman berkenaan kes itu.
Bekas KPN juga mengulangi kenyataannya sebelum ini bahawa Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak tidak terlibat dengan dengan kes letupan yang dikaitkan dengan beberapa ahli politik dari pemerintah Barsian Nasional (BN) yang timbul semula baru-baru ini menjelang pilihan raya umum ke-13.

“Saya takde apa nak komen,” kata beliau (gambar) kepada The Malaysian Insider ketika dihubungi semalam sebagai respon mengenai tuduhan beliau tahu mengenai kegiatan-kegiatan yang menyelubungi kematian penterjemah Mongolia yang diupah untuk membantu pembelian dua buah kapal selam Perancis beberapa tahun lalu dimana dua polis komando elit telah disabitkan kesalahan dan menghadapi hukuman mati.

“Saya dah kata banyak kali, Najib tidak terlibat dengan pembunuhan Altantuya. Ini kerja (Abdul) Razak Baginda,” katanya merujuk kepada bekas penasihat politik Najib yang mempunyai hubungan dengan Altantuya.

“Saya pernah brief (beri taklimat) Pak Lah bahawa Najib tidak terlibat dalam kes ini,” katanya merujuk kepada perdana menteri pada ketika itu Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Sebuah buku 26 halaman bertajuk “Black Rose - Black Rose 1.0” menerangkan tentang kes politik berprofil tinggi melibatkan personaliti kerajaan dan ahli perniagaan yang kononnya terlibat dalam konspirasi pembunuhan Altantuya beredar dalam talian sejak beberapa hari lepas.

Peniaga permaidani Deepak Jaikishan yang berada di tengah-tengah kontroversi sekitar akuan bersumpah bercanggah P. Balasubramaniam mengenai kes itu, semalam mengaku merupakan penulis buku tersebut. Beliau juga telah berkata beliau akan mengeluarkan sekuel selepas ini.

Balasubramaniam, bekas polis bertukar penyiasat peribadi, pada masa itu diupah oleh Abdul Razak Baginda untuk memerhatikan Altantuya dilihat menjadi saksi utama kepada seluruh saga.

Deepak baru-baru ini mendedahkan penglibatan beliau dalam mendapatkan Balasubramaniam untuk membuat akuan bersumpah (SD) kedua, mengubah kenyataan awal yang mengaitkan Najib dengan pembunuhan Altantuya.

Majlis Peguam awal minggu ini dikritik kerana melengah-lengahkan waktu untuk mendedahkan identiti peguam di belakang kontroversi akuan bersumpah kedua P Balasubramaniam.

Peguam Americk Singh Sidhu yang mewakili bekas penyiasat persendirian itu memberitahu The Malaysian Insider, Majlis Peguam harus mempercepatkan siasatan kes berprofil tinggi itu yang sebelum ini dikaitkan dengan pegawai tertinggi kerajaan, muncul semula menjelang pilihan raya umum ke 13 yang akan berlangsung tidak lama lagi.

Majlis Peguam berkata ia sedang menyiasat kemungkinan salah laku dalam penggubalan SD kedua Balasubramaniam, yang bercanggah dengan kenyataan beliau sebelum ini yang dibuat sehari sebelumnya berkenaan dengan penterjemah Mongolia.

Misteri menyelubungi ke atas identiti peguam yang menyediakan SD kedua Balasubramaniam, bertarikh sehari selepas SD pertama beliau pada 3 Julai 2008, mengenai kes pembunuhan Altantuya.

Bulan lalu Musa menuduh menteri Kabinet dan ahli politik termasuk Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein sering cuba campur tangan dalam tugasan polis.

Indian Nation in Malaysia needs to get its politics and relationships right

If Indians in the collective vote for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the opposition alliance, and hypothetically Barisan Nasional (BN) still manages to form the Federal Government, the community is not likely to see any change in its fate. If anything, they are likely to continue as scapegoats and be further victimized by the powers that be and those in the corridors of power and brutalized by the racist police. If Indians being wholly with the BN from 1957 to 2008 did not prevent their decline in the country, just think what will happen when the community is on the wrong side of the political fence?

Joe Fernandez

As the festive cheers end the year and a new one begins, the Indian Nation in Malaysia – a Nation without Territory within a Nation -- needs to think really long and hard about what the forthcoming 13th General Election means for them.

Their past has caught up with them in the present to haunt their future. The 13th GE, more than the 12th GE, will be a watershed year for them in dealing with the politics of the nation.

This is a time for Christmas wishes and making New Year Resolutions.

If there’s going to be a complete break with the past, Indians need to consider that politics for them cannot be what it means to those communities in Malaysia which have ethnic seats for the taking in Parliament and the state assemblies.

Indians are the only community in Malaysia which doesn't have even one ethnic seat in Parliament or the state assemblies despite having a million voters on the electoral rolls and forming eight per cent of the 28 million population. Their marginalisation and disenfranchisement under the Umno regime over half a century has been complete. This is a grave human rights issue.

The 8 per cent excludes at least 300,000 stateless and undocumented ethnic Indians in the country.

 Mohd Khir Toyo exposed the problem of stateless, undocumented children

To his credit, it was former Selangor Menteri Besar Mohd Khir Toyo who first conceded on the Government side the fact that there were 50,000 stateless Indian children in his state alone. Khir, the son of Javanese immigrants, was sore with Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) leaders on other issues and decided to take them down a peg or two with the stateless issue.

The absence of ethnic seats for the Indians means that engaging in party politics and coalition politics will not help resolve their myriad socio-economic problems. This concept must be something to borne in mind by Indians who are now with political parties on both sides of the divide. While no one can force these members to leave their respective organisations, it would be the right thing to do if the Indian community is not to be further victimized in the aftermath of the 13th GE and other similar future outings.

If Indians in the collective vote for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the opposition alliance, and hypothetically Barisan Nasional (BN) still manages to form the Federal Government, the community is not likely to see any change in its fate. If anything, they are likely to continue as scapegoats and be further victimized by the powers that be and those in the corridors of power and brutalized by the racist police. If Indians being wholly with the BN from 1957 to 2008 did not prevent their decline in the country, just think what will happen when the community is on the wrong side of the political fence?

Indians caught between the known devil and the unknown angel

What can be said about BN can also be said about PR i.e. if the Indians root for BN, and PR comes in to form the Federal Government. PR, under the circumstances, will not have even moral obligations to the Indian Nation in Malaysia.

One has to only look at the fate of the minorities in the MiddleEast and West Asia in the wake of the long civil war in Lebanon, US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the eruption of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. The Christian minorities here are on the run everywhere, victimized and persecuted by a newly-united majority community for having thrown in their lot for long with the “divide-and-rule” fallen regimes rather than taking a strictly neutral or apolitical stand.

The US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Europe have opened their doors to them but not everyone has been able to escape the refugee camps or being reduced to the status of internally displaced persons.

It’s high time that Indians in Malaysia look at the tragic fate of the Christian minorities in MiddleEast and West Asia and decide whether this is what they want for themselves as well.

The right way forward would be for Indian voters to come out and vote in full force on a non-political, non-party basis.

Those incumbents who have been in a seat for three terms or more should be voted out.

Other incumbents who have not performed and/or otherwise done nothing for the Indian community should also be voted out.

This message needs to get out again and again until the Indian community sees the wisdom of it.

 Indians should not vote for Indians to be in the legislature

Thirdly, Indian should not vote for Indians to be in the legislature. Such Indians would be unable to do anything for the community and having them merely glosses over the problem and paints the impressions that the government is being shared fairly among all Malaysians. This is the proverbial fig leaf. Such Indian legislators become convenient scapegoats i.e. to be blamed by the non-Indian legislators when the Indian community complains about anything.

However, Indians not voting for Indians is unlikely to prevent non-Indian voters rooting for Indian legislators. That’s their prerogative.

No self-respecting Indian should offer himself in the GE as that would be tantamount to further misleading the community and postponing badly-need solutions.

The Government of the Day, whether from BN or PR, should consider that it would be in their interest to appoint Indians to the Senate and in the Government sector, especially statutory bodies, government companies and GLCs.

 Non-Indian legislators should take up the plight of Indian Nation in Malaysia

This would be a start for the Indian community to embark on the long and hard road towards its emergence as a force to be reckoned with in the mainstream.

Individual non-Indian legislators, fearing defeat at the hands of Indian voters, are likely to take up the community’s plight and make an attempt at resolving its myriad socio-economic problems.

The list is long.

At the macro level, the stateless and undocumented phenomenon needs to be brought to an end. At present, the Umno regime deliberately keeps the stateless and undocumented people as virtually slave labour in the twilight zone. Slavery is illegal under the Malaysian Constitution, international law and the UN Charter. The stateless don’t figure in official statistics and the phenomenon further deprives Indians of additional votes.

The Director-General of the National Registration Department (NRD) has prerogative and discretionary powers – can be determined by the Court – to resolve the stateless problem at the stroke of a pen but he refuses to do so because he’s being forced by Umno to act as if he was a hardcore card-carrying racist member of the party.

The Federal Government should appoint an apolitical ethnic Indian, a non-Muslim, as the Director-General of NRD and a non-Muslim Orang Asal – Murut, Dusun including Kadazan or urban Dusun, Dayak, and Orang Asli – as the Deputy Director-General of the NRD at least until the stateless problem in Malaysia is resolved. This is a human rights issue. Everyone has the right to an identity.

To add insult to injury, illegal immigrants and foreign labour are being allowed in to compete with Indians in jobs which they had traditionally held. The Minimum Wage Act ensures that Malaysians will be discouraged from entering the job market at the lower levels which are being kept open for illegal immigrants and foreign labour who go on to pad the electoral rolls.

 Indians can’t get even cendol licences from the local authorities

Again, at the macro level, the spectrum of administrative laws – government policies in action – burdening the Indian community in particular, should be done away. These policies are unconstitutional and therefore unlawful.

An example is the fact that Indians can’t get even cendol licences from local authorities, such licences being reserved solely for members of the Malay-speaking communities -- Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, and Indian Muslims – who are Muslim.

Another government policy which targets Indians is that which derecognizes foreign universities with a sizeable number of Malaysian Indian students. This is a policy put in place by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad whose people came from Kerala state in southwest India. The Hindu-Muslim rivalry and animosity in the Indian sub-continent has come to haunt Malaysia.

Administrative laws also facilitate the ruling elite to plunder the Public Treasury from behind the racism (feelings of inferiority in this case), prejudice (being against something for no rhyme or reason) and opportunism (sapu bersih all opportunities) of the Umno regime. Just consider the US$ 44 billion wealth allegedly amassed by Mahathir during his 22 years in the Prime Minister’s post. This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

The Syariah Court cannot be used against non-Muslims and conversions of non-Muslims should be ended. The stateless, for example, should not be forced to convert to Islam to get personal Malaysian documents.

At the micro-level, there are 1001 issues as raised by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi and other Indian NGOs. Hopefully, Hindraf will remain apolitical and not degenerate and end up as another MIC.