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UPDATED VERSION.This is a snippet of how our Parliamentarians -- elected by the people, from the people and for the people -- reacted to the chronic issues of the marginalised Indian community triggered by the Hindraf Rally.

For the Indian legislators in Barisan Nasional, one appears to have heightened Double-Speak of Real-politik.

In less than 24 hours, MIC MP for Cameron Highlands, S.K. Devamany, made a Bollywood U-turn from his pontificating-the-BN over Al-Jazeera to admitting in the Parliament, arguing that the rally had proved the failure of government policies which do not benefit the Indians.

UPDATES: Speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said Devamany is scheduled to meet BN party whip, DPM Najib Abdul Razak, on Thursday, for breaking ranks from the government over the rally.

S.K. Devamany (MIC) BEFORE:

S.K. Devamany (MIC) AFTER:

I was thinking aloud, instead of skirting the real issues -- and continuing to treat marginalised Indians as purely an Indian issue and not a Malaysian issue -- can we have some concrete ideas to solve a 50-year-old malaise?

Over the last three weeks after the BERSIH and Hindraf Rallies, I have been wondering if the Police have the options of democratic means and approaches in handling mass congregation in public places?

Instead of setting up roadblocks that inconvenienced the public outside rally locations, and launching vehicle-checks by picking on certain race, the Police could

1 ) Issue the police permit in the name/s of the organisers of the rallies solely responsible for the consequences;

2 ) Limit the number of rally participants allowed and agreeable to the rally organisers;

3 ) Close some roads and gather the rally participants in a vicinity close to the destination of the recipient of the petitions -- the Istana Negara for BERSIH Rally, and the British High Commission for the Hindraf Rally -- while the rally leaders are given time to deliver the petitions

4 ) Allow the rally leaders to speak for 30 minutes after they return to update on the delivery of petition, and allow the crowd to disperse peacefully afterwards

As a precaution, I would also suggest that steps must be taken by the Police and the rally organisers to be vigilant against planted moles and agent provocateurs who would infiltrate the crowd to cause trouble and disorder -- we have seen this during 1999 Reformasi and the 2007 Batu Buruk Incident.

More importantly, the Police must be independent in carrying out their duties and take no orders from the Giovernment. The Police survived on salaries paid for by taxpayers' money, they should protect the people who feed them.

If we professed to be practising democracy, then we should be consistent in democratic practices. You can't allow the Son-in-Law one set of law (July 2006), and the marginalised Indians another (November 2007). That is double standard and fundamentally undemocratic. I have raised this live on Al-Jazeera, and Malik Imtiaz has raised it in his blog. You can't say you don't hear us when the whole world knew about it.

Mass civil disobedience

As an advocate of Bangsa Malaysia, I categorically can't agree with the way Hindraf leaders pursue their cause along racial lines. Hence, I couldn't walk with Hindraf leaders but only to chronicle and blog about it using the power of photographs and images.

However, we need to lend the voiceless a voice.

It was the sheer determination of the individual participants of the Hindraf Rally, dominantly our Indian brothers and sisters, in the face of Police high-handedness, that moved me greatly. They vividly tell us that their plights need urgent attention. You simply can't brush them off by saying there are also poor in other communities while the Ministers rob away the APs and squander public funds.

In Hindraf Rally, very rarely do Malaysians see such defiance.

As Malaysiakini has recapped, despite repeated warnings and a court order which allowed the police to 'arrest on sight', they came out in the thousands on Nov 25 into the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

It was, in part, a protest inspired by Indian independence activist and pacifist, Mahatma Gandhi. Quote:

Like Gandhi, the Hindraf supporters were out to show mass civil disobedience and it was prominently shown by a crowd of almost 5,000 near the Hotel Maya at Jalan Ampang.

For at least five times, the crowd would run helter-skelter at each ‘water canon charge’, only to defiantly claim back their original positions, chanting “We want justice!” in both Tamil and English.

When Malaysians took it to the streets juxtaposed against the National Palace or the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, it no longer has forbearance on one to be marginalised or being impoverished.

It's only redeeming the dignity of each individuals who make up this country.