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Hindraf - a new force is born Baradan Kuppusamy Nov 23, 07 2:56pm

Sunday's saffron rally by ethnic Tamils, mostly Hindus, could be a watershed event in the short 150-year history of Indians in Malaysia.

For the first time, religion, that is Hinduism, is the rallying cry, not ethnicity or class.

For the first time too, the organisers, the aptly named Hindu Rights Action Force or Hindraf, are challenging the Ketuanan Melayu (Malay hegemony) of Umno and condemning the unbridled anger shown towards Hindus and their cherished temples by local authorities, which they see as extensions of Umno.

The authorities are showing the big stick to cow Hindraf and Hindus from massing outside the British High Commission ostensibly to urge Queen Elizabeth II to intervene to end discrimination against Indians.

Ironically they want her help to win a case filed against her own government seeking trillions of pounds, more then the combined value of listed stocks in the London Stock Exchange!

But the real intention seems to be to embarrass the Malaysian government into ending its discriminations against Indians and to treat them fairly and humanely and share with them some of the resources which Indians have also laboured to achieve.

Losing their fear

I interviewed P Uthayakumar, the main force behind Hindraf, yesterday for nearly three hours and he listed a litany of woes the community faces - poverty, lack of scholarships, losing jobs to foreigners, discrimination and destruction of temples, just to name a few.

“Being poor and powerless and at the bottom of society we are the natural victims of Ketuanan Melayu,” he said. “We have had enough of it.”

Uthayakumar, for whom moderation seems anathema, is bristling with anger and is prepared to face any eventuality after Sunday.

(Uthayakumar was arrested under the Sedition Act this morning)

“I am myself surprised by the huge groundswell among poor Indians to fight for their rights. A few months ago hardly a dozen will stand by us but now thousands turning up for our rallies,” he said.

“They are losing their fear,” he said. “It is their weakness that everybody has exploited. Now they are breaking their shackles.”

My own observation in recent months confirms the trend among poor, discriminated Indians to speak out, to show their anger in a spontaneous manner.

Where did this anger originate from? It could have been sparked by the ill mannered way the body of Everest climber M Moorthy, a hero the marginalised Indians claimed as their own, was snatched from his wife and buried as a Muslim in December 2005.

For many Indians that incident symbolised Ketuanan Melayu at its worst.

“It was a defining moment for us,” said Uthayakumar. “Everybody failed his wife – the politicians, the courts, and the constitution.”

Hindraf itself was born after that episode and since then has successfully tapped into real and long-standing economic grievances that are now welling up wearing the saffron attire of Hinduism.

Lack of credible leadership

Hindraf is also taking advantage of a massive vacuum of credible leadership among Indians by making outrageous claims, by confronting Umno and the local authorities, and by not fearing, even inviting arrest.

By this manner it is gradually winning over the marginalised, powerless among the community.

The powerless in society naturally and emotionally gravitate towards any power that seeks to champion their cause and Hindraf is doing just that.

That is why thousands of people attended their rallies across the country in September and October demanding an end to discrimination and a fair share of the national wealth.

The heavy police presence at the rallies only deepened the sense of anguish and heightened the urgency to make sacrifices.

Poor individuals emptied their purse at these rallies where in one place RM18,000 was collected from the audience.

MIC's failure

The failure of the “moderate, pro-Umno” leadership of S Samy Vellu and the MIC to address many of the grievances of the Indian working class has also turned them away from moderation.

In Parliament this week, Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang described MIC as “slaves of Umno” a description that is not far off the mark for the Indian poor.

The mere mention of MIC president S Samy Vellu at Hindraf rallies invited boos and jeers from the audience. It is that bad. Besides, Samy Vellu has been around since 1979…that’s simply too long for any community to put up with.

For some years MG Pandithan gave hope to the underclass. Using the Indian Progressive Front, he rallied the poor, and gave hope. Thousands rallied to his cause and voted against the Barisan Nasional in 1990 badly shaking some top Umno leaders who won by narrow majorities.

But eventually he let them down by embracing Samy Vellu again.

The Indian poor see him now as having “betrayed” their cause and his departure has added to the leadership vacuum.

The failure of the long-time MIC number two S Subramaniam, to fill the vacuum added to the leadership morose.

For many years, Subramaniam laid low adhering to a strict 'I hear nothing, see nothing, speak nothing' philosophy that has isolated him from the Indian poor, which had long and in vain looked for a rebellious streak in him and found none.

Nothing much can be said about the Indian leadership in the DAP or the PKR. They have not displayed the political acumen, the stature or the willingness to battle and suffer to win the hearts of the Tamil masses. Very few can even read or write Tamil.

They can't fill the leadership vacuum and walk a thin line sandwiched between condemning the MIC but not joining up with Hindraf, which they see as a potential threat to their careers.

Smart, sneaky strategies

Hindraf, not a political party and not even a full fledged organisation, and without proper finance, has managed to capture the hearts and minds of the marginalised among the Indian community and is trying to fill the leadership vacuum.

The only arsenal on their side seems to be a willingness to risk all to organise and fight. It is also aided by smart, even sneaky, strategies like suing Her Majesty for trillions and on Sunday rallying to ask her to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to defeat herself in her own law courts!

But then such intricacies don’t matter anymore nor can many minds grasp them.

What matters is that a new generation of oppressed and suppressed Indians, in whose view all current Indian leadership is discredited, is rising to demand its rights.

That’s why Sunday could potentially be a watershed event for Indians because thousands of aggrieved people want to turn up and show their anger.

That can only mean a new force is born. Only time can tell how it will fare.