MIC veteran Nijhar under fire

Following the suspension of the party's youth leader C Sivaraajh, several youth members are asking the disciplinary committee chief to step down.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of MIC youth members have urged party disciplinary committee chief KS Nijhar to step down.

Speaking at a press conference over the weekend, Puchong Perdana MIC youth head A Subash Chantirabose took the veteran leader to task for suspending the party’s national youth secretary C Sivarraajh.

According to Subash, Nijhar’s decision was “unfair and ridiculous”.

Last Monday, Sivarraajh was suspended for one year for accusing the party of breaching its constitution by re-admitting several sacked members, namely KP Samy, G Kumar Amman and V Mugilan.

The trio were the brains behind the Gerakan Anti-Samy Vellu (GAS) movement which pressured the former president to step down.

Sivarraajh also lodged a report with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in April regarding the readmission.

Subash claimed that the disciplinary committee chairman misled the CWC committee by sacking the youth secretary.

“Nijhar who has been the disciplinary committee chairman since 2009 once sacked the trio after GAS worked against the former president, then the same man again said that the decision to expel them was invalid.

“This is clear-cut that Nijhar misled the CWC members,” he added.

Over the years, Nijhar held various positions in MIC, including that of vice-president. He was also the MP for Subang and a GLC director.

Apart from the disciplinary committee, Nijhar also heads the party’s economic bureau and coordinating team.

In view of this, the MIC youth group urged him to quit in order to allow younger members to assume the posts.

Palanivel should seek fresh mandate

Meanwhile, Subash said the youth were saddened by Sivarraajh’s suspension.

“He was not acting against the party but only sought to clarify Article 61.5 in the MIC constitution which states that a sacked party member can only be readmitted after two years,” he added.

“The youth wing still loves Barisan Nasional and MIC but at the same time we will not hesitate to point out unfairness,” he said, adding that he too might be suspensed after this press conference.

“No matter what, justice must prevail,” he stressed, urging the party leadership to immediately revoke Sivarraajh’s suspension.

Another youth leader noted that the suspension came at the wrong time since the general election was around the corner.

He also pointed out that BN youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had also expressed concern over the matter.

Kampung Meru MIC deputy leader G Kalaiselvan challenged MIC president G Palanivel to seek a fresh mandate.

“The recent suspension shows the real face of Palanivel. He intends to ‘sweep out’ members who are not in his team,” he said, adding that the president could have used his powers to block the suspension.

Kalaiselvan, who is popularly known as “Alaram Kalai”, also challenged Nijhar to an open debate on the MIC constitution.

During the press conference, MIC Youth chief T Mohan was also criticised for keeping mum on Sivarraajh’s suspension.

Contacted later, Mohan said the press conference had nothing to do with the youth leadership but promised to raise Sivarraajh’s suspension during the next CWC meeting.