MIC: Pahang exco post for Indians possible

MIC state chief M Davendran says Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob is a problem, and wants the prime minister to intervene.

KUALA LUMPUR: There is a possibility for an Indian to be appointed in the Pahang executive council under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, said state MIC chief M Davendran.

He said appointing an Indian to the state exco was no more a state issue but a national concern as it would convince Indians in other states that Barisan Nasional was indeed concerned about the plight of the community.

“The MIC president (G Palanivel) has raised this matter in various place. We have had numerous meetings with the BN top leadership on the matter.

“We hope under the 1Malaysia concept Najib would direct Menteri Besar (Adnan Yaakob) to appoint an Indian exco for the betterment of the community in Pahang,” he told FMT.

Davendran said the menteri besar was reluctant to allocate funds for temples in the state and this matter had been raised on numerous occasions.

A few months ago, at the Pahang MIC convention, Davendran had told delegates that the MB was hesitant to allocate funds for Hindu temples because “it was against his (Adnan’s) religion.”

The MIC state chief was also quick to point out that the federal government was doing well in helping the Indian community in the state.

“It is true that MIC is having a tough time with the state leadership, but the prime minister and Pahang being his home state had done extremely well for the community,” he added.

DAP: Exco seat if Pakatan wins

Last week, Pahang DAP deputy chief J Appalasamy was reported to have said that an Indian would be appointed exco member if Pakatan Rakyat won the state in the next general election.

He also said that BN had discriminated against the community by denying Indians a seat in the state exco.

Almost all states in the peninsula have an Indian representative in the state exco.

The only states which do not are Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu, which have less than two percent Indians in total.

Although Indians constitute five percent of Pahang’s total population, they still have been denied this privilage.

A MIC division leader, who did not want to be named, admitted that the Indian community in the state were “fed-up” with the Umno-led state leadership.

He said in 2009, Adnan had appointed Davendran, who is also the Sabai state assemblyman, as his special officer to cater for the Indian community in Pahang.

However, the division leader said things turned bad when Adnan refused to listen to suggestions and requests made by Davendran regarding the community’s woes.

He said MIC was overlooked when the state exco was enlarged in 1995 from eight to 10 members.

“At that time they gave eight exco seats to Umno and two to MCA. I still remember the reason for not granting an exco post to the sole Indian elected representative then. They said that the then state assemblyman did not know how to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia,” he told FMT.

He said the possibility of Indians in Pahang crossing over to Pakatan at the next election was high because of this issue.