‘Use microphones, not fists’

Weighing in on the infamous MyKad brawl, MIC's social and welfare bureau deputy chairman R Ramanan says that violence cannot be tolerated or condoned.

PETALING JAYA: Fissures continue to emerge in MIC over the brawl which took place outside the front gates of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Putrajaya last week.

Weighing in on the incident, party social and welfare bureau deputy chairman R Ramanan condemned the incident which left a PKR division leader with a fractured cheek bone.

He also defended MIC disciplinary committee chief KS Nijhar’s decision to probe the matter.

Calling on party leaders and members to use microphones, and not their fists, to put across their points and arguments, he said: “We are not a bunch of hooligans or thugs. What happened that day is a disgrace and MIC should not condone such acts of violence.”

“Some quarters in MIC have painted a different picture for their own personal gain, don’t fall for their antics and the misinformation disseminated,” he added.

Ramanan was referring to those who had criticised Nijhar for his stand on the incident, which involved a group of MIC Youth members.

In the fracas, Puchong PKR division leader S Murali was set upon by several MIC Youth members when the former accompanied PKR vice-president N Surendran to submit a memorandum to the PMO demanding that a 17-year-old student be issued a MyKad.

The MIC Youth members, led by their chief T Mohan, were there to thank the prime minister for issuing identity cards and birth certificates to Malaysian Indians under the MyDaftar campaign.

MIC Youth had accused Murali of hurling obscenities at them and throwing the first punch, but PKR denied this and labelled the incident as a premeditated attack.

The punch-up, according to observers, had further bruised the image of MIC, which is struggling to regain its former glory following its 2008 general election whipping.

‘This is not a fight club’

Meanwhile, Ramanan said while MIC supported its Youth wing a hundred percent, the party should not tolerate violence among its members.

“How would we feel if this had happened to one of our family members?” he asked.

Under the leadership of MIC president G Palanivel, Ramanan said, the party was moving in a different direction.

“The president is doing a very good job in trying to take MIC to greater heights. Let’s help him achieve this goal,” he added.

He also pointed out that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other top government leaders had condemned violence in the aftermath of the Bersih rally whereas the police were taking action on their personnel who had crossed the line on April 28.

He said the Cabinet had also agreed to form an independent panel to probe the transgressions during the rally and “if we are to support the stand of our top leaders, then we too must condemn violence.”

“There are laws in this country, and nobody is above them,” he said.

Ramanan stressed that the problem of stateless Malaysian Indians cannot be resolved by throwing punches at political opponents.

“We are members of a political party and not a ‘fight club’. This issue requires the presentation of proper facts and hard work.

“The community would not gain anything with Indians fighting Indians,” he said.

The stateless Indians tussle between MIC and PKR erupted when the latter claimed that there were 300,000 without identification documents, but the former dismissed this as a gross exaggeration.