‘Nothing offensive in Salahuddin’s comment’

Why is MIC picking on PAS vice-president's statement on Hindus when it ignored Umno maligning Indians, calling them 'pariah and pendatang'?

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MPs and NGO members today said that they were not offended by PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub’s comments linking Thaipusam to a street protest.

In fact, they said that since they found nothing offensive with Salahuddin’s statement, they have decided to ecxpress their support for him.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament today, Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy said: “I am a Hindu. If his [Salahuddin's] comments were insulting, I would have voiced my discontent but there was nothing in his comments which were insulting to the Hindus.”

“The people who have made an issue out of this did not understand the context in which it was said.”

Last week, Salahuddin found himself in hot water when Hulu Selangor MP and MIC member, P Kamalanathan, took the former to task over his comments on Tuesday during a debate entitled “Street demonstrations: Does it build or destroy democracy?” organised by Malay daily, Sinar Harian.

Salahuddin reportedly said that thousands of Hindus gathered during Thaipusam peacefully without the intervention of the authorities.

The Kubang Kerian MP was also alleged to have said that some Hindus carrying kavadi were semi-conscious and yet they did not need tear gas to keep the situation calm.

Last Friday, Salahuddin told FMT that he merely mentioned Thaipusam as an example to show that Malaysians are capable of organising themselves in large numbers peacefully.

He said that he was merely making a point regarding Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and added that it was not his intention to insult any religion.

Ramasamy, who sits on the Penang Hindu Endowment Board, today also took MIC to task claiming that the party was making mountains out of molehills.

He questioned why MIC was silent when its coalition partner Umno had referred to Indians in more derogatory terms.

“Umno has called Indians pariah and pendatang; why hasn’t MIC spoken out against this?” he asked, adding that MIC had “no more political leverage” and “should focus on larger issues” .

Also present today were Teluk Intan MP, M Manogaran, and WargaAman’s S Barathidasan