Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy today urged Pakatan Rakyat to be introspective of the apparent shift of Indian support back to BN despite them initially abandoning the ruling coalition in droves during the last general election.
"Immediately after the first Hindraf rally in 2007 and just before the general election, I personally asked the people to vote for the opposition and there was an en bloc vote towards the opposition.
"But from what I read in the media and from what I am told, 50 percent of Indian votes have gone back to the government.
“If that has happened, then Pakatan governments and leaders have to sincerely touch their hearts and ask themselves what made the Indian votes sway back to BN," he said when approached by the media in Shah Alam today.
This, he added, was despite Hindraf's effort in breaking the then unchallenged grip of BN on the Indian votes in 2008.
"For 50 years, the Indian votes were considered as fixed deposit in BN and hey took pride in saying that. We did the hard job (of breaking the fixed deposit) and today if the people are going back (to BN) there must be a reason.
"So it is time for Pakatan leaders to ask those relevant and pertinent questions and find solutions. We are willing to work with them," he said.
"Immediately after the first Hindraf rally in 2007 and just before the general election, I personally asked the people to vote for the opposition and there was an en bloc vote towards the opposition.
"But from what I read in the media and from what I am told, 50 percent of Indian votes have gone back to the government. “If that has happened, then Pakatan governments and leaders have to sincerely touch their hearts and ask themselves what made the Indian votes sway back to BN," he said when approached by the media in Shah Alam today.
This, he added, was despite Hindraf's effort in breaking the then unchallenged grip of BN on the Indian votes in 2008.
"For 50 years, the Indian votes were considered as fixed deposit in BN and hey took pride in saying that. We did the hard job (of breaking the fixed deposit) and today if the people are going back (to BN) there must be a reason.
"So it is time for Pakatan leaders to ask those relevant and pertinent questions and find solutions. We are willing to work with them," he said.
To engage both BN and Pakatan
However, Waythamoorthy said it was not his duty to "control people's mind" on who they vote and stressed that his priority was in resolving the problems of 1.5 million Indians who are poor.
Waythamoorthy had spent his four-years in self-exile bringing the Malaysian Indian plight to various parliaments and international bodies overseas and had also been working on a suit against the British government.
Hindraf is accusing the British government of failing to protect the rights of Indians after bringing them to then Malaya as indentured labourers.
The Hindraf chief had fled the country after the government initiated a crackdown against the movement which organised a massive protest in the streets of Kuala Lumpur in highlight the Indian plight in 2007.
Waythamoorthy who returned to Malaysia on Aug 1, said Hindraf will begin its new phase in which it would engage both BN and Pakatan governments in trying to resolve the problems of the Indian poor and will write to all state governments in peninsula Malaysia as well as the federal government.
"We want to talk to the governments in charge and find ways to resolve the problems and when they solve the problem of the poor and underclass, the votes are there for them. My responsibility is towards the community," he said.
Waythamoorthy had spent his four-years in self-exile bringing the Malaysian Indian plight to various parliaments and international bodies overseas and had also been working on a suit against the British government.
Hindraf is accusing the British government of failing to protect the rights of Indians after bringing them to then Malaya as indentured labourers.
The Hindraf chief had fled the country after the government initiated a crackdown against the movement which organised a massive protest in the streets of Kuala Lumpur in highlight the Indian plight in 2007.
Waythamoorthy who returned to Malaysia on Aug 1, said Hindraf will begin its new phase in which it would engage both BN and Pakatan governments in trying to resolve the problems of the Indian poor and will write to all state governments in peninsula Malaysia as well as the federal government.
"We want to talk to the governments in charge and find ways to resolve the problems and when they solve the problem of the poor and underclass, the votes are there for them. My responsibility is towards the community," he said.
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