Hindu Rights Action Force or Hindraf has warned the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat, that it risks losing up to 25 seats in Parliament alone if it does not play ball and endorse its blueprint to uplift the status of the underclass and marginalised Indian Malaysians.
It is unlikely that Pakatan will accept this "Five-Year Blueprint to bring the Indian poor and marginalised into the mainstream of national development", since that would mean openly admitting that Indians don't figure, particularly, as alleged by Hindraf, in the Pakatan Buku Jingga.
That figure of 25 parliamentary seats, assuming no further losses elsewhere, would appear to put the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) within easy reach of regaining the coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament that it lost in 2008.
Hindraf's warning, if true, indicates that Umno, if not MIC and BN, have had some measure of success in wooing back a great number of the Indians who dumped the ruling coalition the last time, after remaining with it through thick and thin, like gluttons for punishment, for half a century.
If so, Indians may have decided to give BN "one last chance", not that this cliché is a great idea.
It could also mean that Hindraf will make a song-and-dance act of Pakatan not signing its blueprint on the dotted line. That may cost the opposition dearly among the Indian underclass - including relatives of the 350,000 stateless people - who make up the core of the movement's diehard supporters.
It is not known whether Hindraf has asked, or will be asking, BN to sign its blueprint. BN is in the same position as Pakatan on the blueprint.
It's more likely that Indians, notwithstanding the Hindraf blueprint, are generally no longer as upset with the BN as they were during the 2008 general election when a ‘makkal sakthi' - people power - wave unleashed a political tsunami that ushered in a shell-shocked opposition into power in five states and in Kuala Lumpur.
It was a question of the people voting against the BN, MIC in particular, rather than voting for Pakatan. This is the default theory at work.
However, even if Indians have decided to forgive the BN, if not forget, it's difficult to believe that all is lovey-dovey between them and the MIC.
An old English nursery rhyme puts it in a nutshell: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.
MIC, for all practical purposes, is comatose and Indian Malaysians may want to bury it once and for all to prevent it from squatting on them for another half century. So, it will be interesting if the Indian community votes for BN, except for MIC.
There's a nice little niche here for Hindraf to fill by taking on MIC candidates, if any are fielded by BN, and allow the Indians a mini referendum of sorts. The emphasis could solely be on Indian votes.
MIC, like MCA, was created by the British to protect the ruling Malay nationalist elite from themselves - the policy advocated by Frank Swettenham - and thereby ensure that the vested interests are left untouched by "mob rule". The vested Indian and Chinese interests were prepared in return to squat on their people in serving the ruling elite.
At the end of the day, politics is a numbers game
It cannot be denied that minority communities like the Indians traditionally stay with the government of the day and only shift their political allegiance if the opposition, by some miracle, can dethrone the ruling party.
This is akin to tying someone's hands and legs and asking that person to perform the impossible. In that sense, the 2008 general election can be said to be an aberration created by a combination of freak circumstances and poor leadership on the part of then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Of course, there's the little matter of the opposition finally getting its act together and taking on the ruling coalition, one to one.
Ultimately, this factor, more than anything else, may have won the day for Pakatan, with ‘makkal sakthi' delivering the coup de grace.
It cannot be denied that politics is all in the numbers at the end of the day.
So far, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has played the extraordinary role of being the glue that keeps the Pakatan coalition members together in the peninsula and Sarawak, while Sabah, being more nationalistic, remains as elusive as ever.
Anwar may not want Hindraf, welcome as its overtures are, to upset the opposition arrangement at this juncture. The focus remains on Putrajaya for now, with or without the Indians and Sabah in tow.
If only one could wave a magical wand over Indians, neither Hindraf nor MIC, or Pakatan and BN, would figure in their political equations.
Indians can in fact afford to ignore party and coalition politics, a luxury that no community enjoys in Malaysia, since they don't have even one ethnic majority seat in Parliament, or in any state legislature in the peninsula.
If it can be said that this removes the ethnic element from their politics, it can also be said to be a good development in a way, for the country in general and the community in particular. Indians can lead the country towards non-ethnic politics.
Strategic mistake if Indians to root for party politics
Hypothetically, if the community had any ethnic seats, the number may not have reached beyond 15 seats in Parliament, a position that would only benefit the community if it remains a united block, by no means an easy task to accomplish.
However, in the current Parliament, Indians decide in 67 seats in Peninsular Malaysia, a much better position in the numbers game. Hindraf please take note!
It's a strategic mistake for the Indians to allow their politics to be led by Hindraf or MIC to root for Pakatan and BN respectively. Their motto should be: "No party politics please! We are Indians."
Hindraf, incidentally, had long dismissed Indian legislators across both sides of the divide as political mandores and surely this position must now come back to haunt them. But that's another story. Let's not go there.
Instead, Indians can focus on the candidates offering themselves to the electorate. Their position on the Hindraf blueprint and the proposed Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama) should be noted.
If a candidate has failed to perform, he or she should be voted out, irrespective of the political affiliation.
There's no better way for Indian voters to demand service from their legislators. There's no better way for Indians to end marginalisation and disenfranchisement. There's no better way to end persecution and police brutality.
Non-Indian legislators must be persuaded that it's politically expedient to speak up on behalf of Indians rather than pass the problems to their mandores.
Hindraf list will help Indians make the choice
Also, candidates who have been in the same seat for two terms or more should be pushed out by the voters to make way for others, to give the new faces an opportunity to serve the people.
Hindraf, having access to the latest intelligence on the ground, can help Indians make up their minds by publicly endorsing a list of candidates from both sides of the political divide.
So far, what's known is that Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy will take on MIC president G Palanivel wherever the latter stands.
His elder brother, Hindraf' legal adviser and co-founder P Uthayakumar, has confirmed in a text message that he will offer himself in the Kota Raja parliamentary seat and the Sri Andalas state seat, both constituencies in Selangor.
If left to themselves, Indians are likely to be divided as ever, leaning in the direction of Pakatan in Perak, Kuala Lumpur and the four states ruled by them. In other states, Indians are likely to root more for BN. That is unlikely to bring them any good as both coalitions can afford to take the Indians for granted.
It is unlikely that Pakatan will accept this "Five-Year Blueprint to bring the Indian poor and marginalised into the mainstream of national development", since that would mean openly admitting that Indians don't figure, particularly, as alleged by Hindraf, in the Pakatan Buku Jingga.
That figure of 25 parliamentary seats, assuming no further losses elsewhere, would appear to put the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) within easy reach of regaining the coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament that it lost in 2008.
Hindraf's warning, if true, indicates that Umno, if not MIC and BN, have had some measure of success in wooing back a great number of the Indians who dumped the ruling coalition the last time, after remaining with it through thick and thin, like gluttons for punishment, for half a century. If so, Indians may have decided to give BN "one last chance", not that this cliché is a great idea.
It could also mean that Hindraf will make a song-and-dance act of Pakatan not signing its blueprint on the dotted line. That may cost the opposition dearly among the Indian underclass - including relatives of the 350,000 stateless people - who make up the core of the movement's diehard supporters.
It is not known whether Hindraf has asked, or will be asking, BN to sign its blueprint. BN is in the same position as Pakatan on the blueprint.
It's more likely that Indians, notwithstanding the Hindraf blueprint, are generally no longer as upset with the BN as they were during the 2008 general election when a ‘makkal sakthi' - people power - wave unleashed a political tsunami that ushered in a shell-shocked opposition into power in five states and in Kuala Lumpur.
It was a question of the people voting against the BN, MIC in particular, rather than voting for Pakatan. This is the default theory at work.
However, even if Indians have decided to forgive the BN, if not forget, it's difficult to believe that all is lovey-dovey between them and the MIC.
An old English nursery rhyme puts it in a nutshell: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.
MIC, for all practical purposes, is comatose and Indian Malaysians may want to bury it once and for all to prevent it from squatting on them for another half century. So, it will be interesting if the Indian community votes for BN, except for MIC.There's a nice little niche here for Hindraf to fill by taking on MIC candidates, if any are fielded by BN, and allow the Indians a mini referendum of sorts. The emphasis could solely be on Indian votes.
MIC, like MCA, was created by the British to protect the ruling Malay nationalist elite from themselves - the policy advocated by Frank Swettenham - and thereby ensure that the vested interests are left untouched by "mob rule". The vested Indian and Chinese interests were prepared in return to squat on their people in serving the ruling elite.
At the end of the day, politics is a numbers game
It cannot be denied that minority communities like the Indians traditionally stay with the government of the day and only shift their political allegiance if the opposition, by some miracle, can dethrone the ruling party.
This is akin to tying someone's hands and legs and asking that person to perform the impossible. In that sense, the 2008 general election can be said to be an aberration created by a combination of freak circumstances and poor leadership on the part of then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Of course, there's the little matter of the opposition finally getting its act together and taking on the ruling coalition, one to one.
Ultimately, this factor, more than anything else, may have won the day for Pakatan, with ‘makkal sakthi' delivering the coup de grace.
It cannot be denied that politics is all in the numbers at the end of the day.
So far, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has played the extraordinary role of being the glue that keeps the Pakatan coalition members together in the peninsula and Sarawak, while Sabah, being more nationalistic, remains as elusive as ever. Anwar may not want Hindraf, welcome as its overtures are, to upset the opposition arrangement at this juncture. The focus remains on Putrajaya for now, with or without the Indians and Sabah in tow.
If only one could wave a magical wand over Indians, neither Hindraf nor MIC, or Pakatan and BN, would figure in their political equations.
Indians can in fact afford to ignore party and coalition politics, a luxury that no community enjoys in Malaysia, since they don't have even one ethnic majority seat in Parliament, or in any state legislature in the peninsula.
If it can be said that this removes the ethnic element from their politics, it can also be said to be a good development in a way, for the country in general and the community in particular. Indians can lead the country towards non-ethnic politics.
Strategic mistake if Indians to root for party politics
Hypothetically, if the community had any ethnic seats, the number may not have reached beyond 15 seats in Parliament, a position that would only benefit the community if it remains a united block, by no means an easy task to accomplish.
However, in the current Parliament, Indians decide in 67 seats in Peninsular Malaysia, a much better position in the numbers game. Hindraf please take note!
It's a strategic mistake for the Indians to allow their politics to be led by Hindraf or MIC to root for Pakatan and BN respectively. Their motto should be: "No party politics please! We are Indians."
Hindraf, incidentally, had long dismissed Indian legislators across both sides of the divide as political mandores and surely this position must now come back to haunt them. But that's another story. Let's not go there.
Instead, Indians can focus on the candidates offering themselves to the electorate. Their position on the Hindraf blueprint and the proposed Ministry of Orang Asal and Minority Affairs (Moama) should be noted.
If a candidate has failed to perform, he or she should be voted out, irrespective of the political affiliation.
There's no better way for Indian voters to demand service from their legislators. There's no better way for Indians to end marginalisation and disenfranchisement. There's no better way to end persecution and police brutality.
Non-Indian legislators must be persuaded that it's politically expedient to speak up on behalf of Indians rather than pass the problems to their mandores.
Hindraf list will help Indians make the choice
Also, candidates who have been in the same seat for two terms or more should be pushed out by the voters to make way for others, to give the new faces an opportunity to serve the people.
Hindraf, having access to the latest intelligence on the ground, can help Indians make up their minds by publicly endorsing a list of candidates from both sides of the political divide.
So far, what's known is that Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy will take on MIC president G Palanivel wherever the latter stands.
His elder brother, Hindraf' legal adviser and co-founder P Uthayakumar, has confirmed in a text message that he will offer himself in the Kota Raja parliamentary seat and the Sri Andalas state seat, both constituencies in Selangor.
If left to themselves, Indians are likely to be divided as ever, leaning in the direction of Pakatan in Perak, Kuala Lumpur and the four states ruled by them. In other states, Indians are likely to root more for BN. That is unlikely to bring them any good as both coalitions can afford to take the Indians for granted.
JOE FERNANDEZ is a freelance journalist, among others, who shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, and northern Sarawak.
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