GE13: Uthayakumar – Get rid of Indian leaders

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  Uthayakumar says he is standing in Kota Raja, not to represent Indians, but all Malaysians.

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KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Uthayakumar's theory is very simple: The Federal government and the state governments – both BN and Pakatan Rakyat – have devised a scheme where they appoint Indian mandores (foremen) to solve the issues facing Indians, and when the mandores fail, the Indians will blame the mandores and the community will end up fighting among themselves.

 

"Get rid of the mandores and the problems of the poor Indians in this country would be solved. We do not need Indian leaders in this country to solve the Indians' problems," said Uthayakumar matter-of-factly.

 

"It is in the hands of the Chinese and Malay leaders to end racism in this country. I would prefer a Chinese or Malay leader to address the Indians' issues," he said.

 

Historically, under the British rule of Malaya, the mandores were leaders of labour gangs in the rubber estates who were appointed to ensure that the Indian workers in the estates maintained work discipline.

 

Uthayakumar has not changed much in appearance or views since his arrest under the now-defunct Internal Security Act (ISA) in December 2007 and release in 2009. He is still a firebrand and does not mince his words, one reason he is not wanted by any political faction, he said.

 

"I will not be their mandore," said Uthayakumar.

 

Interestingly, although he champions the downtrodden of one race, he vouches that he is against racism and wants to eliminate racism in the country.

 

Having recently started the Hindu Rights Party, after Hindraf was co-opted by his brother Waythyamurthy and friends, Uthayakumar is now standing for the parliamentary seat of Kota Raja and for the state assembly seat of Sri Andalas. His message to the voters is to send him to the parliament as the first Hindraf representative.

 

Uthayakumar is a well-known name to most Indians in the country, as he is the one man who started the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf), which brought the first massive gathering of Indians onto the streets of the capital in recent years, asking for their rights in 2007.

 

He was arrested under the ISA for 154 days along with five other Hindraf leaders, for his part in the mammoth rally and released in 2009. It was, for all purposes, the rising of the poor Indians in the country.

 

With a look-alike effigy of him sitting in a cell-like area in his operations centre in Kota Raja, Uthayakumar is upbeat.

 

Although he felt that Waytha Moorthy's decision to sign an MoU with the caretaker government last week for the upliftment of the Indian community has somewhat affected his chances at the ballot, nevertheless, he thinks he has a chance of winning.

 

"This bilik gerakan's rental was paid for by a Chinese and my deposit for my nomination was paid by someone else and we had managed to collect RM40,000 for the campaign. 

 

"That lorry you see over there has been given to me for free, to be used until the election day. And we get all these volunteers coming in," said Uthayakumar, who is lacking in big machinery but full of spirit to outdo his giant contenders Dr Mariah Mahmud of PAS and S Murugesan of MIC, representing Barisan Nasional (BN).

 

"He has betrayed the cause of the Indians, no doubt about that. It has been a big disappointment to the 2.5 million Indians in Malaysia.

 

"Until the Hindraf rally, I was the only leader – I fired every shot. We did not have a second line – Waytha was just a speaker in our forums and the government arrested them under ISA and made them leaders.

 

"Personal interest has got the better of him and I think his ultimate (motive) is to become a BN minister. The struggle of Hindraf is not about the struggle of brotherhood," said Uthayakumar. He believed that the government's agents have infiltrated the Hindraf movement and broken it up.

 

Although he said he has not disowned his brother, Uthayakumar said his cause goes beyond his personal ties.

 

At his election operating centre, all the important statistics and photographs showing the Indian situation are enlarged and pasted on the walls.

 

There are pictures of Indians living in poverty, those evicted from rubber estates, people who died in police lock-ups and the riots of the Kampung Medan in 2001.

 

Uthayakumar said the one reason that Indians fall flat on the ground when they are poor, uneducated and unskilled is that they have no safety net of land ownership.

 

"The Malays have their kampungs, the Chinese have money to buy land but the Indians have neither," said Uthayakumar.

 

He also laments the fact that poor Indians do not have access to institutions like Giatmara or UiTM to better themselves.

 

Uthayakumar said it is high time the issues of the poor Indians in the country are addressed by the top leaders of the country.

 

"My leaders are the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and (Selangor Menteri Besar) Tan Sri Khalid (Ibrahim). My leaders are not (MIC president Datuk Seri G) Palanivel and (former MIC president Datuk Seri S) Samy Vellu, not (Selangor exco member in charge of Indian affairs Dr) Xavier Jeyakumar. These are all mere mandores of the Umno and PKR tuans," said Uthayakumar.

 

He also said all the rich Indians in the country such as billionaire T Ananda Krishna, Tony Fernandes of Air Asia and Tan Sri G Gnanalingam of Westport are mere fronts for Umno cronies and their billions do not actually mean Indians own the wealth.