NIAT defends Waytha against quit call

“And why hasn't Najib spoken up?” asks the group's chairman.

PETALING JAYA: The National Indian Action Team (NIAT) today defended Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy against criticism for his comments on last week’s police killing of five suspected criminals.

Commenting on recent statements by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, NIAT chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim said: “They have no locus standi to tell Waythamoorthy to quit his job because it is the Prime Minister’s prerogative.”

Thasleem also remarked that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had the obligation to make public his views on the issue.

“The question now is, why is Najib being silent?”

Last week, Zahid ticked off Waythamoorthy for demanding an explanation from the police for the Penang killing. He said the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was speaking like a Hindraf leader instead of a government official.

Hishammuddin was quoted by Bernama today as saying he agreed with Zahid that Waythamoorthy should resign.

“Indeed, I thoroughly agree with Ahmad Zahid,” Hishammuddin reportedly said. “What he said was 101% correct. As a member of the Cabinet, we cannot place our self-interest over our collective interest.”

Thasleem called for maturity among politicians, especially members of the Najib administration. He said they should welcome differences of opinion among themselves.

“Being in the government does not mean you cannot voice out the sentiments of the people,” he said.

Referring to killing of the five alleged guns for hire, Thasleem called it “a racially profiled shooting” and a case of “treating the symptom instead of the disease”.

He congratulated Waythamoorthy for questioning the propriety of the shooting. “It is good and I stand by him,” he said.

Two other Indian NGOs also commented on the issue today.

Blame MIC

Warga Aman urged the government to rehabilitate gangsters instead of killing them off.

“Indian criminal offenders should be given a thorough rehabilitation and the system should ensure that they lead a normal life after they have been released from prison,” said the group’s secretary-general, S Barathidasan.

“We do have a rehabilitation system in place to treat hardcore criminals, but why do we still have repeat criminal offenders?”

Tamilar Action Force (TAF) member and PKR Puchong division chief S Murali said MIC was partly to blame for gangsterism among Indian youths.

As a member of the ruling coalition, MIC had failed to address the issue, he alleged.

He said many Indian students who could not make the grade in school saw gangsterism as a way of making a living.

“Imagine a poor and jobless Indian youth being offered RM1,000 to commit a crime on someone’s behalf,” he said. “It’s big money to him. He might not think twice.”

Murali urged the police to go after the criminal syndicate bosses instead of “wiping out small fishes” in their bid to curb crime.

MIC vice president and Perak state assembly speaker SK Devamany has meanwhile urged Waythamoorthy, Zahid and Hishammuddin to talk out their differences.

“They are cabinet colleagues and their contradicting statements can create a negative perception on Najib’s administration,” he said.