MAHATHIR MAY HAVE NEGLECTED THE INDIANS BUT HE WASN’T COMPLICIT IN SAMY VELLU & CO’S FINANCIAL SHENANIGANS – KULA

Highlights

• Kula says Mahathir admits oversight in MIC scandals, but wasn’t complicit.
• Believes “something will happen soon” in search for Indira Gandhi’s daughter
• Assures new government will not fail to end unilateral conversions
  

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Over the decades, MIC leaders have been accused of crimes which ranged from plunder to murder and its detractors accused the BN government of protecting the alleged wrongdoers.

However, the Pakatan Harapan government has vowed that these allegations would be reinvestigated.

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran said he would raise the matter in the cabinet if the authorities do not act.

Apart from MIC, the DAP lawmaker said allegations of mismanagement and corruption in Hindu temples would also be looked into.

“Murder, un-accountability, cheating, lying… wrongly managed temples, money siphoned out… all this will be made answerable.

“I’m sure the necessary departments, MACC, the attorney-general’s chambers, police, will look into it and take action.

“After a certain time, if that doesn’t take place, we will bring the matter to cabinet for appropriate action,” he added.

Kulasegaran said this when asked to respond to various allegations of wrongdoings involving MIC leaders that were raised during a town hall session in Petaling Jaya earlier this month.

The DAP minister said that some of these cases would be looked into without any prompting, but stressed that the law should take its course.

Mahathir admitted oversight

Asked about how some of the scandals involving MIC, such as Maika Holdings, had escaped scrutiny during his boss Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s previous run as head of government, Kulasegaran said the latter had admitted that there had been an oversight.

“He has said that he left it entirely to (former MIC president) S Samy Vellu, and he didn’t want to dwell on that matter.

“Now he realises, he admits that there was oversight at the time. We will see what we can do to dig up these (past) wrongs,” he said.

However, he dismissed that Mahathir himself was complicit in any of these scandals.

“Yes, he gave some of the funding, but he didn’t ask (MIC) to cheat… He gave the money meant for the Indian community and that was (allegedly) siphoned out,” he said.

Maika Holdings was formed by MIC in the early 1980s as an investment company that raised RM106 million from about 55,000 shareholders – mostly from the lower-income group – which made the company one of the richest at the time.

However, the company failed to deliver returns to investors and those who had taken loans or had sold their assets to invest were left in a lurch.

It took until 2010 for an angel investor in the form of tycoon G Gnanalingam to step in to acquire the shares from investors at close to par value.

Meanwhile, there are also numerous allegations that certain Hindu temple committees had misappropriated funds.

One committee that has been constantly under fire is the Batu Caves temple committee.

Kulasegaran, however, declined to comment if the Batu Caves committee would be probed, saying it is up to MACC.

However, he pointed out that many temples have done charitable acts for their devotees, including sponsoring the education of children.

Indira Gandhi’s daughter, unilateral conversion

In the following excerpts from Malaysiakini‘s exclusive interview, Kulasegaran speaks about efforts for police to recover Indira Gandhi’s unilaterally converted daughter, and whether the government can finally pass amendments to end such conversions.

The interview has been edited for language and brevity.

Have you met the inspector-general of police over Indira’s daughter and her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah?

I already got in touch with the police and they are supposed to get back to me.

I don’t have time to see them, it is not that they don’t want to see me. I’m too tied up with too many things. But I have spoken to Indira and she understands the situation very well.

The police have sent me an interim report, I just don’t have the pleasure of time to read it. But I think something will happen soon.

Some lawyers have criticised you, saying as a minister you shouldn’t be pressuring the IGP.

What pressure? Civil servants are expected to do their work. Is it wrong for a minister to ask them to act on it.

I am not acting in my capacity as a lawyer for Indira. But Indira is my constituent. You mean after becoming a minister I should not act for my constituents?

Some lawyers have got it drastically wrong about the whole thing.

I have relinquished my position, I have ceased to practice as a lawyer, but for my constituents, if I don’t act… who else will do it?

Has the issue of unilateral conversion been raised in cabinet?

Not yet. I am strictly the minister of human resources, we are waiting for the full cabinet to come in. I don’t believe in usurping the powers of others. There will be a minister of law, minister of all these issues, and it is better if it is channelled through this way.

But if they don’t do it, I will speak up.

If you go back to the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, this issue is listed in there. It is a question of getting the necessary legislation back on the map and getting it done.

We’re talking about non-Muslims, not talking about Muslims. That isn’t under my purview.

The former government didn’t have the willpower to do it, but we will ensure that it is done, more so because it is in our manifesto. There will be some difficulties but we will swim through all these tough times.

One of the reasons the previous government cited why they couldn’t amend the law to stop unilateral conversion is that they didn’t have two-thirds majority. Do you need it?

That is a false argument. At that material time, I said there wasn’t a necessity for two-thirds majority, the government can amend the law.

But former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak took it upon himself to win the non-Malays in particular, saying ‘if you vote for us, (give us) two-thirds majority I will amend it.’

Regardless, can you get bipartisan support?

I hope so

Do you think Sarawak will be on board?

This is about non-Muslims. So earlier they were not supporting it because it was of one particular issue. We have surmounted it and gone beyond that.

But we don’t need two-thirds majority, we just need the bare majority which we have otherwise we wouldn’t be the government.

– M’kini