Forming a new Indian political party is an exercise in futility.
The individual initiating this move is said to be a businessperson close to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim serves to underscore the hopelessness of the enterprise.
Anwar, at one time, was seen as a Malaysian leader with a sympathetic understanding of the plight of Indians in the country.
From the time of his tacit backing for the huge rally in Kuala Lumpur organised by Hindraf on Nov 25, 2007, Anwar has occupied a special place in the Indian Malaysians’ imagination.
He was viewed as a leader who would know what to do when he became prime minister.
This “what he would do” perception did not specify details of a programme of alleviation.
The faith in him that he would be the best prime minister for Indian Malaysians was almost mystical in that it did not require enumeration.
Incomprehensibly, he disappointed that faith with a pair of obtuse gestures in recent months.
It is painful to describe those gestures because it exposed him as daft, instead of deft, which is how he was perceived to have been when handling Indian concerns from the time of the Hindraf rally in 2007.
“Here comes a leader who can rise above parochial considerations to grasp the grave desperation of a situation and signal his sympathy,” is just about what many Indian Malaysians felt about Anwar’s deportment during the Hindraf imbroglio.
The panache of his stance vis-à-vis the Hindraf issue and the obtuseness of the more recent pair of his gestures that put off Indians is like oil and water.
They are immiscible; they don’t go together.
Whereas the earlier deportment showed the class of the man, the latter gestures (there is no need to narrate them because the very act of description is a form of masochism) conveyed a callousness the more substantive of Indian Malaysian admirers of Anwar think him incapable.
We don’t know to what category of admirer the associate of Anwar, who wants to form a new political party for Indians, belongs.
Given what has recently happened to Anwar’s stock among Indian Malaysians, it is touching that the associate said he consulted Anwar on his intended move.
More touching still is that he would consult Anwar after he gives him feedback on the survey he has done among ostensible movers and shakers among fellow Indians on the idea of a new political party for them.
His faith in Anwar can either be viewed as touching or as pathetic.
Ten months after becoming prime minister – the achievement of a lifetime goal - it is clear Anwar’s apron is tied to the Islamist gallery in the country.
This factor severely limits his ability to be the transformative leader Indian Malaysians have previously seen him.
How then could a new Indian political party, that is consultative with him, be effective in alleviating the plight of Malaysian Indians?
Anwar pandering to the right
On the hustings before becoming prime minister, Anwar had not infrequently acknowledged that Indian Malaysians are among the poorest people in the country.
There is little doubt about the sincerity of that recognition.
But once in the national driver’s seat, his attenuation from Indian problems and sensitivities must be viewed as him being overborne by the necessity of winning Islamist/Malay votes and driven by their political and economic exigencies.
In the present circumstances, there is little space and resources for a new deal for Indians, not in a long time.
Hence a new political party would be on a hiding to nothing. - Mkini
TERENCE NETTO is a journalist with half a century’s experience.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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