Vell Paari: PM informed, Palanivel to call for MIC meet soon

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Datuk Seri G. Palanivel informed the prime minister today of concerns over Barisan Nasional’s (BN) purported lack of action against “racist bigots” here, MIC’s S. Vell Paari has said, adding that his president will call a meeting with party leaders soon before announcing any further action.

Vell Paari (picture) told The Malaysian Insider that Palanivel had personally updated him on the matter this afternoon, after the latter attended the weekly Cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“Datuk Seri Palani (Palanivel) has brought up the matter with PM and will be calling for a CWC meeting to brief the members and will announce MIC’s stand after the CWC,” he said in an SMS here, referring to the MIC’s central working committee (CWC).

When contacted for a response earlier this afternoon, however, Palanivel declined to go public with his remarks.

Vell Paari, the son of MIC’s longest-serving president Datuk Seri Dr S. Samy Vellu, had last week penned a scathing letter to Palanivel, demanding the party push for action against individuals like Muslim academic Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah and Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

The MIC strategy director had argued that the racially-charged remarks often made by the two were contradictions of the prime minister’s 1 Malaysia philosophy and if continued unchecked, could create civil war in Malaysia.

Remarks made by Tee in local Malay daily Sinar Harian last Monday had spurred Vell Paari to write the letter, after noticing that the associate professor with the National Defence University was not being punished for his words.

The MIC leader also pointed out that Tee holds positions of power in several government-related organisations and should therefore be an exemplary proponent of 1 Malaysia, instead of the contrary.

In his letter, Vell Paari had said the party could no longer keep its lips zipped on these issues, pointing out that they have continued to crop up unchecked due to the lack of response from top leaders.

“If we continue to remain silent on such issues because we are afraid of antagonising certain powers-that-be, then we might as well close shop and convert the MIC headquarters into a banana leaf restaurant.

If we continue to remain silent on such issues because we are afraid of antagonising certain powers-that-be, then we might as well close shop and convert the MIC headquarters into a banana leaf restaurant. — Vell Paari

“We cannot hold our heads high when our tails are between our legs,” his letter read.

Continuing his tirade today, Vell Paari said he, along with MIC Youth will soon fix an appointment with the Higher Education Ministry and submit documents, which he said proves that Tee has been plagiarising researches and is not fit to be imparting knowledge to others.

“What we want is an inquiry on Riduan Tee... we will submit all our documentation and take it from there,” he told The Malaysian Insider in a phone call.

Alternative news portal Free Malaysia Today reported today allegations from Tee’s colleagues that the Muslim convert has been “preaching ethnic cleansing” instead of ethnic relations to his students.

Another allegation said that Tee had plagiarised the works of other academics, including one Dr Airil Sametok on the topic “The Importance of Research”, and had claimed that it was his original work.

“For someone who appears on television talking about Islamic values, this is nothing short of cheating and being a fraud,” Vell Paari was quoted as saying by the portal.

The MIC leader also responded to Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali’s accusation today that he was merely seeking popularity by attacking Tee and Ibrahim.

“I don’t need to reply… these are just the kind of statements I would expect to get from an organisation made up of racist bigots. You understand? They are living in a cocoon, not realising that Malaysia has changed,” he said.

In his remarks carried by The Malaysian Insider this afternoon, Syed Hassan had also said Vell Paari’s demands did not represent the views of the Indian community in Malaysia, even calling him a “liability” to BN.