After quitting his posts and taking the prime minister to task for failing to help the Indian community, P Waythamoorthy is now calling on MIC to leave BN.
The Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) chief said MIC must do this to prove its sincerity to the Indian community.
"MIC founding leaders... would be proud of its current leaders should they take such a bold step.
"MIC's early struggle was for the protection of the rights of the downtrodden Indian Malaysians, who were mostly plantation workers then," he added in a statement.
Waythamoorthy claimed that since his resignation, BN has “falsely propagated” that a sum of RM500 million had been dispersed to the Indians over the last five years.
"For a start this 'so-called development effort' is peanuts for a community that has been marginalised for the past 56 years.
"On the other hand even if it is true, the RM500 million never reached the community," he added.
He was referring to a Feb 19 Bernama report quoting Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim as saying the sum was channelled to increase the living standard of the Indian community, including in the economic and educational fields.
Waythamoorthy today challenged the government to prove how the RM500 million was spent, and rebutted the claim by ministers Khairy Jamaluddin andHishamuddin Hussein(right) that the government has done a lot through the various ministries.
"PHM is of the view that the various ministries have failed to deliver to the Indian community as the entrenched system does not work in favour of the minority communities.
"The Education Ministry failed to disburse scholarships and places in universities and matriculation on a fair basis and thousands of deserving students are denied their educational rights.
"The Welfare Ministry finds the flimsiest of reasons to reject poor Indians' applications for aid. The Health Ministry and the Malaysian Medical Council deliberately de-recognised the Crimea State Medical University, which is an affordable medical college for poor Indians, and there are thousands of other unrecognised medical degree holders in Malaysia.
"The Agriculture, Housing and Human Resource Ministries have failed to provide alternative agriculture ventures, job training opportunities, alternative land and houses or adequate compensation for the 800,000 displaced plantation workers since the 1970s. This caused the new urban underclass and rise in crime among Indians," he added.
Propaganda mouthpiece of government
As the list of human rights violations against the community grows longer, Waythamoorthy said MIC, the Indian representative in the government, has failed in its role.
"All it does is shortchange the community and act as a propaganda mouthpiece for the government. All we hear from MIC is that the government is doing this and that and press statements in the Tamil media.
"But beyond that, nothing concrete is done to find permanent and comprehensive solutions to the long-standing problems faced by the Indian community," he added.
PHM, Waythamoorthy said, therefore calls on MIC to leave the BN coalition if it wants to stop the continuing downslide of the Indian poor.
"Do it with a sense of dignity and honour, not as political slaves to the 'tuans' (masters) as you are doing now," he added.
The Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) chief said MIC must do this to prove its sincerity to the Indian community.
"MIC founding leaders... would be proud of its current leaders should they take such a bold step."MIC's early struggle was for the protection of the rights of the downtrodden Indian Malaysians, who were mostly plantation workers then," he added in a statement.
Waythamoorthy claimed that since his resignation, BN has “falsely propagated” that a sum of RM500 million had been dispersed to the Indians over the last five years.
"For a start this 'so-called development effort' is peanuts for a community that has been marginalised for the past 56 years.
"On the other hand even if it is true, the RM500 million never reached the community," he added.
He was referring to a Feb 19 Bernama report quoting Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim as saying the sum was channelled to increase the living standard of the Indian community, including in the economic and educational fields.
Waythamoorthy today challenged the government to prove how the RM500 million was spent, and rebutted the claim by ministers Khairy Jamaluddin andHishamuddin Hussein(right) that the government has done a lot through the various ministries."PHM is of the view that the various ministries have failed to deliver to the Indian community as the entrenched system does not work in favour of the minority communities.
"The Education Ministry failed to disburse scholarships and places in universities and matriculation on a fair basis and thousands of deserving students are denied their educational rights.
"The Welfare Ministry finds the flimsiest of reasons to reject poor Indians' applications for aid. The Health Ministry and the Malaysian Medical Council deliberately de-recognised the Crimea State Medical University, which is an affordable medical college for poor Indians, and there are thousands of other unrecognised medical degree holders in Malaysia.
"The Agriculture, Housing and Human Resource Ministries have failed to provide alternative agriculture ventures, job training opportunities, alternative land and houses or adequate compensation for the 800,000 displaced plantation workers since the 1970s. This caused the new urban underclass and rise in crime among Indians," he added.
Propaganda mouthpiece of government
As the list of human rights violations against the community grows longer, Waythamoorthy said MIC, the Indian representative in the government, has failed in its role.
"All it does is shortchange the community and act as a propaganda mouthpiece for the government. All we hear from MIC is that the government is doing this and that and press statements in the Tamil media.
"But beyond that, nothing concrete is done to find permanent and comprehensive solutions to the long-standing problems faced by the Indian community," he added.
PHM, Waythamoorthy said, therefore calls on MIC to leave the BN coalition if it wants to stop the continuing downslide of the Indian poor.
"Do it with a sense of dignity and honour, not as political slaves to the 'tuans' (masters) as you are doing now," he added.
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