COMMENT Something changed about the movement called Hindraf on April 18, 2013.
Shortly after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak, P Waythamoorthy, leading the splinter, albeit recognised group Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM), rallied his supporters to return BN’s two-thirds majority in the elections.
However, right after the event, as Waythamoorthy attempted to leave the venue, an anxious member of the public insisted on asking a question to be directed at both Waythamoorthy and Najib. The young man was hell bent on asking some uncomfortable questions - including prodding how Waythamoorthy’s MOU will solve the woe of the Indian poor.
However, the greater surprise for many in the crowd there, including journalists, was the manner in which Waythamoorthy walked off the stage without fielding the question, leaving the then acting Prime Minister’s officers and several Hindraf staffers to ask the young man and his father, rather abruptly, to leave the venue.
He was initially told there would be a question-and-answer session after the event, something which never materialised.
10 months of elegant silence
The manner in which Waythamoorthy walked off that day during the MOU signing event riled up quite a number of ardent Hindraf supporters who didn’t mince their words in calling the pledge of support to BN a “betrayal”.
The fact that only four out of the 18 demands originally made by Hindraf was signed on by Najib in the Hindraf-BN five-year blueprint, and that the MOU was not even made as a publicly available document to their own supporters, thereafter turned away a part of the crowd from being Hindraf loyalists.
What followed was 10 months of nothing but elegant silence from Waythamoorthy. BN, of course, did not win the two-thirds majority. While there seemed to be a slight increase in the number of Indians who voted for BN compared to the 2008 elections, the community was still not voting strongly in any one direction.
Nevertheless, Najib wanted to honour his promise and gave Waythamoorthy a deputy minister’s post in his own Prime Minister’s Department (PMD). According to the MOU, Hindraf should have been given an allocation to run a unit under the PMD on their own to address the socio-economic problems of Indians.
However, the allocation never came. It was ominous in its absence from Budget 2014. Waythamoorthy started his tenure issuing statements on matters that concern Indians, but whether he did that from his office in the PMD or from the comfort of the Hindraf office was anyone’s guess.
Waytha not in his colleagues’ good books
It was not long before he ran into the bad books of Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for being vocal about the gunning down of five alleged criminals in Penang by the police. Zahid had then told Waythamoorthy to resign if he wanted to run an NGO.
While Zahid’s (right) staunch defence of the police’s actions was blinded, he was somehow right in his riposte to Waythamoorthy. You would expect a member of the government to at least use his hotlines to talk to his colleagues on matters that concern him.
Did Waythamoorthy ever pick up the phone and bother to engage Zahid and express his concerns before issuing public statements denouncing the police? We would never know.
When Najib himself admitted publicly that a member of the government should toe the line, it was obvious that Waythamoorthy was not in the good books of many of his colleagues in the government.
Soon after being told off by his superiors, Waythamoorthy acted like he was never a part of the PMD. His statements were undersigned as the Hindraf chairperson. He was never seen on the ground and in Parliament answering a single question about the programs that the government has done for the Indian poor.
It was a complete, elegant silence. But what we would never know is whether he left the PMD with his head held high, or low- because he personally never announced his resignation.
He “elucidated” the reasons behind his resignation to Najib, but never to the Malaysian public, or the Indian masses who helped propel him to being a part of the government in the first place.
Despite his NGO claiming that he had quit by noon on Tuesday (Feb 10), Waythamoorthy in reality did not hand in the letteruntil 5.05pm, five minutes after most civil servants left their offices in Putrajaya. It was almost done in an incognito manner.
Raised more questions than solutions
Virtually uncontactable by the press throughout his tenure, Waythamoorthy had only raised more questions instead of giving definite solutions to the Indian socio-economic dilemmas.
Why did he accept the appointment if he was not prepared to politically lobby his superiors to see his side of the argument?
Maybe Waythamoorthy genuinely believed that good things come to those who wait.
Like how he waited in his hunger strike for either BN and Pakatan Rakyat to sign the Hindraf blueprint.
Like how economically deprived Indians had been taught to wait for a downfall of handouts from those in power instead of empowering themselves.
And that’s how Waythamoorthy waited for an allocation while there was desk with his name on it in the PMD, virtually used for no great reason for seven months.
And he (or the Hindraf central committee) got tired of waiting. Waythamoorthy may be a ‘hero’ to some for his sacrifices, his exile and his hunger strike, but he did nothing to inspire the Indian poor, who, generation after generation, are still waiting for greater recognition.
My verdict, however damning, is this: a complete waste of one year of political space.
While the might was shown in November 2007 on the streets, nothing but meekness prevailed when given an opportunity to be as firm, if not stronger, within the halls of the political potpourri.
A hero he may be. But one we never needed.
Maybe it’s time for Indians to stop looking for a hero to uplift them.
RAM ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.
Shortly after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak, P Waythamoorthy, leading the splinter, albeit recognised group Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM), rallied his supporters to return BN’s two-thirds majority in the elections.
However, right after the event, as Waythamoorthy attempted to leave the venue, an anxious member of the public insisted on asking a question to be directed at both Waythamoorthy and Najib. The young man was hell bent on asking some uncomfortable questions - including prodding how Waythamoorthy’s MOU will solve the woe of the Indian poor.However, the greater surprise for many in the crowd there, including journalists, was the manner in which Waythamoorthy walked off the stage without fielding the question, leaving the then acting Prime Minister’s officers and several Hindraf staffers to ask the young man and his father, rather abruptly, to leave the venue.
He was initially told there would be a question-and-answer session after the event, something which never materialised.
10 months of elegant silence
The manner in which Waythamoorthy walked off that day during the MOU signing event riled up quite a number of ardent Hindraf supporters who didn’t mince their words in calling the pledge of support to BN a “betrayal”.
The fact that only four out of the 18 demands originally made by Hindraf was signed on by Najib in the Hindraf-BN five-year blueprint, and that the MOU was not even made as a publicly available document to their own supporters, thereafter turned away a part of the crowd from being Hindraf loyalists.What followed was 10 months of nothing but elegant silence from Waythamoorthy. BN, of course, did not win the two-thirds majority. While there seemed to be a slight increase in the number of Indians who voted for BN compared to the 2008 elections, the community was still not voting strongly in any one direction.
Nevertheless, Najib wanted to honour his promise and gave Waythamoorthy a deputy minister’s post in his own Prime Minister’s Department (PMD). According to the MOU, Hindraf should have been given an allocation to run a unit under the PMD on their own to address the socio-economic problems of Indians.
However, the allocation never came. It was ominous in its absence from Budget 2014. Waythamoorthy started his tenure issuing statements on matters that concern Indians, but whether he did that from his office in the PMD or from the comfort of the Hindraf office was anyone’s guess.
Waytha not in his colleagues’ good books
It was not long before he ran into the bad books of Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for being vocal about the gunning down of five alleged criminals in Penang by the police. Zahid had then told Waythamoorthy to resign if he wanted to run an NGO.
While Zahid’s (right) staunch defence of the police’s actions was blinded, he was somehow right in his riposte to Waythamoorthy. You would expect a member of the government to at least use his hotlines to talk to his colleagues on matters that concern him.Did Waythamoorthy ever pick up the phone and bother to engage Zahid and express his concerns before issuing public statements denouncing the police? We would never know.
When Najib himself admitted publicly that a member of the government should toe the line, it was obvious that Waythamoorthy was not in the good books of many of his colleagues in the government.
Soon after being told off by his superiors, Waythamoorthy acted like he was never a part of the PMD. His statements were undersigned as the Hindraf chairperson. He was never seen on the ground and in Parliament answering a single question about the programs that the government has done for the Indian poor.
It was a complete, elegant silence. But what we would never know is whether he left the PMD with his head held high, or low- because he personally never announced his resignation.He “elucidated” the reasons behind his resignation to Najib, but never to the Malaysian public, or the Indian masses who helped propel him to being a part of the government in the first place.
Despite his NGO claiming that he had quit by noon on Tuesday (Feb 10), Waythamoorthy in reality did not hand in the letteruntil 5.05pm, five minutes after most civil servants left their offices in Putrajaya. It was almost done in an incognito manner.
Raised more questions than solutions
Virtually uncontactable by the press throughout his tenure, Waythamoorthy had only raised more questions instead of giving definite solutions to the Indian socio-economic dilemmas.
Why did he accept the appointment if he was not prepared to politically lobby his superiors to see his side of the argument?
Maybe Waythamoorthy genuinely believed that good things come to those who wait.
Like how he waited in his hunger strike for either BN and Pakatan Rakyat to sign the Hindraf blueprint.
Like how economically deprived Indians had been taught to wait for a downfall of handouts from those in power instead of empowering themselves.
And that’s how Waythamoorthy waited for an allocation while there was desk with his name on it in the PMD, virtually used for no great reason for seven months.
And he (or the Hindraf central committee) got tired of waiting. Waythamoorthy may be a ‘hero’ to some for his sacrifices, his exile and his hunger strike, but he did nothing to inspire the Indian poor, who, generation after generation, are still waiting for greater recognition.My verdict, however damning, is this: a complete waste of one year of political space.
While the might was shown in November 2007 on the streets, nothing but meekness prevailed when given an opportunity to be as firm, if not stronger, within the halls of the political potpourri.
A hero he may be. But one we never needed.
Maybe it’s time for Indians to stop looking for a hero to uplift them.
RAM ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.
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