Five who dumped Waytha launch Hindraf People's Movement

A ‘Hindraf People’s Movement’ (HPM) has recently been launched by seven key leaders of Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) who departed from PHM after an ideological split with its founder P Waythamoorthy.

In Tamil, HPM stands for ‘Hindraf Makkal Periyakkam’ and it aims to be an open entity to represent marginalised Indians.HPM’s spokesperson N Ganesan said the departure of the seven has resulted in the re-emergence of Hindraf as a people’s movement, like it began nine years ago.

Ganesan said HPM is led by a Leadership Senate consisting of five senior Hindraf activists.

“HPM is open to all who wish to contribute to the cause of the struggle for the rights of the minority, marginalised Indian poor. This is an open people’s movement,” Ganesan told Malaysiakini today.

The senior Hindraf activists in the Leadership Senate of 2016 are W Sambulingam, K Kalayselvam, P Ramesh, K Tamilselvam and N Ganesan.

These are the five out of the seven leaders who left PHM recently.

“Learning from the failings of PHM, we in HPM have decided on this course of action and form of organisation to prevent a backslide to a culture based on personalities and closed membership,” Ganesan (photo) said.

“Such culture happened with PHM and this will prevent anyone from further abusing the miseries of the marginalised Indians as vehicles for achieving personal ambitions,” he added.

Ganesan said the Hindraf movement, which began nine years ago, gave hope that a truly respresentative people’s organisation had arrived and that “hijacking of the marginalised” Indian poor’s aspirations for a better life would end.

However, recent developments have shown that unless leaders remain truly committed to moral principles of leadership, any movement would easily become a vehicle for personal ambitions, he added.

“Leaders and leadership culture play a significant role in ensuring that the hopes and struggles of the marginalised shall not be waylaid and taken off track.

“HPM is re-emerging in this form so that it can continue the struggle of the marginalised Indian poor and to reverse emerging tendencies to hijack people’s movements for personal ambitions,” Ganesan said.

PHM signed an 18-point memorandum to improve the lives of the marginalised Indian poor with Prime Minister Najib Razak just one month before the May 5 general election in 2013 (GE13).

The deal saw PHM chairperson P Waythamoorthy being appointed a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department soon after GE13.

However, Waythamoorthy resigned from his post 18 months later, and recently fell out with the seven key leaders in PHM, leading to the launch of this new movement for the marginalised and poor Indian Malaysians. -Mkini