Dr Mahathir Wows Indians At Hindraf Rally

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed was received with loud cheering and genuine appreciation by a crowd of over 500 Indian NGOs and their representatives organised by Hindraaf last nite. Yours truly was also there to see the action. The invitation was for about 200 people but the turnout was overwhelming.

Here is Malaysiakini :

INDIANS .. at a dialogue with the Pakatan Harapan chairman, organised by Indian rights group Hindraf, last night said they could accept him as prime minister again if the opposition pact takes over the federal government in the 14th general election.

acknowledging that poorer Indians did get left behind but said the fault lies with MIC, the Barisan Nasional component party representing the community.

During the session, Dr Mahathir answered questions on the community’s welfare and said MIC mismanaged allocations to Indians besides not raising the problems which needed to be addressed.

Retiree S. Muniandy said ..he believes the Bersatu chairman is a changed man now. 

The thing was, MIC did not tell him (the problems). 

“He is a changed man. He wants to do the right thing for this country,” he told The Malaysian Insight later.

Former lawyer Shanmugam agreed that MIC is partly to be blamed for the Indians’ problems and marginalisation.

“(Dr Mahathir) explained it quite well. Our stakeholders are weak. I think what he is saying is truthful.

“We can see (what) MIC has done for the Indians. We can’t say the allocations had not been given. (Rather) they were misused.”  

Shanmugam said Dr Mahathir ..appears patriotic enough to save the nation. 

Making Hindraf a strategic partner of PH would also be a good move to win Indian votes in rural and semi-rural areas, the lawyer said.

“Hindraf as a strategic partner can reach out to Indians in semi-rural and rural seats. 

“..The swing votes will come from the rural Indians. That is where Hindraf plays a role.”

the focus is on the future of the country.

“We do not need to talk about the past, let’s look at the future. He (Dr Mahathir) is the most capable candidate around,”  

If Dr Mahathir becomes prime minister again, he must pledge to return all Indian rights, said retired banker Sunder Kumar.

For the 60-year-old, these rights are a quota system for Indians in universities, civil service and the armed forces. 

As far as the Malay vote is concerned, PH believes Dr Mahathir and his party Bersatu are the coalition’s best strategy to wrest rural Malay votes from Umno.

In wooing the Indian vote, Dr Mahathir has said he considered groups like Hindraf and another ethnic Indian party, the Minority Rights Action Party (Mira), as strategic partners.

The Indian community’s problems during his rule, however, have been used against him, with Prime Minister Najib Razak saying that he has done more for the community in the eight years since he came to power in 2009, compared with Dr Mahathir. – March 15, 2018.

My comments :  Mkini has tried to play up Indian unhappiness against Dr Mahathir. The underclass Indians certainly have been left behind.  

But last nite the mood was electrifying. You could sense that the Indian NGOs came to listen to new hope. That is all everyone wants - a great new hope for the country. 

The BN can kiss the Indian votes good bye.

P Waythamoorthy and the Hindraaf are doing a fantastic job mobilising the Indian voters in the rural and out of sight areas. Last nite Indian supporters came from Kedah, Johor, Pahang and elsewhere.

I hung out near the people before and after the session with Dr Mahathir.  The Indians cannot forget their plight all these years. However last nite they appeared  to have faith and trust in Tun Dr Mahathir.  

After the dialogue the people rushed forward to have their selfies taken with Dr Mahathir. In the tens and hundreds. 

The Indians see new hope. Thats all we need now folks. HOPE. Hope for change. hope for better things.

Dr Mahathir listened to the questions and the grouses.  

Dr Mahathir explained clearly and concisely about the future. The position for Indians. Even the allocation of seats and places in Government for the Indian minority groups. 

Someone asked that 25 Tamil schools were closed during Dr Mahathir's tenure as PM. Dr Mahathir replied (most factually) that some Tamil schools had very poor enrolments, one Tamil school had only ONE student enrolled. So the Government had to close such schools and consolidate the students in other schools.

Dr Mahathir also said that many Indian students also attend sekolah kebangsaan where they have done very well.  Meaning education has never been denied to any community.

Another person stood up and said that Dr mahathir was the father of the failed MAIKA Holdings - a huge sore point for many, many Indians who were taken for a ride. 

Dr Mahathir replied that he did not create MAIKA. It was set up by the MIC.

The questioner had demanded why Dr Mahathir did not monitor the MIC leader(s) - obviously referring to Samy Velu.  

Again Dr Mahathir replied calmly that the MIC members and supporters were responsible for choosing their leaders.  His coalition Government had to deal with whoever was elected as leader of the component parties.   (Meaning he could not interfere in the component parties).

My take is the Indians should just forget about the MIC and move on.  This is what Dr Mahathir said too -  "lets look forward".  Lets not repeat the mistakes of the past. 

Also lets not allow the past drag us down too much. 

The biggest recognition was granted to Hindraaf and P Waythamoorthy where Dr Mahathir said that Hindraaf is now a Strategic Partner for the Pakatan Harapan. The cheers and loud applause from the crowd was evidence enough that the Indians see a better future with the Pakatan Harapan.

Dr Mahathir told the audience that ours is a democracy. He advised everyone to put forward their grouses and complaints.  He also told them that representation in Government is important to make sure that the peoples' demands are heard. In short,  vote for the Pakatan and get involved in the process. 

Dr Mahathir was sincere. I think that part of the event got across very well last nite.