ADUN SPEAKS | Indians are disappointed with the unity government. The high hope that the new government would appoint a few Indian ministers, principally from PKR and DAP, has not materialised.
To date, only one Indian minister from DAP, V Sivakumar has been appointed.
There have been no ministerial appointments from PKR, the party that has nearly 40 percent members from the Indian community.
The Indian community shifted its political allegiance to-then Pakatan Rakyat (PR) since the 2008 general election.
For decades, Indians were ardent supporters of the BN coalition- with the presence of MIC.
The latter often boasted itself as the “mother party of Indians”.
With the Hindraf uprising in 2007, Indian enchantment with BN drastically declined. By the time of GE12 in 2008, the long honeymoon period with BN was over.
Indians flocked en masse to throw their weight behind DAP and PKR.
With the formation of Pakatan Harapan, Indian support to the multi-racial coalition was expedited to the extent that in GE14, non-Malay support was crucial in propelling the coalition to federal power.
Today there are more Indian MPs and state assemblypersons in Harapan than in any other political coalition.
Indians in Harapan, namely in PKR and DAP, constitute a formidable force.
And it is unthinkable for Harapan to win federal power without the support of the non-Malays in general and Indians in particular.
Indians might be a numerically small community but no serious political parties or coalitions would risk ignoring them.
In the recent GE15, more than 80 percent of support for Harapan came from the Indians.
Even one opposition politician remarked that Indians are “kingmakers” in the parliamentary constituency he had contested.
The ascension of Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim as the prime minister is a dream come true for Indians and others.
Indians, given their unenviable position in the country, looked forward to the leadership of Anwar to steer the country from the present political, economic and social mess.
All Indians and others want is an institution of a system that would respect their equal rights in the country.
They want the present racial and religious discrimination to be done away with gradually.
This is not a tall order but something citizens have the moral right to ask from a government that they think will take care of the rights of Malaysians - irrespective of ethnic or religious differences.
Indians don’t expect that the present unity government anchored by Harapan will improve their living standards overnight.
They are prepared for a long haul in anticipation of a bright future for their children and grandchildren.
Given their level of support to Harapan, Indians expect to be fairly rewarded for their intense loyalty and political commitment.
The community wants their leaders be awarded posts in the government, as a form of recognition of the community’s immense contribution to the country.
What’s next for Indians?
However, the recent announcement of the cabinet has come as a big disappointment to them
It looks like there was no serious attempt to appoint an Indian candidate from PKR - the party that has largest number of Indians.
The Indian community is naturally disappointed when they were not even recognised for cabinet positions.
If Anwar could go to the extent of awarding cabinet positions to those lost in the GE15, surely he could have provided some recognition for Indian leaders.
It is not that there are not enough talented Indian leaders in PKR and DAP.
If the new government is not prepared to recognise the Indians, then where do they go from here? - Mkini
P RAMASAMY is the Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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