Apr 22, 2013-In ‘s campaign trail in Kota Raja, a big poster hangs outside his office in the traditional Hindraf crimson theme with his face etched on it, reading ‘P Uthayakumar – One-man show since 1990’.
Uthayakumar, one of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) founding members, has over the months remained largely quiet about his brother Waythamoorthy’s attempts to negotiate with both Pakatan Rakyat and BN over the Hindraf blueprint.
But his younger brother’s act of signing a pact with and declaring support for BN last week and even urging Indians to return BN’s two-thirds parliamentary majority has obviously riled Uthayakumar.
“Waytha is simply trying to become the next Samy Vellu (the ex-MIC president). He’s the new emerging ‘mandore’ (powerless messenger), who is (aiming) for the minister’s post in Najib Abdul Razak’s cabinet,” he said.
He told Malaysiakini that he had never expected his younger brother to sign a pact with BN.
“I thought he was using BN as leverage to get a deal with Pakatan,” he said.
It’s clear that Uthayakumar does not agree with the direction in which Waythamoorthy is taking Hindraf, largely the former’s brainchild since the turn of the millennium.
“Of course, many people have asked me whether there is any problem between us. I said there’s nothing.
“I didn’t want to confront him, (because) that would create gossip. People would say the brothers are fighting for position.
“But this (the BN pact) is a betrayal. This cannot be forgiven,” he said firmly.
‘Waytha jumped on bandwagon’
Uthayakumar remains confident that Waythamoorthy will not be able to deliver any votes to BN, saying he has been receiving numerous calls from people who are angry over the Hindraf deal with BN.
“So far, when I walk on the road, nobody has ever scolded or cursed me. I’ve heard a trader scold (incumbent Sri Andalas assemblyperson) Xavier Jeyakumar, when I asked about his performance, and soon Waythamoorthy will receive similar brickbats for what he has done,” he said.
Uthayakumar was also keen to stress that Hindraf never had five key leaders as suggested by some, although five from the movement were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2007 shortly after the Nov 25 Hindraf rally that year.
“I was leading Hindraf, there was never a second layer to its leadership. It was me, (with) a clerk, and then the (rest of the) people.
“It was then I decided to make it a team of lawyers (including Waythamoorthy, left), so that there would be credibility to the issues that we raised.
“All these people joined only months leading up to the rally, which was the climax of the movement.
“I was fighting this cause for a good 16 years prior to that. Just because five people went to jail, everyone assumes there were five leaders. I was running Hindraf on my own even before that.
“Waythamoorthy just rode on the Hindraf wave and assumed leadership when I was in jail. And that got to his head. He used Hindraf to carve something out for himself.”
‘BN succeeded in splintering Hindraf’
Uthayakumar said he sees the current division of Hindraf factions as a sign of victory for the BN.
“The (BN) won, I lost. They have separated the movement,” he said.
“I spent 514 days under ISA for what? Was it so that the movement could be hijacked like this and be surrendered to BN?”
He admitted that the various Hindraf factions have created “genuine confusion” for some grassroots, but he sees Waythamoorthy as being no different from RS Thanendran.
Thanendran was the former Hindraf activist who stands accused of double-crossing the movement. He went on to establish the BN-friendly Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party.
“It will wane, like how (it was when) people found out about Thanendran. But the question is, will the clarity be achieved within the next 15 days? If it is, then it’s good for me,” Uthayakumar said.
He was referring to the 15-day election campaign period before some 105,000 voters in Kota Raja head to polling centres on May 5, with an option to vote in Uthayakumar as the first ‘Hindraf’ MP.
Uthayakumar (Independent) is challenging incumbent Mariah Mahmud (PAS) in the parliamentary seat, along with S Murugesan (BN) and Azman Idrus (Independent).
The Kota Raja seat in Selangor has the highest number of Indian voters at 29 percent.
Uthayakumar is also a candidate in the five-way fight for Sri Andalas, one of two state seats in the Kota Raja constituency.
