2 April 2013-I am really sad to see DAP go this way. The so-called Gelang Patah Declaration of DAP is no more than a plagiarised version of Hindraf’s five-year blueprint document.
Eleven out of the 14 items in the DAP document are straight out from Hindraf’s blueprint.
The fact that its blueprint was revealed on the 21st day of P Waythamoorthy’s hunger strike indicates as though DAP was scurrying to cover its behind against charges of abandoning the cause of the Indian poor.
Not one of the DAP leaders had anything to say for all of 20 days about the endorsement of the Hindraf blueprint – which was the key demand of the hunger strike. On the 21st day –DAP pull this out of its sleeves, and within 24 hours.
Look at the timing of DAP’s declarations and actions for the Indian poor – just days before the general election. What was the party doing for all the five years up to now? No action in five years and then now a declaration.
The items in this declaration could easily have been carried out in the DAP Penang state government in all five years of its rule, but were not.
Housing for the marginalised: large and numerous developments in Penang have been approved in the last five years, but hardly any noticeable effort for the marginalised poor.
Alienate land for temples and burial grounds: land is a state matter; DAP could easily have done this in Penang in these last five years instead of talking about it after five full years in its declaration just before the next election. Did this realisation just come to the DAP or is this its standard modus operandus?
Provide land to Tamil primary schools: similarly with land for the Tamil schools. Worse here. Not only did the DAP government not grant land to the 23 partially aided Tamil schools in the state, requests for land for Tamil schools in Penang coming from the PIBGs (Parent-Teacher Associations) were ducked using a variety of techniques, were denied outright or the PIBGs were manipulated to avoid causing embarrassment to the state government with such requests.
So, it raises the question: is this declaration just intended to create an illusion of action substituting for real action?
The double speak game
The DAP leaders made a promise to the Kampung Buah Pala folks in 2008 in Penang and they totally reneged on their promise.
That is a precedent for the value of all their promises. This declaration is put forward as a promise.
I wonder how much commitment there is now to this promise. Whatever they did eventually for the Kampung Buah Pala folks, was because of the pressure that was brought to bear on them; it was not out of any obligations to their promises.
The Pakatan argument against the Hindraf’s blueprint has always been that it is race-based and not need-based.
May I ask “what based” is this Gelang Patah Declaration when 11 out of 14 items in it come from a “race-based” document.
This double speak is so typical of what we have been seeing lately in Pakatan.
If you have been following the story, the first Pakatan manifesto had zero election pledges addressing the problems of the Indian poor. Then after an uproar from the people, it included five items into the revised manifesto (the additional items also came from the Hindraf blueprint).
Then seeing that this was not cutting it enough, the number of items taken up has now gone up to 11.
In 2008, Pakatan hijacked the Hindraf rallying cry “Makkal Sakthi”. In 2013, it is now attempting to hijack Hindraf’s blueprint. It is shameful.
Is this all the intellectual capability the DAP can muster? Is copying the best it can do? It is so shameful for a national party to plagiarise. How much commitment can there be in any effort like this?
We are wondering why this Gelang Patah Declaration did not extend to include the most impactful intervention such as a Felda type of land allocated contract farming proposal. Why was this not copied out as well from Hindraf’s blueprint?
DAP supremo Karpal Singh on March 30 called on Anwar Ibrahim to endorse Hindraf’s blueprint. The next day, his son Gobind Singh was in Gelang Patah beside Lim Kit Siang to unveil this DAP blueprint. What circus is this?
April Fool’s plan
P Ramasamy, the Deputy Chief Minister ll of Penang, had said in a YouTube interview that there are not even 800 Indian members in DAP nationwide. That is about 0.04% of the total Indian population.
DAP clearly does not represent the Indians. It has no business putting out an April Fool’s plan like this to continue to deceive and fool the Indians in the country.
This Gelang Patah plan is not to empower Indians but to empower the Indian mandores in DAP.
Why was this plan not done at the Pakatan manifesto level? Why now come up with a DAP document and then get endorsement from the partners?
This sounds exactly like what Hindraf is attempting. This is DAP’s blueprint that has been endorsed, just sounds like Hindraf’s moves. Convenient to confuse the people with.
Is the Gelang Patah Declaration DAP’s declaration or is it Lim Kit Siang’s declaration – a political device to deceive the Indian people of Gelang Patah. Some 12% of the electorate of Gelang Patah, or 12,000 voters, are Indians.
Are the elements of this plan not covered in the Buku Jingga as we are repeatedly told or are you admitting that the Buku Jingga does not really address the problem and therefore it requires a special plan?
If that is the case, then all the arguments why the Hindraf blueprint cannot be endorsed by Pakatan are just not valid.
Our advice to DAP is to stop this kind of tomfoolery. No more April Fool’s gimmicks please. Rise to the challenge with some real stuff.
This article written by N Ganesan
(Hindraf’s national advisor)
