P Uthayakumar, one of the two brothers who established Hindraf, has accused the Hindraf faction led by his younger brother P Waythamoorthy of “hijacking” the movement.
Uthayakumar said this in a text message to Malaysiakini, minutes before Waythamoorthy’s camp held a ceremony for interim prime minister and BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak to endorse the so-called Hindraf blueprint.
The endorsement turned out to be the signing of a “memorandum of understanding” with Hindraf on its blueprint.
The blueprint is a 100-day to-do list for the new federal government to resolve six key issues involving the Indian community.
Both BN and Pakatan Rakyat have been approached to endorse the blueprint.
This is the first time that Uthayakumar has hit out at Waythamoorthy’s camp since the latter returned from exile in August last year as the main mover of Hindraf.
Uthayakumar has since concentrated on his Human Rights Party but insists that he is ultimately the de facto leader of Hindraf.
Hindraf stance has not changed
He insisted that having just anyone endorse the blueprint was never part of the Hindraf struggle.
“No, it is not acceptable to sign it on the eve of the general election,” said Uthayakumar.
“As the senior-most and de facto leader of Hindraf, we ask for delivery first of Hindraf’s 18-point demands dated Aug 12, 2007, which are already more than five long years’ overdue and with almost zero delivery – except for the Umno hampers and rice packets for the Indian poor.”
Uthayakumar said that Hindraf’s stance has not changed since its formation in 2006 and that the movement will not support BN.
“The Hindraf political directions remain the same – Do not vote for Umno and BN, voting for Pakatan Rakyat is up to the individual,” he said.
According to Uthayakumar, Hindraf cannot support Pakatan because the coalition is unable to take responsibility for the coalition’s “non-delivery” to the Indian poor in the states it controls.
“To the indian poor, BN cheats more and Pakatan cheats less. We want change, but not for Pakatan to be replaced with an Umno clone. To this effect, I am going ahead to contest in Kota Raja and Seri Andalas,” he said.
Jayathas: Waytha no longer acts for Hindraf
Another person with Hindraf, S Jayathas who is now with PKR, said Waythamoorthy is no longer authorised to act for Hindraf.
Jayathas called the Hindraf-BN development as a shocking betrayal of the movement and the Indian community.
“It is an essential aim of the real Hindraf movement to remove Umno-BN from power. For 56 years Umno-BN have cheated, oppressed and marginalised the Indian community. Unmo has still not changed or reformed.
“On April 16, Najib announced Perkasa vice-president Zulkifli Noordin is the BN candidate for Shah Alam.
“Zulkifli was recently seen in two videos attacking the Hindu religion and making racist remarks against Indians. Despite the nomination of Zulkifli, Waythamoorthy continues to pretend that Umno or BN will help the Indian community,” he said.
Jayathas, who is the interim coordinator for the Kuala Lumpur unit of Hindraf said as a grassroots activist movement, Hindraf will not allow itself to be hijacked and destroyed by the pro-Umno Waythamoorthy.
He described Waythamoorthy’s deal with Najib today as having created a situation of emergency for the movement.
“Waythamoothy and his cronies have gone against the wishes and the struggles of Hindraf members throughout the country. In order to save the noble struggle of the Hindraf movement, we have formed an interim management committee to run the movement on its original principles,” Jayathas said.
He gave his pledged that in the interim they will continue carrying on with the Hindraf agenda of removing Umno from power.
-Malaysiakini
