The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) has urged Indians to return BN its two-thirds majority in the forthcoming general election.
In pledging full support for the ruling coalition, Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy said that all Indians must start spreading the word that their welfare will only be taken care off by BN.
He was speaking during an event in Brickfields today which saw BN chairperson Najib Razak signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hindraf to implement the BN-Hindraf five-year blueprint for the Indian community.
It covers four main areas – the upliftment of displaced estate workers, resolving the issue of statelessness, the provision of both education and business opportunities.
However, the Hindraf-BN agreement apparently did not address a number of key areas of the movement’s blueprint, especially racism and deaths in police custody.
According to the agreement, should BN retain federal power, it would set up a new unit under the Prime Minister’s Office to implement the details of the MOU.
Waythamoorthy said that change must not only take place in terms of “faces that leads the country” but the changes must take place in the lives of Malaysian, especially the Indian poor.
Pakatan ignored us
He also took dig at the opposition, saying that Hindraf had “begged” Pakatan Rakyat to endorse its blueprint even after five years of non-delivery towards Indians in Pakatan-administered states.
“Even after they failed to deliver in five states, I told them we can do it right this time, in this election. Until few days ago, I was still begging them.
“They said there will be a meeting, but none of the leaders showed up,” he said, adding that Pakatan had “insulted” Hindraf.
“I thought of them as friends,” he added.
He admitted that there will be criticism over this deal, and acknowledged that some might accuse the movement of “selling out”.
“But I hope the prime minister will prove all of them wrong by seeing through with this agreement,” he said.
He claimed that 1.5 million Indians stand to benefit from this new arrangement.
-Malaysiakini
