SHAH ALAM, May 3- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s sincere and genuine intention to help the Indian community is why the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) decided to support Barisan Nasional (BN) in the13th General Election (GE13).
Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy said Najib’s actions were in contrast to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) which is not serious or genuine in trying to help solve problems faced by the marginalised Indian community.
“Yes, it is true that we (Hindraf) opposed BN in the past, but since Najib took over as the Prime Minister, he has shown a positive approach in trying to solve problems faced by the Indian community. He had openly apologised for BN’s mistakes in the past.
“To us, the BN was ready to accept our demands but PR was not. In fact, there were a number of aspects that were added on by Najib in the list of requests from Hindraf. That is an endorsement to the Indian community,” he said during a Hello Malaysia programme (Tamil version) on Bernama TV.
The programme will be aired on Astro Channel 502 by Bernama TV from 2pm to 3pm tomorrow (Friday) and a repeat of the programme will be aired on Saturday from 10.30pm to 11.30pm.
The leader also refuted claims by some, especially PR, that Hindraf’s struggles had taken a diversion since he was ‘bought’ over by the BN.
Waythamoorthy stressed he was still the leader of the pressure group and denied reports in a Tamil daily that he was sacked from the party and chairman’s post by his brother, P. Utayakumar. On March 8, the Registrar of Societies approved the registration of Hindraf as Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia, a non-governmental organisation, with the pro-tem committee headed by Waythamoorthy.
Waythamoorthy on behalf of Hindraf signed a five-year blueprint to bring the Indian poor into the mainstream of national development, through a five-year Hindraf-BN action plan, on April 18.
It is learnt that Hindraf’s blueprint, among others, highlighted issues related to displaced Indian plantation workers, the need for tertiary-level education for Indian students, job opportunities in the government sector, financial loans to Indian entrepreneurs, and the establishment of a Minorities Affairs Ministry.
“Our demands cover all aspects. We met the Prime Minister and put forward our demands. We are confident that Najib, who has given much hope to the Indian community in recent years, will look into the demands,” he said.
BERNAMA
