GEORGE TOWN, MAY 30- A local DAP leader today urged the party to use its influence in Pakatan Rakyat state governments to fulfill the promises it made to Malaysian Indians in its Gelang Patah Declaration.
G Asoghan (photo), who heads the party’s Jalan Bagan Luar branch, said at least the Penang government must pursue the vision stated in the declaration, which DAP leaders affirmed in the run-up to the recent general election.
He told FMT it was important for the Chinese-dominated DAP to prove that the declaration was more than just a gimmick to woo Indian voters.
The declaration, which is essentially a package of promises aimed at improving the lot of poor Indians, was first declaimed on March 31 in Gelang Patah during an election campaign rally for DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang.
Several groups immediately dismissed it as an imitation of the Hindraf demands that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak eventually endorsed, also in the run-up to the election.
Asoghan criticised DAP leaders for finding fault with the Hindraf blueprint, saying they seemed to be trying to divert public attention from the party’s own pledges to the Indians.
“Stop harping on the Hindraf blueprint,” he said. “Walk your talk on your own declaration before criticising others. Indians are waiting for your mee segera (instant noodles).”
He said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng must consider it his duty to make good on the Gelang Patah Declaration.
“Guan Eng has a public duty to implement the declaration made by his father,” he said.
“He should walk his talk on multiracial politics by empowering the marginalised Indian community in Chinese-dominated Penang.
“Since Kit Sing’s declaration promised so much for Indians, ideally the DAP-helmed Penang Pakatan government must fulfil those pledges.
“It will be an opportunity for Guan Eng to change the public perception of DAP as a Chinese chauvinist party.”
In the declaration, DAP promises to resolve the myriad of issues that plague the Indian community, including poverty, joblessness, statelessness, their lack of access to higher education, their lack of representation in local councils and the civil service, their susceptibility to extrajudicial killings and other forms of oppression, and the problems they face in acquiring land and other facilities for Tamil schools, Hindu temples and burial grounds.
