‘Indians for resolution of Malaysian standoff’

The Times of India

The recent developments, including the protest rally held last month, indicate the disillusionment of the ethnic Indians towards the present government, an influential minister of Indian origin in the Malaysian cabinet has said.

"They had to a certain extent affected the loyalty of Malaysian Indians towards the Malaysian government, S Samy Vellu, who is works minister in the government, said Wednesday.

He said based on feedbacks, there were Indians who had begun questioning why the issues raised by the community had not been resolved by the government.

"There were those who questioned why their applications had not been entertained. So, I have asked the prime minister to give a bit more to the ethnic Indians (in development programmes) considering their history (in the country). The prime minister has agreed to consider this," he was quoted as saying by Bernama, Malaysia's official news agency.

Vellu came down heavily on the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), calling its leaders sightless for not being able to see the progress achieved by the Malaysian Indians in the last 50 years since the independence.

Talking to a television channel, Vellu said that most of those who were involved in the illegal street demonstrations had regretted their actions.

Vellu, who heads the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the largest political party of the ethnic Indians, said that he had also explained to them that most of the issues raised had been discussed by the cabinet over the last several months.

"We must remember that we will not get 100 percent of what we asked for. Where can you find a government that fulfils 100 percent of the people's requests?

"The problems are not just faced by the Indians but also by the Chinese and Malays. They also make demands and they, too, don't get 100 percent," the Star newspaper reported.

Ethnic Indians in Malaysia constitute eight percent of the total population of 27 million.