Makkal Sakthi at crossroads
The release of Hindraf’s leaders from detention opens up a number of ways forward for the banned movement.
By Baradan Kuppusamy (The Star)
THIS is the moment some Indian leaders in the DAP and PKR dreaded – the release of Hin-draf supremo Uthayakumar Ponnu-samy, 48, who single-handedly sparked an Indian revolt with his Nov 25, 2007 protest.
That protest saw Indians, who had traditionally backed Barisan Nasio-nal, voting for the Opposition and putting into office Indians in large numbers, and to high office like Perak State Assembly Speaker and Penang Deputy Chief Minister.
While the Indian leaders in Pakatan rode the protest wave and got into high office, the man who sparked the revolt and his four key lieutenants spent 18 months under Internal Security Act (ISA) detention in Kamunting.
Another founder, P. Waythamoorthy, Uthayakumar’s brother, lived in self-imposed exile in London.
All six suffered greatly in isolation, cut off from their loved ones and facing an uncertain future.
It is no secret that some Hindraf leaders were angry that others benefited and held high office while those who had sacrificed for the Indian community suffered in detention.
The animosity is expected to colour their actions now that they are free, and with Waythamoorthy returning from London, the tensions will surface, Hindraf insiders said.
Waythamoorthy, for instance, wants fellow detainee and Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Mano-haran made a Selangor exco member for his sacrifices, a request that could cause Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, already playing the role as Indian leader, to dissent.
The larger issue, however, is whether Uthayakumar, the leading light in the movement, will transform the loose Makkal Sakthi movement into a full-fledged political party.
He has not ruled out such a move or committed himself completely either.
“We have to discuss at length and decide on the matter,” Uthayakumar said in an interview.
Many of his supporters however want “our own political party” as opposed to the MIC, PPP, Gerakan or PKR and DAP.
They argue that with Indian political support heavily fragmented, it is necessary to have a new political vehicle to unite all Indians under one roof.
It all depends on Uthayakumar, the son of a locomotive driver, who has 15 years under his belt as champion of Indian rights.
His ambition is to be undisputed leader of the community and from which position he intends to “de-mand and not beg” for a fair share of the national wealth.
His intention is to fill the leadership vacuum left behind by the March 8, 2008 tsunami which left the community without a single, dominant leader – a role that MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had played and lost.
Uthayakumar, who ironically is founder of the now-defunct Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia or PRIM, said it is “out of the question” for him to join the DAP or PKR, with whose leaders he has an acrimonious relationship.
The battered MIC, too, is willing to roll out the red carpet for him but with Samy Vellu at the helm, there is little synergy there for Uthayakumar, his supporters said.
The only option left is to set up an independent organisation of their own but that’s where views begin to diverge.
While Hindraf leaders like PKR Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam wants Hindraf/Makkal Sakthi to convert into a non-governmental organisation (NGO)-like pressure group working with the Pakatan Rakyat, others like top leader R. S. Thanenthiran, the national co-ordinator, is all for an independent political party.
He even has a name ready – Makkal Sakthi Congress – an independent political party, according to him, allied with no one coalition but negotiating with all for the benefit of the Indian community.
“Everywhere we are led, nowhere we lead,” said Thanenthiran, giving reason for a new political party.
For people like Manikavasagam, that hope is overtly ambitious and impractical.
“The PKR style of multi-racialism is the way for the Indian minority,” he said, adding that another Indian political party will only divide Indians further and not unite them.
While Uthayakumar acknowledges the need to unite under one umbrella, he is undecided whether it should be a political party or an NGO.
PKR leaders especially fear a new Indian political party will pull Indian grassroots support from the Oppo-sition, lessening their status as Indian leaders.
Lawyer S. Sivanesan, the DAP assemblyman for Sungkai, says unlike PKR, the DAP has been fighting for the Indian community since the 1960s.
“We have a long record of service. We are confident of Indian support,” he said, adding that even if Hindraf was transformed into a political party, there was no guarantee it would get Indian backing overnight.
“It all depends on the agenda and what they hope to achieve. Only time will tell,” he said.
