Hindraf to disband if three conditions are met
By Joe Fernandez, Free Malaysia Today
Human rights movement Hindraf Makkal Sakthi is willing to disband itself worldwide in all its forms if three provisions of the Federal Constitution are “not observed more often in the breach”. This is with specific reference to the time-bound Article 153 (position, training privileges, legitimate aspirations), and two other Articles, namely 8 (equal rights) and 3 (religion).
Hindraf adviser Ganesan Naragan made this dramatic offer in response to stepped-up attacks in London and Malaysia by the opposition in recent days on the NGO as a racist organisation. Ganesan was recently in the news for turning up at the British Parliament to present a human rights report on the Indian community in Malaysia.
“Questions of whether Hindraf is racist and who represents Hindraf and who it represents will not arise anymore once it is disbanded for good,” said the Penang-based Ganesan. “Anwar Ibrahim – Opposition Leader — too can stop labelling Hindraf, every opportunity he gets, as racist.”
He confirmed that the disband offer had the full support of Hindraf’s London-based chair WaythaMoorthy Ponnusamy, the 10-member National Co-ordination Committee and Hindraf chapters in Brussels, Geneva, New York and Australia.
He was clarifying a press statement he had earlier e-mailed to Free Malaysia Today in response to a full-scale attack on Hindraf by fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin who labelled the movement as racist as Perkasa.
Hindraf, he said, was standing up for the victims of racism while Perkasa was committed to illegally retaining what the ruling elite had amassed through distortions and deviations of Articles 153, 8 and 3. Hence, the question of the pot calling the kettle black does not arise, he added. “Perkasa is like the self-serving tail trying to wag the dog (Umno) to continue the policy of the fat cats squatting on all Malaysians.”
“It’s no longer of any use debating whether there are deviations and distortions in the implementation of Article 153 because all this has become academic,” said Ganesan. “The only thing to consider is the elimination of Article 153 from the Federal Constitution in accordance with the pre-Merdeka agreements.”
