Once For All Samy, Prove You Are Right
Free Hindraf 5: MIC chief returns fire
Samy is a controversial person. How many of you say yes to this. We have heard so much of his good intentions, doing this for the Indians and that. It is all shrouded in secrecy, a type of communication between him and the Government where as a true Indian leader he is fighting for the Indians. Some thought he would have done but most believe he is just spinning to gain back the support of the Indians. There can be no end to this.
Pre-Hindraf he was dynamic, telling the whole world the Indians are doing very well in Malaysia, he quoted figures some of which were wrong, he issued books to justify the Indians were better of than the other races, only disgruntled people and people out to make political mileage are accusing the government that nothing is done for the Indians. Never before March 8 did we hear Samy fighting for the Indian cause because they were doing well. I remember reading some years back he was brave enough to admit, what is there for me to help Indians my main concern is the Malays who have put me in this place.
He even went to the extend visiting India to get support talking about Indians so much so the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Karunanithi refused to see him.
This may not refer to Samy but to another upstart Indian leader who boasted that he was not depending on Indian vote he had 5,OOO postal votes from the army. He lost, apparently this 5,000 votes went to Khairy who won in Rembau. Those who followed the elections and particularly Khairy’s position, on Malaysiakini know about this.
So the lies get repeated and that MIC has and always backed the Indians. This myth is getting out of control.
After losing Samy takes on a new posture, he is considerate, he is maligned, a person acting in the interest of the people, particularly the Indians. The report that follows is just a sample of Samy being reinvented, MIC is still the same, it will be never be reinvented.
Can you imagine Samy going against a Mentri Besar, today, Ali Rustam is not to be worried about, he has nothing to do with me, he has politics and I have none. Remember Periachi Temple in Padang Jawa, he rang up Toyo, but Toyo insisted the court order obtained 3 years ago stands and the temple was demolished. Did Samy say anything about this. What news that came out is from sources at the sight. Did he go for Toyo or did he admit he was helpless.
The second argument goes, I feel for the people inside. With his estate background, he would have convinced the estate Indians of his genuine feelings and they respecting a man of authority would have agreed. I don’t think the present Indians are that gullible. Another argument which is just hot air is, they want the 5 to be detained to gain political status. Hindraf is even registered, what is he talking about attaining political status.
Next comes a joke, you have to tickle yourself to laugh. Plastic soda and whiteness, this is so archaic, my mother will now talk about Fair and Lovely, bleaching is something Samy knows very little about.
What happened between him and P Waythamoorthy is just one-sided. We have to wait for a rebuttal.
Next comes the thousand dollar question, or raising issues of Indians; he is adamant, he says he did so, but Mahathir has denied it. A thousand times, let us see this logically, cabinet meeting meetings are held weekly, roughly 52 meetings in a year, when you do it for 19 years and Mahathir forgets it, the former Prime Minister must be senile for 22 years.
The last part, the evidence, yes the evidence, cannot be divulged, OSA, or what you say does not allow that. So the evidence becomes something that Samy will carry to the next world. What a predicament, Samy wants to clear his name, rules don’t allow. Under his breath Samy says, I told you the Indians are stupid, how I have cornered them, I am still Samy. But wait, one single issue, is there any one matter you spoke in the cabinet that was implemented by Mahathir or the government for Indians. If Samy can do that, he can prove Mahathir is a liar and Indians are stupid. Please do that Samy, please.
Free Hindraf 5: MIC chief returns fire
RK Anand | Apr 3, 08 6:42pm
MIC president S Samy Vellu today launched a counter attack against those who assailed him for calling on the government to free the five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders detained without trial.
Kicking off with Umno vice-president and Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam, he said: “I don’t worry about Ali Rustam.”
“Whatever he says has nothing to do with me. He has got his own politics but I have no politics. I am talking as a man who feels for the people inside,” he added when asked about this during a press conference at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
On Monday, Ali Rustam told the MIC president not to use the Hindraf issue for his own political interest.
Next in Samy Vellu’s line of fire were the critical voices in Hindraf.
“The second day after I said this (free the five), a lot of Hindraf fellows were attacking me.
“I know why they attacked me, they like them (the five) to be in detention for a long time in order to attain their political status … I think it is real nonsense.
“When somebody is trying to help them, they are saying ‘leave us, leave us, you are not genuine’.
“How do I prove I am genuine? You think I have to put a plastic soda on my body, clean and make my skin white before they believe me.”
Supposed to meet Hindraf chairperson
Asked if Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy was supposed to meet him during a recent trip to India, Samy Vellu said they spoke to each other.
“Waythamoorthy spoke to me, I also spoke to him. He promised that when I went to India, we will have a meeting to discuss the issues that are confronting us.
“Then he said he is going to Bombay (Mumbai) and I went to Madras (Chennai). Then he said let us reserve the 27th of last month for our discussion.
“I waited in my hotel, I waited and waited up to 11 o’clock and I gave him a call but he did not attend the phone, then I packed up my things and came back to Malaysia … Hindraf is not my enemy, but they are not my friends also,” he added.
Waythamoorthy - who is in London in self-exile - was also critical of Samy Vellu’s decision to push for the release of the five Hindraf leaders held under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The Hindraf chairperson’s brother, Uthayakumar, is among those detained. The rest are M Manoharan, V Ganabatirau, T Vasantha Kumar and R Kenghadharan.
They were arrested shortly after organising a mammoth rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 which saw some 30,000 Indians taking to the streets.
In the past, Samy Vellu had been highly critical of the movement and the demonstration.
Sad about Dr Mahathir’s remarks
Asked if MIC is now regonising the Hindraf struggle as legitimate by calling for the release of its leaders, the president said: “I am not talking about the legitimate thing or whatever they are talking about.”
“The question is … what is due to Indians was not attended to by the government. I have raised this a thousand times in the cabinet. I am very particular about it even from the time of (former premier) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad),” he added.
On that note, Samy Vellu said - in reference to Mahathir’s comments published in Malaysiakini - that he was saddened by the former premier’s assertion that the MIC president did not raise these issues then.
“I have got evidence to say the amount of things that I have raised in the cabinet. I have all the cabinet minutes.
“I was so unhappy that Mahathir said I did not raise anything… But I don’t want to talk about him, I respect him, he is a great man. I don’t want to argue with him. I still have a lot of respect, but I wanted to correct him that I have asked (about the issues).
“If he says ‘no’ …. ask him to put his hand on his chest and find out whether it is true,” he added.
On his scheduled meeting with Home Minister Syed Hamid Syed Albar regarding the Hindraf five this evening, Samy Vellu said he would explain to the minister why the detainees must be freed.
“I will also tell him how their families feel about it. As far as I am concerned matters are settling. The elections are over. Now, I think they should be given their freedom,” he added.
Asked what his next move would be if the government does not free the detainees, Samy Vellu replied: “I will continuously pressure the government because I am not part of the government now.”
The 72-year-old MIC president and former works minister was among the casualties of the March 8 polls. The party was defeated in 18 of its 28 seats.
Towards the end of the press conference, Samy Vellu was asked if Mahathir’s incessant attacks against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would weaken the Barisan Nasional further.
However, the veteran politician refused to be drawn into this. “I have already told you I will not talk anything about Mahathir. I will stick to it.”
