Is there too much of Umno in Hindraf?
The People's Parliament
In his ‘It’s called freedom of expression, stupid’ post today, RPK wrote, amongst other things :
“Umno and HINDRAF are exactly the same. They are just on opposite sides of the same coin, that’s all. Umno fights for Malay-Muslim rights and HINDRAF fights for Indian-Hindu rights. So, what difference are the two?”
I said almost the same a year and a half ago.
On 24th November, 2007, in my ‘Why I will not walk this Sunday…’ post, I wrote the following about the intended Hindraf rally due to take place the next day :
‘…I could not lend support to this initiative, not because I do not support the call to alleviate the lot of the Indians in this country, but because the Hindraf call is only to address the economic and social neglect of the Hindu / Indian community, and not the fate of all underprivileged, deprived and marginalised Malaysians, regardless of race.
And make no mistake, there are underprivileged, deprived and marginalised Malaysians of all races, without exception, in the country.
The Hindraf call, to my mind, is as chauvinistic and communal as is the UMNO call to defend ‘ketuanan Melayu’.
Both stand in the way of any earnest effort to forge a nation of a single people’.
