Alleged discrimination of minority Indians an excuse to stir racial sentiments

Extracted from Publius Melayu blog

So much was going around about the HINDRAF rally in several parts of Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It was a Sunday and it was natural for folks in the city to breakfast out for their dose of roti canai or thosai. Mid morning saw smses and phone calls trickling in to handphones updating on the commotion caused by the gathering HINDRAF supporters. Some of the messages were just bits of facts which soon took a life of its own to metamorphose into outright lies and unfounded rumours.

This blogger was at the scene at a location. Watched the whole thing and would hesitate to blame the police for their efforts to break-up the illegal assembly. They gave warnings after the several warnings on the run-up to the demonstration days before but to no avail. Many of the obvious thugs at the centre and on the edges of the groups could clearly be seen hurling abuses, profanities as well as lots of racialistic remarks. This had its desired effect on the rest. In a frenzy, they chanted and tried to lock hands to face the police.

What I saw was the police doing their work professionally. Try to be on their side and, perhaps, the demonstrators will think differently. Bystanders gawked at the melee with disgust. Not disgusted with the police but disgusted at the people who were obviously being used as pawns for some devious political ends.I adjourned to a kedai mamak soon after and overheard people loudly discussing the situation as though wanting everyone around to hear. One guy was Indian.

"Dont know if these guys realise that Indian votes dont count much in our elections because they are all on seats borrowed from the Malays...in India no new Mosque is allowed to be built so much so that in Mumbai Friday prayers are held twice or thrice in a mosque due to the sheer number of people that could not be accomodated within the premises...in Bali, Hindus just wrap sarongs around trunks of trees, which they believe have 'dewas'...they never build shrines or temples on the sites !

Back home in Malaysia, even illegally built suraus have been torned down. Democratic rights do not include ignoring the laws made by democratically elected representatives. If the Election Commission cheats, how come there are so many oppositions seats and one entire state run by an opposition party for 20 years? And how come PKR recently won a state seat in Sarawak?

Indians in Malaysia should very well practice some introspection as advocated by the Hindu religion instead of blaming others. In a multi-racial society, everyone should introspect! It is doubly dangerous if one blames only the others for one's problems. "

But, of course to the hot headed detractors, such an opinion coming from an Indian at that point in time would be seen as just a ploy orchestrated by the government – or that he was nothing more than an UMNO dog (in the usual lingo of the opposition) or an MIC stalwart...