'Murugiah just pleasing his Umno masters'

The war of words between DAP national legal bureau chief A Sivanesan and former PPP youth chief T Murugiah continued with the former ratcheting up the pressure.

Murugiah who is deputy minister in the prime minister's department (in charge of national unity and public complaints bureau), advised BN and Pakatan Rakyat to refrain from raising the cow-head issue during the Bagan Pinang state by-election campaign in Negeri Sembilan.

He said he was seeking the cooperation of the Home Ministry to have the police on duty to arrest anyone raising the issue as a precautionary measure against possible racial flare ups.

Sivanesan lambasted Murugiah for the statement, telling to him to stick to his job of serving the people and stop behaving like a warlord.

Today, Sivanesan fired another salvo by asking why Murugiah did not question the Selangor police as to why they allowed the Umno protesters to drag a severed cow's head for one kilometre while the police merely stood as bystanders.

"Murugiah as deputy minister for unity should have hauled up the police personnel involved and taken action against those fanning racial hatred among the Indian community," Sivanesan.

"He should have also asked Home Minister Hishammuddin Husein for an explanation for his bias in siding with the Umno demonstrators in the temple relocation issue.

"No! He did not have the guts to challenge his Umno masters but instead chose to use the issue as an weapon against Pakatan Rakyat in campaign trail in Bagan Pinang," he said.

'Just doing my duty'

Murugiah said as deputy minister in charge of national unity, he had the powers to ensure that the cow-head stamping incident was not exploited by anyone to create disharmony among the races.

"We do not want to see racial tension in the country. This will start a chain reaction whereby foreign investors and tourists will be frightened away and our economy will suffer," he had said.

Murugiah was reacting to, among others, Sivanesan's charge that he will not make a good Indian leader as he was insensitive to the feelings of the Indian community.

Sivanesan had also said that Murugiah was issuing the cow-head reminder in the Bagan Pinang by-election to please his Umno masters - Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Hishammuddin.

To this, Murugiah angrily retorted: " I'm not out to please anybody! I'm only doing my duty as deputy minister to maintain peace and harmony in the country."