Pakatan urged to include Indian issues in manifesto

Several non-governmental organisations have urged Pakatan Rakyat to reconsider its manifesto to include the needs of the Indian Malaysian community, such as affirmative action for the minority group.

People's Welfare and Rights Organisation (Power) president S Gobi Krishnan said he believed the omission to be a genuine mistake that should be rectified before the general election.

"Many NGOs, and even Hindraf, have come up with ideas. When the Indian community is marginalised, you must have certain affirmative policies for them, such as a Department of Minority Affairs," Gobi said when contacted.

He said the Indian community was saddened by the Pakatan manifesto because it had high hopes in the coalition. According to him, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was "doing a better job now by addressing the short-term aspirations of the Indians".

Echoing the call for affirmative action is National Indian Rights Action Team (Niat) chairperson Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim (right), whose NGO had mooted a ‘Minority Affairs and Development Department' and a number of other policies.

Thasleem argued that since issues concerning the Orang Asli are stated in the Pakatan manifesto, the issues of the Indians should too, for they were one of the most marginalised groups in peninsular Malaysia.

"They could have addressed that and said, ‘Yes, we know', and issued a general statement that the matter would definitely be taken care of," he said when contacted.

Nevertheless, Thasleem added, the overall Pakatan manifesto was good and it should be supported.

Manifesto ‘ongoing process'

Meanwhile, former Hindraf leader V Ganapathirau said it was premature to criticise the Pakatan manifesto that was launched earlier this week.

"People say ‘no, no, no' but this is the first such manifesto. It is an ongoing process, and I hear that they are going to touch on the goods and services tax as well," he said.

He said the Indian community felt that it has for long been marginalised. It had helped bring about the 2008 political tsunami and was therefore deserving of special attention.

However, Indian Malaysians must consider that Pakatan needed to be fair to the other communities as well, added Ganapathirau, who was detained under the Internal Security Act in 2007 and is now a Selangor DAP leader.