AS expected, Indian leaders in BN who are beholden to the prime minister are predicting that the Indian community will support Umno/BN in the coming GE14. Najib Razak, too, praised the Indian community for its contribution to the country.

In 2013 the prime minister promised to raise the Indian equity to 3% but it still remains at 1.3%, the same it has been for the past 60 years. Indian employment in government services has reduced drastically over the past 50 years to 4.1%, including the employment of Tamil school teachers.

The Malaysian Indian Blueprint (page 126) points out that only 1.7% of Indian applicants succeeded in becoming civil servants. 11% of youth held in prison are Indians. 70% of gang members are Indians. Only 54% of Indian students passed the UPSR examination while the national average is 66% and only 44% of Indian students passed the SPM examination while the national average is 55%.

In spite of the Indian contribution to the country, as attributed by the prime minister, the socio economic progress is pitiful. A deeper look at the prime minister’s overtures to the Indian community only show empty promises with nothing when it comes to rights as Malaysian citizens. It is all handouts, promises and hopes of betterment on condition that the Indian community supports BN.

In the 60 years after independence, Malaysian Indians were nudged out of government policies. Systematically, Indians were removed from various departments, education and hospital services by the racist Umno. Even for allocation of Tamil schools, the prime minister’s goodwill is needed. Such is the predicament of Malaysian Indians. All these took place while MIC and other Indian based parties were part of the BN coalition.

While the Indian community is being systematically sidelined and marginalized, these Indian parties in BN keep singing praises of the prime ministers and Umno leaders. Now they are blaming Dr Mahathir for not helping Indians. But when he was in power, MIC leaders said he was the best prime minister for the Indian community.

Such is the MIC’s and BN Indian parties’ hypocrisy and self-centeredness. Even unskilled foreigners who come to work are turning into petty businessmen, but for the Indians, even this an impossible dream.

The Umno government conveniently passed all Indian matters to MIC and not to the relevant ministries. Matters of education, employment, loans for education or even businesses for Indian community were passed on to MIC and are not handled by the government.

The MIC became the middleman between the Indian community and the government. The Umno/BN government just gave pittance to the MIC and left the community in the lurch to fend for itself. Umno has surely and slowly denied many rights to non-Malays and non-Muslims despite the support of all these Indian parties in BN. Umno still uses race and religion to divide and rule. Racial discrimination is still part and parcel of the official policy of Umno/BN.

A country that discriminates its own citizen can never progress. Racial and religious discrimination only encourages nepotism, inefficiency, incompetence and corruption. Malaysia’s own history is testimony to this effect. It’s time to change our destiny, which is in our hands. – December 4, 2017.

*S. Ramakrishnan is a former senator.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.