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Support for Hindraf’s ‘people power’ slogan

SINGAPORE: ‘Makkal Sakthi’ (‘People power’) slogan of the Hindu Rights Action Force has been adopted by two multiracial opposition parties in the run-up to the snap general election, slated for March 8, in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The political irony is that Hindraf, derided by the ruling coalition as an unregistered organisation, is not in the fray as a political party. However, some of its activists, including a leader detained without trial under the Internal Security Act, have been fielded by two opposition parties — Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) — as candidates on their respective ticket.

Nurul Izzah, a young leader of PKR, echoed the Hindraf slogan in her campaign speech, over this weekend, in the prestigious Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur. She is the daughter of the once-incarcerated former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, prime mover now on the opposition circuit. Mr. Anwar, as a result of his imprisonment in a corrupt practices case, remains disqualified until next month for any elective office; and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is widely believed to have called this snap poll to capitalise on this situation.

Ms. Nurul Izzah told the voters that “Makkal Sakthi has a big meaning.” Malaysians, she said, had “long forgotten” that people’s rights were of “supreme” importance in a democracy.

Her critics, however, point out that electoral calculations alone have dictated her decision to gravitate to the rallying platform of Hindraf, which has been spearheading in recent months a campaign for the rights of the “marginalised” ethnic Indian minority.

People of Indian origin are said to constitute nearly 18 per cent of the voters in that constituency.

Throughout Malaysia, ethnic Indians are not in a majority in any parliamentary or state constituency. However, DAP candidates also have voiced Hindraf’s “article of faith” as their own.

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