Najib, Ramasamy said in a statement, had to address why the community had been sidelined for the past 60 years or so, adding that the prime minister’s recent Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB) was not enough.
The MIB has specific targets and policies to address the plight of Indians andcontains solutions to several key issues such as education, improving livelihoods and better social inclusion.
The MIB, the Penang deputy chief minister II said, might be important to address the symptoms, but it could not address the structural problems that stood in the way of the development of the community.
“More than 60 years of deliberate and systematic neglect of the Malaysian Indians cannot be merely undone by showering them with praises or even by waving the MIB.”
Ramasamy said the root cause of Indian neglect lay in the structuring of politics and society along racial and religious lines that favoured one community at the expense of others.
“In fact, he does not have to go too far, the party which he heads, Umno, is the prime cause of what ails the marginalised communities like Indians and others.
“In other words, Najib cannot hunt with hounds and run with hares at the same time.”
He was commenting on remarks by Najib at yesterday’s The Economic Times’ Asian Leader Concave in Kuala Lumpur where Najib sang high praises of the Malaysian Indian community for its role in building the country.
Among other things, Najib had said Malaysian Indians had always been at the forefront of governance, civil service, business, entertainment, education and the food business, and that their culture and faith had helped enrich Malaysia.
“I can truly say that without Malaysian Indians, Malaysia simply would not be what it is today,” Najib had said.
Ramasamy, saying such high praise sounded too good to be true, added: “I am not sure whether he is genuine or whether he is enticing the community to throw its support behind the Barisan Nasional in the coming general election.
“I think to date, no Umno or BN leader outside the MIC has praised the Malaysian Indian community so high for their contribution.”
Ramasamy said even if Najib had good intentions, the prime minister was smart enough to know that it would be “near impossible” to get the support of the Chinese community in the coming general election and that he would have to depend on the Malays and Indians in the peninsula.
“Since Malaysian Indians do make a difference in about 60 electoral constituencies in terms of winning or losing, he thinks that they could be counted on with provision of some goodies.”