In a statement, he said Subramaniam should look at himself and at other MIC leaders who had “miserably failed” the Indian community.
“Don’t point fingers at others, because MIC under your mentor Samy Vellu, and presently you, have to shoulder a big share of the blame.”
He added that Subramaniam should have commented on why Samy Vellu had been unable to bring progress to the Indian community.
Ramasamy was responding to Subramaniam’s remarks following Mahathir’s pledge to “pay attention to the needs of the Indian community” if he becomes prime minister again.
Subramaniam had said Mahathir should have looked after the welfare of the Indian community better during his tenure as prime minister.
“We would have been very happy if he had done that in the 22 years that he was prime minister. The Indian community would be in a much better position than where it is now.
“It’s too late. He had the opportunity, and he didn’t do it,” Subramaniam said.
Ramasamy said he would have agreed with Subramaniam about Mahathir if the MIC president had factored in the role of Samy Vellu.
“Yes, Mahathir as the former prime minister has to shoulder the blame not just for ignoring the Indian community, but also weakening democratic institutions in the country.
“Despite the initial euphoria, the Indian community was worst hit because Mahathir prioritised the Bumiputera agenda to the exclusion of other communities like Indians.”
However, Ramasamy asked what Samy Vellu, as MIC president and a minister, was doing during Mahathir’s tenure as prime minister.
He said Samy Vellu had in fact heaped praises on Mahathir, describing him as the best prime minister and leader for all the communities in Malaysia.
“In one of my meetings with Samy Vellu many years ago, he mentioned to me that Indians were lucky that they had Mahathir as prime minister. He said whenever he made requests to Mahathir on behalf of the Indian community, such requests would be favourably considered.
“So, is Subramaniam prepared to call Samy Vellu a ‘liar’ for saying wrong things about Mahathir?”
Ramasamy added that under Samy Vellu, MIC had been reduced to a “one-man show”.
“It is not that the government did not do things for Indians, but they were handed over to the Indian community via the vehicle of MIC.
“If MIC squandered those golden opportunities, should Mahathir be blamed? In fact, Mahathir should be blamed for trusting MIC too much,” he said.
“Even if we blame Mahathir for not doing enough for the Indians, I would like to know what happened to the land, shares and others that were distributed to the Indian community via MIC. To this day, Samy Vellu has not given any explanation as to what happened to the Telekom shares allocated by the government.
“Are the lands allocated for putting up educational institutions for Indian children still in the hands of the Indian community or have they has been sold to private interests?”
Ramasamy acknowledged that Mahathir could be blamed for the citizenship woes of the Indian community.
But, he said, the problem had yet to be resolved by the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“Is Subramaniam admitting that there is no difference between Samy Vellu and him in not tackling the persistent problem of how nearly 300,000 Indians have been denied citizenship?”