On 9 Feb following the news that Waytha Moorthy had resigned from his position in the government, I was asked via e-mail for comments on the resignation. The excerpts below are from my response reproduced in toto:

1. Waythamorthy's resignation will have any impact/bearing on the BN?

Yes; besides the Indian community, other minority communities especially in East Malaysia have been monitoring the progress of the Hindraf agreement with the Prime Minister. Basically the message that they will get from the resignation is that the PM - for whatever reason - will not honour his commitment to providing a fair deal to minority communities. Should Hindraf decide to engage in a public campaign to denounce the PM and the support institutions in the civil service and other federal agencies for their cynical disregard of the Indian electorate after making use of them during the recent elections, the damage to the PM personally and BN as a whole could be considerable and long lasting.

2. Is this a slap on Najib's face?

Yes. But it is a slap also to Waytha, the Hindraf movement and to the other Indian-based parties such as the MIC in the BN. Although Umno is the major partner in the BN there has been some optimism that it will moderate its "ketuanan Melayu" stance for a 1Malaysia one. Now it looks as if the 1Malaysia concept is well and truly buried especially when other recent developments are also taken into account.

3. What does it do for the public's perception towards BN and their promise to help the Indian community?

I think the public will see this as another of the broken promises of the PM and the BN. We can expect even greater distrust, cynicism and alienation even among many members of the Malay community who are concerned for political ethical standards and morality, despite the racial angle that seems to be the dominant factor in this development.

4. Biggest loser and biggest winner with this resignation and why

Biggest losers are PM, Waytha and other Indian supporters of the BN. There are no winners in this unless all political parties learn that racial discrimination and injustice have no place in our political system, and are fully committed to these principles in word as well as deed.

Indian response to Waytha’s resignation

Following the exchange above, I have talked to Indian friends on Waytha’s resignation and the view that Waytha has been a big loser. Their unanimous response differs from my initial view and it is one which is important to note.

Their view is that while Waytha may have suffered a severe setback to his credibility through his inability to deliver on Hindraf’s MoU with the BN, he has in fact redeemed his, and his organization’s, honour and good name, by biting the hard bullet of resignation. What was clear in the response of ordinary Indians (some I spoke to had asked not to quote their names) which was surprising to me was their pride that someone in their community had stood firm against the BN juggernaut on the side of justice, fair play and integrity.

Contrary to public expectations of behind-the-door deals aimed at self-enrichment of a few Hindraf leaders and self-serving excuses aimed at confusing the constituency of poor Indians on the delay in the implementation of the MOU agreement, Waytha – and in fact the entire central committee leadership – decided that he should not delay his departure.

Today, Waytha’s official public statement on his resignation has finally appeared. In it he states that “(f)or the last eight months I had tried patiently to work with the PM to roll out the programmes agreed to in the agreement, but we have not been able to move even on one item in the MoU. I make no excuses for our failure; I take full ownership for the failure and its consequences”.

Raising the Bar on Political Standards

Although there are members of the public still angry at the role that Waytha and Hindraf played in the last elections in mobilizing Indian support for the BN who will not be appeased by this public apology, I believe that Waytha has raised the bar for those who believe that joining the BN bandwagon or throwing in their support for the incumbent government is the right strategy to bring reform and change to the country.

Apologists for the BN in public but damning the excesses and misgovernance of the ruling party in the safety of their cocktail or lunch crowd, these self-advancement seeking BN political allies have been one of the main reasons why the BN continues to ransack the country with impunity and ruins it with disastrous policies.

In the murky world of Malaysian politics, high principles, ethical standards and moral values all too often do not count, or count for little. It is too easy to compromise one’s integrity and honour especially when the rewards for reaching agreement with a vastly superior political force are so rich and beguiling.

In refusing to give up on Hindraf’s objectives aimed at assisting poor Indians, and in accepting responsibility for the failure of any tangible programmes to be implemented, Waytha has shown the way forward for the political ‘realists’ and ‘optimists’ who think that change towards a racially fair and just Malaysia is possible under the present government.

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Hindraf apologizes to the Indian poor

On behalf of Hindraf I unconditionally apologize to the Malaysian Indian poor for not being able to fulfil the socio-economic reform programs which we promised them based on the MOU signed with the BN Government. Before the last General Elections we called upon the Indian people to vote in the BN.

The Indian poor responded, and the BN won narrowly.

After the elections, now ten months after, Hindraf is not able to fulfil any of the pledges we had made to the Indian poor during the elections. We know this will be disappointing to many of the poor people who had trusted us and voted for the BN hoping positive changes will happen in their lives if BN won.

We entered into the MOU for the following reasons:
1) in sincere and earnest hope that we could bring about changes in the lives of the Indian poor who have suffered for generations.
2) The true problems of the Indian community have been understood by the ruling class and there was no political solutions to their problems prior to this.
3) By getting the Prime Minister and BN to publicly endorse their commitment, we earnestly believed they would keep to their words and promises.
4) At that time we thought we would be able to carry out the various socio economic programs as we will be mandated to carry out those programs our self with the necessary budget and unit.

I take full ownership for this failure to deliver on our pledges. For the last eight months I had tried patiently to work with the PM to rollout the programs agreed to in the Agreement, but we have not been able to move even on one of the items in the Agreement.

I make no excuses for our failure; I take full ownership for the failure and its consequences. I sincerely apologize to the Indian poor for this failure on behalf of HINDRAF. I hope they will accept our apologies as we move on into our next chapters in our struggle for fairness, equality, justice and dignity.

 

P.Waytha Moorthy
Chair HINDRAF.