Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Paranjothy's courageous exposure of UMNO's racism

Paranjothy's courageously exposed UMNO's racism

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2007/12/26/hishammuddin-threat-tsu-koon-should-requsition-bn-supreme-council-meeting-to-stop-bullyingintimidation/


Paranjothy's statement for saying two things:

• that the 30,000 Indians who took part in the Hindraf demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 did so to express their frustration and anger because the community had been "marginalized, oppressed and ignored".

• Blaming Umno leaders, particularly the Umno Youth Leader Hishammuddin and Deputy Umno Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage – citing as examples the keris-wielding episodes against the former and the public castigation of the Indian news vendors by the latter when the Umno presidential address of Prime Minister and Umno President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was not carried in the press the next day as the Umno general assembly fell on Deepavali, with the next day an annual press holiday.

Weak coaltion party Threatens to Expel Paranjothy for his strong statements on UMNO racism.

Note: Lim Kit Siang is a veteran opposition leader. He pulls no punches in his writing and writes without fear or favor as compared to mainstream media which are government propaganda tools. Reading his blog is a must to understand the true affairs of Malaysia:

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/

Gerakan to expel Paranjothy - George Orwell's Animal Farm dictum reigns
supreme in BN

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2007/12/24/gerakan-to-expel-paranjothy
-george-orwells-animal-farm-dictum-reigns-supreme-in-bn/

posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 11: 58.36

What a weak and panicky start for Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon as Gerakan's No.
1 - immediately buckling under pressure by Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri
Hishammuddin Hussein to take disciplinary action against the Gerakan Youth
vice chief S. Paranjothy who dared to speak publicly what others only
muttered privately. - that the 30,000 Indians who took part in the Hindraf
demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 did so to express their
frustration and anger because the community had been "marginalized,
oppressed and ignored".

http://web7.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news.php?id=304017

Paranjothy had also blamed, and rightly, Umno leaders, particularly the Umno
Youth Leader Hishammuddin and Deputy Umno Youth Leader Khairy Jamaluddin for
racial posturing and inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain
political mileage - citing as examples the keris-wielding episodes against
the former and the public castigation of the Indian news vendors by the
latter when the Umno presidential address of Prime Minister and Umno
President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was not carried in the press the
next day as Umno general assembly fell on Deepavali, with the next day an
annual press holiday.

There can be no doubt that if a private vote had been taken among the
Gerakan leaders, in fact, even MCA and MIC leaders, all would have agreed
with the sentiments expressed by Paranjothy!

Hishammuddin had immediately issued an ultimatum to Tsu Koon with the threat
of severance of ties with Gerakan not only by Umno Youth but also by Barisan
Nasional unless Tsu Koon could give a satisfactory response and explanation.

What was Tsu Koon reaction? Although he protested that "it is not right" for
Hishammuddin to issue the threat and ultimatum of severance of all
relationships with Gerakan, Tsu Koon clearly panicked, which was why he
complied instantly by referring Paranjothy to the Disciplinary Committee and
even anticipated the disciplinary process by saying that the Gerakan Youth
vice chief would be suspended or expelled! Nanyang Siang Pau's headline
today is "Gerakan to sack Paranjothy"!

Is Barisan Nasional a coalition of equals of 14 political parties?

Could the Youth leader of Gerakan, MCA, MIC, PPP or any other component
party issue a threat or ultimatum to the Umno President, Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi in the manner Hishammuddin had done to Tsu Koon?

Isn't this itself a breach of Barisan Nasional discipline and what is Tsu
Koon doing about it - just swallow it and pretend it has not happened?

Or does George Orwell's Animal Farm dictum, that "All animals are equal, but
some animals are more equal than others" reign supreme in Barisan Nasional?

Is this why even Khairy as deputy Umno Youth leader could publicly insult
and humiliate Tsu Koon as Penang Chief Minister and Gerakan No. 2 last year
accusing the Gerakan Penang State Government of "marginalizing" the Malays
in Penang, and "facing the same fate of being marginalised as the Malays in
Singapore"?

Did the Gerakan leadership issue an ultimatum demanding a satisfactory
explanation from the top Umno leadership over Khairy's breach of Barisan
Nasional discipline with the threat of severance of ties between Gerakan and
UMNO?

If Khairy was not guilty of any breach of Barisan Nasional discipline in his
open criticism of Tsu Koon, why should Paranjothy's open criticism of
Hishammuddin and Khairy be such gross breach of discipline that Tsu Koon is
talking publicly about expulsion? Isn't this just kowtowing to Umno Youth?

When the five Hindraf leaders, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabathirau, M.
Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan and T. Vasanthakumar were detained under the
Internal Security Act on 13th December 2007, Tsu Koon provided instant
support on the same day declaring that the Prime Minister-cum-Internal
Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, must have compelling
reasons to invoke the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA).

Tsu Koon and the Gerakan leadership also fully supported the infamous
Operation Lalang mass arrests under the ISA and the series of assaults on
the independence and integrity of the judiciary by the executive in the past
19 years, starting with the 1988 "mother" of judicial crisis with the
arbitrary sacking of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President and Datuk George Seah
and the late Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh as Supreme Court judges.

What has happened to Gerakan's claim as the "conscience" of Barisan
Nasional?
____

Kudos to Paranjothy for his moral courage
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/76345
____

http://anilnetto.com/2007/12/23/samy-vellu-booed-on-live-tv-his-
days-are-numbered/

Samy Vellu booed on "live" TV; are his political days numbered?
posted on Sunday, 23 December 2007 at 12.53 pm

http://www.youtube.com/v/XPu1CwGix_0

MIC president Samy Vellu was booed and publicly humiliated when he turned up
to officiate at the Aattam 100 Vagai 3 (100 types of dance) performance at
the Penang International Sports Arena (Pisa) last night.

Sources tell me the crowd of 2,000-3,000 shouted obscenities at him
including "po-dah" (the rude version of "get lost") and he didn't get a
chance to complete his speech. One source told me he was surprised to hear
that the women in the audience appeared more aggressive in admonishing Samy.

Bear in mind, this was a cultural event and not a political forum, so it
would have been attended by a diverse crowd of Indian Malaysians - who have
now become politically awakened as never before.

The event was supposed to be telecast "live" by Astro Vaanavil (Channel 201)
and beamed to India, Singapore, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. Apart from Astro,
the media partners supporting the dance show were Sri Lanka Rupavhini (TV)
Corporation, Jaya TV India, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation and
Media-Corp TV12 Singapore Pte. Ltd. So Samy's image in the region would have
suffered more than a little dent.

Earlier yesterday, Samy Vellu was huddled with Penang MIC division heads in
a closed-door meeting at the Equatorial Hotel near Pisa, probably discussing
the Hindraf developments. I gather that 40-50 outsiders, probably Hindraf
supporters, were prevented from nearing the hotel during the day.

Such is the anger on the ground among Indian Malaysians that Samy Vellu's
political days could well be numbered. In fact, I would say he has become a
major political liability for the BN - but then who else have they got in
the MIC? Then again, it's not any single individual that Indian Malaysians
are upset about (though Samy is probably the focal point of their
frustration in view of scandals such as the Maika fiasco) - it's the whole
system they are railing against: the sense of being economically
marginalised and disempowered for so long (in the same way that many other
Malaysians of other ethnic groups are).

If at the last general election, the MIC delivered 80-90 per cent of the
Indian Malaysian vote to the Barisan, several Indian Malaysians I have met
are predicting that this time the MIC would be hard-pressed to deliver even
10 per cent.

That may be wishful thinking - and an underestimation of the BN "machinery"
and mastery of racial politicking - but all indications are that the MIC is
going to suffer a serious setback at the polls. (It doesn't take a genius to
figure that out!) And that could spell trouble for the BN in a string of
constituencies, especially in areas where the majorities were wafer-thin in
the 2004 general election.

Meanwhile, Anwar Ibrahim has been hitting the hustings in Penang over the
weekend, holding a series of talks and forums in the state. From what I
hear, he has been drawing significant multi-ethnic turnouts at some of these
events including a session with Malay and Indian Malaysian squatters in
Bukit Gelugor who are facing eviction. He promised them that, if elected, he
would try and do something about their plight.

He appears to be having some impact, working the ground. Have a look at this
Malaysiakini videoclip to see the rapport he has struck with Indian
Malaysians at this earlier rally in Jalan Kebun, Klang on 14 Dec attended by
4,000 people.

http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=15352

The BN has good reason to be worried. All of a sudden, cracks are appearing
in the BN fold and the juggernaut appears to be creaking. Will Samy dare to
show up at any other public event in the future? Stay tuned.

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