Indians Manipulated In A Dangerous Way, Says Sothinathan

PORT DICKSON, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- While reminding Indians that they were being manipulated in a dangerous way, MIC vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan today expressed the hope that they do not fall into the trap of a group claiming to be championing their plight.
He said the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) should not have played up racial and religious issues but they knew those were the issues that could easily arouse public sentiments.
"It's the MIC which has fought for them so that the Indian community could have access to job and educational opportunities. Then all of a sudden, another group is trying to replace us," he told Bernama here today.
Sothinathan, who is Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said Hindraf had gone too far when it accused the MIC of doing nothing for the Indians for the past 50 years.
"If Hindraf is sincere, then why does it refuse to cooperate with the MIC. This goes to show that it (Hindraf) cannot accept the systems that we have, it refuses to accept the Barisan Nasional (BN) system of government and tries to establish something new without regards for the sensitivities of the other races," he said.
Sothinathan said he himself was not satisfied with the achievements of the Indian community so far. "That is only normal and that is what the MIC is fighting for, but not through street demonstrations.
"This is human psychology; if we are content with what we have, that means we are not progressing. The Malays and the Chinese are also not satisfied but they strive to improve their lot."
Sothinathan said he had received numerous SMSes claiming that the BN government did not provide opportunities for the Indians and asked the people to vote for Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP.
"So we knew of the opposition's role behind all these," he added.
Sothinathan admitted that there had been problems in struggling for the interest of the Indian community, but those were challenges that the MIC had to tackle.
"The MIC has been in existence since 1946. We have gone through many challenges before, so this (Hindraf's claim) is not difficult to overcome. We can explain to the people and at the same time ask the government to provide more opportunities for the Indian community," he said.

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