Due to recent developments brought about by the propagation of ‘marginalised Indians’ by the secretary-general of the Human Rights Party, P Uthayakumar, we feel constrained to write and in doing so, we are asking you to reflect upon the points raised. First and foremost, we would like to register our stand on this issue as being not against the struggle of Uthayakumar but against the method employed.

As an educated lawyer, he should have known from the beginning that democracy is based on the principles of ‘majority rule’ and that the majority rules to its advantage, obviously. Having said that, lets us contemplate on the matter in hand. We did patronise the HRP website and came out disgusted with the amount of racism advocated against Umno.

If his sincere objective is to highlight the mismanagement/oppression/brutality of the Umno leadership, then he should have been more precise in naming these leaders instead of demonising the entire Umno which consist of nearly three million members. This is tantamount to calling all Malays as anti-Indians which is definitely an outrageous claim.

The core factor for nearly all the problems faced by this group of the Indian community is nothing but poverty, to which Uthaya himself had acknowledged in his postings and letters to the government. The question now is, what is he doing to tackle this problem?

By organising street demonstrations, hunger strikes, mass prayers, soliciting foreign aid and all other methods of demands, at best, solves nothing but gains cheap publicity and popularity for the top leadership of HRP a.k.a Hindraf. The cause might be noble but the method is despicable.

The time has come for Uthaya to address the root cause of their ‘marginalisation’ which we strongly feel is due to their lack of ‘financial independence’. Let us look at the Chinese community. After the dark episode of May 13, didn’t the Chinese move forward?

They did not organise street protests nor did they lament at the many obstacles and bureaucracy thrown at them by the government but instead they organised ‘kongsi’ meetings. They were united in their struggle. They did not resort to ‘hindrafism’ but strived towards financial independence.

Their great leaders of that time drove them forward in achieving a self-sustaining community. They bought their own land, they built their own temples and schools on that land, they placed high importance on education, and even the villages had private Chinese schools.

These schools were not aided by the government and in fact even the national Chinese schools did not stretch out their arms and beg the government for allocations. On the contrary, they raised their own funds.

We agree that the task of seeking financial independence of the ‘marginalised’ Indian community is indeed a laborious process but if planned and executed correctly, it is achievable just like how it was done by the Punjabis, Sikhs, Bengalis, Malayalis, Gujeratis and many other ethnic Indian community members who stood on their own and are still standing on their own effort and perseverance against the many hurdles encountered along their social and economic struggle.

They did not surrender their fate into the hands of the MIC but chose to fight for their own survival and they did it and are still doing it without resorting to any violence or reproach towards any race. The ‘marginalised Indians’ championed by Uthaya are entirely, if not all, made up of illiterate Tamils.

At best, Uthaya is unwittingly shepherding this group of Indians further away from their fellow Malaysians by providing an avenue for this group to come together and find solace in the ‘ we are oppressed, we are helpless, what can we do’ cocoon spun by HRP a.k.a. Hindraf.

As we acknowledged earlier, Uthaya should be commended for championing the plight of this oppressed minority but we stand firm on our conviction that his methods are wrong. For instance, we abhor the sight of children being used and manipulated in a man’s battleground. He knew very well the likely possibilities in a street protest and yet he chose to expose these children to such dnagers.

Having said all this, we also believe in constructive criticism and as such we would like to suggest to Uthaya to channel his and his party’s resources towards uplifting the standard of living of these ‘marginalised’ Indians (Tamils). Below is the excerpt from ‘The New York Times’ daily:

Rural India Gets Chance at Piece of Jobs Boom

By Lydia Polgreen Published: November 12, 2009

‘BAGEPALLI, India — ‘Seventy percent of Indians live in rural areas like Bagepalli. A handful of entrepreneurs are experimenting to bring the jobs to distant corners of India that have been largely cut off from its extraordinary economic rise.

Almost all of those jobs are in cities. But 70 percent of Indians live in rural areas. India largely skipped - or never arrived at - the industrial phase of development that might have pulled the rural masses to cities.

Over the decades, a Gandhian fondness for rural life has also kept people in villages where the bonds of caste and custom remain strong. India has struggled unsuccessfully with the question of how to lift this vast underclass out of poverty.

‘Some economists argue that India still needs rapid urbanisation if it is ever to become a major economic power and provide jobs to its vast legions of unemployed.

‘But the founders of Rural Shores, a company that is setting up outsourcing offices in rural areas, say it makes more sense to take the jobs where the people are.

‘We thought, ‘Why not take the jobs to the village?’ ‘ said G Srinivasan, the company’s director. ‘There is a lot of talent there, and we can train them to do the job.’

Based on the above, we suggest that instead of wasting his effort and energy banging on the doors of the government, Uthaya should pool together his friends, relatives, well-wishers and party members into helping this backward group of people strive towards a better standard of living.

All monies being collected/donated to the Hindu temples should be redirected towards refurbishing the existing Tamil schools. Every Indian village and estate should have a ‘Community Computer Centre’ manned by his HRP members to facilitate the growth of computer literacy among the young and old.

Apart from that, free tuition classes must be conducted on a regular basis to assist the weak students. Amazingly, the Indian community, especially the Tamils, have more temples than centres of learning. Uthaya, as a learned lawyer should encourage and instil the importance of formal education among this group.

In the same breath, business and job opportunities in the private sector should be made available to them. As what the director of Rural Shores said, bring the job to them. It’s a ‘win-win’ situation for both parties since these entrepreneurs will find the cost of operation in these areas are much lesser than in the townships.

Uthaya and HRP a.k.a. Hindraf, while continuing their social struggle, should not ignore the gospel truth that a sound education and economic independence shall liberate these ‘marginalised’ Indians. All efforts and resources should be mobilised towards achieving this common goals and rest assured, once achieved, they shall not be oppressed any further.

To Mr Uthaya: These Indians don’t need a fighter, they need a leader. It’s time for you to become one.