Democracy indicates transparency and the freedom to speak from our hearts, regardless of our background and ethnicity.

The government, led by Barisan Nasional since its independence, has always been very immodest in telling other countries that it has been serving all ethnic groups in Malaysia equally. This was proven widely inaccurate by Hindraf's Nov 25 rally.

The march to hand over the memorandum to Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered by everyone in this country. I am very proud to be a part of this historic event that will be read by future generations of this country.

We need to wonder why Malaysian Indians need to bring up their woes with the British government. This clearly shows that our government is not taking positive actions to address the plight of the Indians in this country. Allow me to remind the government that we, Indian Malaysians, were even asked to leave this country and go back to India by a prominent politician when confronted by the opposition leaders on a hotly-debated issue in Parliament.

Another issue which my colleague has reminded me about is the protest held by our blue-eyed boy, Khairy Jamaluddin, and his team of Malay youths this year when US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made an official visit to Malaysia. We did not see the authorities using tear gas, water canons and force against Khairy.

Is it because Khairy is the prime minister's son-in-law? Why the double standards when Khairy's gathering was similar to the Hindraf gathering? Is this what the government calls democracy?