In the midst of focus on ISA detentions and the banning of Hindraf, many are unreservedly supporting Hindraf driven by the emotion that ISA arrests cause.

By now, the reasons that shot Hindraf into prominence have been either forgotten or considered not important anymore and the issue is being politicised instead.

No doubt the ISA arrest of anyone - whether Hindraf’s leaders, Raja Petra Kamarudin or the countless other unsung individuals languishing in Kamunting - should be condemned and we ought to support all efforts to free these people.

However, we need to take stock of the causes of the Hindraf leaders’ current predicament by doing an objective analysis of their activities so that any decision whether to support or condemn them is educated, devoid of emotion and free from manipulation whether by politicians in the BN or Pakatan Rakyat and NGOs.

The crux of Hindraf’s grievance is that Indians have been deprived of their right to economic prosperity in Malaysia and that the Hindus’ freedom of religion is being curbed.

For a start, the focus on Hindu rights by using the Indian platform raises the question on whose cause Hindraf is really championing ie, whether Hindu or Indian as large segments of Indians in Malaysia are not Hindus but either Muslim or Christian.

No doubt segments within the Indian community, like other minorities in Malaysia, are facing genuine economic issues and deserve help and intervention from the government.

Whilst these economic issues are not unique to the Indians, the specific challenge Indians experience is the mass dislocation from plantations with the government failing to provide support to minimise the personal difficulties and social problems that such large scale disruptions cause.

However, Hindraf has encapsulated the genuine cries for help within a catalogue of grievances and accusations against the authorities, either cunningly calculated to smear the government abroad or alternatively in a manner that shows Hindraf’s own inability to actually understand and articulate the causes of the Indian’s woes and more importantly, prioritise those that have a better chance of being addressed by the government.

Hindraf accuses the government of ethnic cleansing and genocide by citing the Kg Medan skirmishes and cases of deaths of Indians in incidents handled by the police. Hindraf’s leaders, being mostly lawyers, surely understand what ethnic cleansing and genocide entail and that the number of deaths of Indians cited - whilst questionable and even if correct - is not even a tiny shade of the atrocities witnessed in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda etc.

Of course, that does not mean that we should not regret these deaths but the issue is really that these are related to crimes involving the individuals. The police handling of these cases has been the subject of much debate and it is important to note that the police’s behavior has been the same in pursuing criminals like the Chinese triads in the 1970s and 1980s and currently Indonesians and Malays as well.

So the issue is really about the police’s behavior and not about the government having a grand strategy to obliterate Indians in Malaysia.

The accusation of ethnic cleansing by the government is thus not only mischievous but also wicked and calculated to cast Malaysia into disrepute in the international arena.

Hindraf claims that the government is systematically denying Hindus the freedom to practice their religion by citing the 80-odd temple demolitions over the years. Hindraf, however, fails to provide the context that there are 17,000 Hindu temples in Malaysia and that the key issue is that many are at odds with local planning regulations and in many cases also need to make way for development as the plantations within which they are sited are being redeveloped.

For quite some time now, the Malaysian Hindu Sangam has been talking about proposing an approach to regulate the development of Hindu temples but nothing much has been achieved and Hindraf itself appears to be at odds with others within the community on this issue.

No doubt the government’s passive stand on this matter has not helped but the community itself needs to be clear and realistic on its expectations.

In particular, the demand that every temple be relocated or preserved irrespective of the present size of the community in the locality is not realistic as mass migration of Hindus due to redevelopment of plantations has caused the population of Hindus in the vicinity of many temples to decline significantly.

Hindraf has cleverly avoided placing the Hindu temple issue in Malaysia in perspective considering that minorities including Hindus and Muslims elsewhere such as in Singapore, US and Europe etc not only do not have such an extensive network of places of worship but Muslims in particular are widely stigmatised by societies there. Hindus in Malaysia are not beset by such concerns and Hindraf needs to be honest and acknowledge the that the degree of freedom Hindus have in Malaysia is unparalleled.

Hindraf’s leaders are also arrogant and think that they are king-makers in Malaysian politics. After routing the MIC in the last general elections, they made numerous demands for positions in Pakatan Rakyat governments and when not all could be fulfilled, Hindraf threatened to withdraw support. The PKR MP S Manickavasagam recently threatened to resign from the party over the demolition of a Hindu temple in Ampang.

Further, Hindraf has sued the British government over their purported failure to protect the rights of Indians in Malaysia. Yet at the same time, Hindraf is seeking the British Prime Minister’s help to solve their problems in Malaysia and their leader is seeking asylum there. By suing the British government, Hindraf is biting the very hand that they are asking to feed them.

In a nut shell, Indians do have problems but this is not unique to them but also applicable to many minorities including the bumiputera, largely due to issues related to the New Economic Policy and the government’s poor handling of ethnic relations.

It is certainly laudable for Malaysians including Hindraf to take up this cause but the approach needs to be governed by integrity, wisdom, responsibility and a sense of reasonableness.

Thus far Hindraf’s leaders have not passed this test. All Hindraf has achieved is highlighting their issue but they have no chance of delivering solutions. Indians would be well advised to push for leadership that is wiser, mature and responsible enough to adopt strategies that have a better chance of success.