The Indian community is facing a crisis in rising gangsterism, and violence is not the answer, says Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy.

"Every major town on the West Coast, I am sure, has several gangs and probably as many members as in Penang. That is a large and disturbing number.

NONE "Is anyone suggesting we shoot all these wayward youngsters to clean the streets of crime?" Waythamoorthy ( left ) asked in a statement today.

He was responding to criticism of his earlier statement against the recent shooting by police of five youths in in Sungei Nibong, Penang.

"That particular episode may have taken the five off the streets in the way it did, but will it really solve the problem of crime?" he asked.

Waythamoorthy acknowledged the statement by the police last Saturday that the Indian community was facing a serious threat in rising gansterism.

hadi ho "At the funeral procession of one of those who died that day, the newspapers reported about 800 Indian (Malaysian) youths, many purportedly 04 gang members, in the procession.

"Yesterday, it was reported that the federal police director of criminal investigations (CID) Hadi Ho Abdullah ( left ) said the police records of known gang members revealed that 71 percent were Indian.

"There is a crisis within the Indian community. We need urgent and positive intervention to stop the slide," said Waythamoorthy.

Told off twice

Last week Waythamoorthy, who is also Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (PHM) chief, was told off by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for criticising the Nibong Tebal shootings.

“If you like to criticise the police, if you like to give negative comments to the police, please resign and lead your own NGO. Be the NGO leader," the home minister said last Saturday alluding to the PHM leader.

NONE Today, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein backed Zahid's call, saying the latter was "101 per cent correct".

Waythamoorthy defended himself, saying the problem of gangsterism was "multi-faceted" and only symptomatic of a larger problem, the socio-economic malaise affecting the Indian community

"Shooting these youths is shooting at the most visible portion jutting above the water, but which is only a very small fraction of the problem," he said.

"Thirty years ago, the statistics would have read very differently – there were nowhere near these numbers of Indian youth involved in crime.

"They have come about as a direct result of the massive forced displacement of estate workers into the urban areas, beginning circa 1980s."

Waythamoorthy reiterated his call for the home minister to work with him to find a "holistic" solution by implementing the blueprint that PHM signed with Prime Minister Najib Razak before the general election.

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