Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to meet several Indian non-governmental organisations, community leaders and academicians tomorrow.

The meeting, scheduled for 9am at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya, comes in the wake of a mass rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Nov 25 and the allegation that Indians have been marginalised.

However, one observer, who declined to be named, described the meeting as nothing more than a public relations exercise which will not address the root causes of the problems affecting the community.

The reason for this, according to the observer, is that the more critical voices in the Indian community have been excluded.

It is learnt that those invited are the National Land Cooperative Society Limited (NLFCS), the Malaysian Hindu Sangam, Hindu Youth Organisation, Malaysian Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Tamil Youth Bell Club, Malaysian Indian Youth Council, Malaysian Indian Business Association, Hindu Dharmam Mahamandram, National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW), human rights commissioner N Siva Subramaniam and economist Dr R Thillainathan.

“The PM says his got big ears and that he is willing to listen to the truth, but I doubt this group will be able to tell him the truth,” said the observer.

He said the meeting - organised by Abdullah’s special aides popularly known as the ‘fourth floor’ - will turn out to be more of a damage control exercise.

“Some of these groups get government grants while there are also those which are aligned to MIC, namely party president S Samy Vellu,” he added.

Detractors have also accused MIC and its leaders of failing to represent the Indian community effectively, a charge which has been denied by its veteran president.

‘PM being misled’

The observer said if the government is sincere in wanting to resolve the problems faced by the community, then they should listen to all groups and not only those “who will paint a rosy picture”.

“The PM is being misled by those who organised the meeting by leaving out the majority of the Indian representation.

“The community’s support has gravitated towards Hindraf, if the government does not wish to engage the movement’s leaders in a discussion, that is fine, but they should talk to everyone else,” he added.

The observer also noted that organisations linked to Samy Vellu’s former deputy and political nemesis S Subramaniam have also been left out.

He said when the question was raised as to why the other groups were not invited, the reply from the Prime Minister’s Department is that they do not want to turn it into a political issue.

However, it is believed that Samy Vellu will be present at the meeting.

The Hindraf rally which saw some 30,000 people taking to the streets had incurred the wrath of government leaders.

The rally was organised to support a class action suit filed by the movement against the British government for bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured labourers.

Hindraf also submitted a memorandum to the British government alleging Indians in Malaysia are being marginalised and subjected to ethnic cleansing.

Earlier today, five Hindraf leaders were arrested under the Internal Security Act for being a threat to national security.