COMMENT | I was having a delicious bowl of ‘keema’ with capati in one of the Hari Raya open houses I visited today when I remembered ‘Kimma’.

‘Kimma’ or the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress, is a lot like ‘keema’ except the latter is made of ground meat cooked with potatoes while ‘Kimma’ is made of non-Malay potatoes aspiring to be Malay bumiputera.

What are the similarities between an Indian dish called ‘keema’ and a political party formed to represent the interests of the Indian Muslim community in Malaysia, you ask? Well most obviously, both are of Indian origin.

While I am not certain how much our ex-prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak, fancies ‘keema’, he did, however, announce during a Hari Raya event last year, that his government will conduct an in-depth study on the request from the party for the Indian Muslim community to be considered as bumiputera.

Today, some one year later and after the uneventful defeat of Umno and BN in the recent election, Kimma seems to be utterly quiet.

You see, prior to GE14, Kimma had vowed to stand strongly behind ex-prime minister Najib while eyeing for opportunities for its delegates to contest a parliamentary seat and a state seat in the election.

Its president, Syed Ibrahim Kader was convinced this would be a tribute to Kimma who had fought for and supported Umno and BN all these years.

Sadly, with the people rejecting Umno and BN after six decades of rule, all of Kimma’s efforts have gone to waste, hence the reason I am intrigued to know of their Plan B if they have one.

Having habitually followed the carrot dangling under its nose - would Kimma now respond positively to Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah’s offer that Pakatan Harapan will accept ex-Umno and ex-BN members?

Will Kimma let bygones be bygones and look forward to forming a new alliance with Harapan?

After all, Harapan is led by a man of Malay-Indian parentage himself (though he claims to be more Malay than Indian) thus Kimma could, by all means, try to push its request to be recognised as bumiputera once again.

In all honesty, compared to pre-GE14, nothing much has changed today. Despite the shift of power from a multiracial coalition to a multiracial alliance, the Malay supremacy that Kimma is greatly fond of is still greatly intact, thanks to Bersatu.

Looks like the Malaysian politics can still be Kimma’s playground since it has not crossed the racial threshold (despite DAP and PKR being multiracial) – that is, if Kimma chooses to do so, lah.

Or perhaps, after years of prioritising agendas that do not benefit the Indian Muslim community one bit, perhaps, just perhaps, Kimma would consider pushing aside its political ambitions and start favouring the community whose interest it claims to represent.

FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a growing media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a regular director, a struggling producer, a self-acclaimed photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot.

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