I read with amusement the letter from MIC central working committee member J Dhinagaran that was published by Malaysiakini , in which he assumed that Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy is trying to remain relevant by slamming the MIC.

First of all, Dhinagaran should understand that MIC has became irrelevant since the 12th general election in 2008, when this BN component party lost most of the seats it contested.

That is a clear sign that MIC has lost the trust of the Indians in Malaysia. The same trend was repeated in the 2013 general election as well. In Penang, MIC lost in both seats it contested.

In claiming that they represent the Indian Malaysians in the country, most MIC leaders, like Dhinagaran, are actually living in denial. In Parliament, we have more Indian MPs from the opposition parties if compared with MPs from the MIC.

I don't know on what basis Dhinagaran is implying that the MIC is relevant, when the reality is in total contrast with this MIC leader's belief. And to answer Dhinagaran's question, why would one try to stay relevant by slamming a party that is no longer relevant to the Indians in the country?

A former Penang MIC Youth chief, Dhinagaran is apparently upset about Ramasamy's criticisms against the MIC president and Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam.

While, we can understand Dhinagaran's intention to please the bosses in the party, he should also understand the fact that most of the miseries Indian Malaysians face in this country are due to the inefficient and ineffective MIC leadership.

MIC has failed Indian Malaysians

What we cannot understand is why MIC members like Dhinagaran get defensive when it is pointed out that the MIC has indeed failed the Indians in Malaysia. It is a fact that, not only Dhinagaran, but no one can deny.

The recent controversies about the unilateral conversion of minors to Islam is getting highlighted after Court of Appeal's decision in Indira Gandhi's case.

The amendment to Article 121 of the Federal Constitution in the year 1988 is the sole reason for today's confusions. Wasn't MIC part of the government when this amendment was done?

Then pime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not just sit in his bedroom and amend the Federal Constitution. The constitution was amended in the Parliament, in which all the MIC MPs then, including the then president S Samy Vellu, voted in favour of the amendment.

So, how can the MIC now claim ignorance in the unilateral conversion issues, despite being the accomplice in the amendment to the constitution since the beginning?

MIC leaders are claiming, day and night, that they are working to resolve the matter through the 'cabinet's help'. What cabinet help are they referring to?

Will the MIC president Subramaniam push for another constitutional amendment to correct this wrong of their past? Will the Umno-dominated cabinet agree to such a move? The MIC is trying to fool the general public by giving false hopes that it can resolve this matter.

The list of MIC's betrayals of the Malaysian Indian community does not end there. After half a century of Independence, Indians in Malaysia could not reach the economic equity of 1.5 percent.

One plan to uplift the economy of the Indians in Malaysia, as laid out by MIC under the leadership of Samy Vellu, was Maika Holdings, which not only failed to uplift the economy of the Indians, but the company also failed miserably.

Millions of shares in government-linked companies (GLCs), worth tens of millions of ringgit that had been allocated to the Indian community, or specifically to Maika Holdings, were hijacked by certain Individuals.

These are just the tip of the iceberg when we speak of MIC's failures. I wonder why the MIC leaders still don't understand why they're being criticised.

I can go on, and list down the failures of MIC as "the representative of Indians" in the government for the past give decades. But this will not stop people like Dhinagaran from claiming that MIC is the sole voice of Indians in Malaysia.

Dhinagaran should really get down to the ground and listen to the people, instead of asking why the MIC is slammed. MIC is being slammed because of its half-century-long failures that have badly affected the Indians in Malaysia.

Malaysian Malaysia!