There are two categories of Indian Muslims in Malaysia. First is the Malaysian Indian Muslim Malays, This lot claim to be Malays for commercial reasons but speak Tamil at home and watch Tamil movies and serials and will travel back to India to their native villages. They are predominantly found in Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Johor.

These ‘Malays’ are very shrewd and enjoy best of both sides. The irony is that some leaders of Indian Muslim NGOs have claimed to be ‘Malays’ in their business registration forms.

Then we have the ‘True Malaysian Indian Muslims (TMIM)’. This lot speak their mother tongue be it Tamil, Telugu, Urdu or Malayalam without fear and with a lot of pride. Incidentally, more than 95 percent of True Malaysian Indian Muslims belong to the Tamil-speaking category. This lot are die-hards and will not give up their identity for any commercial reasons.

The future of all Malaysian races are quite clearly charted out with their respective race-based political parties fighting for their cause. The True Malaysian Indian Muslims, however, are in a pathetic situation with their Kongres India Muslim Malaysia (Kimma) now split into two factions each claiming leadership.

Kimma in reality is a political party registered in 1977. Its recent with BN’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP) seems to have given it a new lease of life as this is an indirect entry into Barisan Nasional. How this will work out, only time will tell. After all, something is better than nothing.

Hindraf should have been ‘Iindraf’ from Day One or ‘Makkal Sakthi’ (People’s Power). If this had been the case, then thousands of True Malaysian Indian Muslims (excluding those enjoying government contracts, restaurant owners and those driving around in luxury cars)would have been there on Nov 25, 2007.

The True Malaysian Indian Muslims have been suffering in silence for the past 50 years. We, too, have been marginalised and ‘ethnically cleansed’ very systematically. In the next 50 years, there will be no more Indian Muslims in this country.