Everyone knows the Indian community has suffered marginalisation and utter neglect, not because of the Malays but because of Umno and its hapless wife-MIC. For 50 years, people stuck with Umno (forget about MIC because is basically Umno). However that marginalisation and neglect led to a lot discontent.

Hindraf was formed to air the grievances of the Indian (Hindu) community but Umno (with the support of MIC) answered with batons, water cannons, arrests and the ISA and even refused to receive flowers from some protesting children. Then March 8 came and the rest, as they say, is history. In other words, the Indian community explored other options and massively voted for the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Today, we hear some discontent, though it is only from certain disgruntled Pakatan leaders and not from the Indian community itself. We hear about ‘Indian marginalisation’ ‘Indian representation’, ‘Indian GLC posts’, ‘Indian threats to quit PR parties’, ‘Indian press conferences’, ‘Indian alliance’, ‘Indian party’ and ‘Hindraf permission’, etc.

Granted, the Indians may have wished for more by supporting the Pakatan platform but the utterances and threats of some Indian leaders and their discourse is not only counterproductive and utterly misplaced but unacceptable.

Rather than helping the Indian community, such leaders and their discourse alienate the community from the Malay people on either side (Umno vs Pakatan) and also the Chinese who also supported the Pakatan platform.

Take from example Kapar MP S Manickavasagam. Manickanasagam is behaving as if he was elected by Hindraf and the Indian community in Kapar. He was quoted as saying, ‘On Dec 31, I will give up my party posts. After that, I will be heading to India. There I will meet Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy and seek his advice on what I should do. Once I am back, I will reveal my decision whether to remain in the party’.

Now I want everyone to digest this statement and see how simply unacceptable it is. Manickavasagam represents Kapar which has a 88 percent non-Indian voters yet he has no feelings whatsoever for the non-Indians who made him an MP. He is talking as if the Indians alone made him an MP. He is talking as if the Malays and the Chinese in Kapar weren't involved in his elevation.

He is talking as if Kapar is made of Indians alone and is thus speaking on their behalf. He is talking as if he was elected by Hindraf and not by Malaysians of all races mainly Malays who form the bulk of Kapar voters (50 percent), the Chinese (37 percent) and finally Indians who form only 12 percent.

Manickavasagam thinks he is an MP because he is popular with the Indians. He thinks he is an MP because of their votes. He is ungrateful and immature. It is well-known that Hindraf was demonised by the Umno media in the run up to the March 8 elections.

Umno even prepared thousands of CDs accusing PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim of being a Hindraf sympathiser and financier. This was done to scare the Malays and sway them from voting for the Indian candidates on the Pakatan platform. It was PAS and PKR Malays who countered this by 'explaining' Hindraf to the Malays.

Umno told the Malays that Hindraf was a terrorist organisation financed by foreigners and made up of hardcore Indian criminals to foment violence and challenge the Malay people. It was PAS and PKR Malays who explained to the rural voters what Hindraf was really all about.

We explained that Hindraf was simply an Indian NGO to air the grievances of the Indian Malaysian community and it wasn't a sinister organisation hell bent on destroying the Malay people as Umno was preaching. We convinced the old people that Hindraf was fighting to end poverty which itself was Islamic.

We told our people that Umno had neglected the Indians and the non-Muslims in the country had a distorted view of Islam because of Umno and therefore they should vote for Pakatan regadless of the candidate.

Something was achieved and spectacular results were obtained. Manickavasagam is a result of that campaign and that's why he got the Malay vote in Kapar. Unfortunately, today he talks as if he doesn't need us, as if we didn't invest in him, as if we didn't campaign for him, as if we didn't support him.

I remember PAS campaigners in Kapar telling him to concebtrate on the Indian vote (14,140 voters) while PASA concentrates on the Malay vote (55, 325 voters). Today he blames PAS’ Selangor leaders and PKR’s Malay leaders. He brags that he needs no one.

He doesn't need to come back to us (the majority of the voters) and consult us. He says he will only consult Indians. I want to ask: what about the 88 percent of non-Indians of Kapar? Or what about our leaders who convinced us to vote for you though you weren't known to us?

Arrogance and pettiness have gone to his head and he doesn't know what he is doing. By behaving in an immature, irresponsible way, he strengthening Umno and hurting the same people who voted for him. He is humiliating us and exposing us to Umno's derision.

What I want to say is this: Hindraf is both positive and negative. Positive in the sense that it has united Indians to look for better options. Negative in the sense that it has given Umno enough ammunition to scare the Malays and hit out hard at PAS and PKR Malays for aiding a ‘violent, terror organistaion’ that wants to rob the Malay people.

That's why we campaigned hard to ‘humanise’ Hindraf to rural Malays but when someone whom we elected like Manickavasagam doesn't even talk about our plight, (have you heard him complaining of Malay neglect?) and doesn't feel indebted to his voters, of course Umno will be clapping their hands in glee.

Manickavasagam represents Kapar which is unique in many ways. First, it is the Indians who have the least number of voters (12 percent) yet it is they who produced the MP. Secondly, it is truly multiracial and thirdly all Pakatan parties have representation.

But Manickavasagam puts the Indian community in a difficult situation by being insensitive and tribal. He neglects his multiracial voters and retreats into tribal cocoons. He gives Umno enough ammunition to shoot at PAS and PKR.

Indian Pakatan leaders should behave and not put the community in a difficult position. They should know that they represent all Malaysians and not Indians alone. If the Kapar MP wants to represent Indians, he should quit PKR today and leave the party so that a Malaysian can be elected to represent all Kapar-ians who are Malays, Chinese and Indians.

Since he is ungrateful and doesn't understand the people who made him an MP, he should quit the seat. Karpal Singh told Manickavasagam to vacate the seat because his victory was due to PKR. True. He should quit today.