A former MIC leader in Penang has accused top party leaders of deliberately not reviving the suspended Bagan division, thus depriving some 2,000 members of their political right to elect division leaders.

Former Bagan secretary Henry Benedict Asirvatham also revealed that he and his supporters are contemplating joining PKR en bloc during the Penanti by-election - set for May 31 - if there is no change in the situation.

samy vellu pc 160409 02 He also alleged that party president S Samy Vellu (right) had extended the suspension indefinitely just to keep him out of state MIC politics.

“The suspension is a typical example of Samy Vellu’s dirty politics to keep out dissenting views against his leadership,” said Henry.

During last Friday’s nomination process for Penang MIC divisional elections, disgruntled Bagan Youth members had confronted returning officer G Rajoo and demanded an explanation for the continued suspension.

When Rajoo could not provide a satisfactory explanation, the group turned unruly, kicking tables and chairs, and hurling verbal abuse before fleeing the place.

When contacted, Rajoo confirmed the incident and said he had lodged a report at the Butterworth police station, but has not reported the incident to MIC headquarters.

The police have classified the case as rioting under Section 147 of the Penal Code and are looking for the youths, who have gone into hiding.

henry benedict asirvatham "The youths were only demanding to regain their political rights. Rajoo's police report has made things worse," Henry (right) told Malaysiakini today.

Bagan was suspended in March 2006 on nomination day for divisional elections, which Henry claimed was “to stop him from helming the division”. He had been nominated by the majority of branches to contest as incumbent chairperson R Subramaniam.

The party leadership then cited irregularities in payment of annual subscriptions and annual general meetings of all the branches, in suspending the division.

“Those were not reasons but only excuses to keep me out because of my relationship with then deputy president S Subramaniam,” Henry claimed.

‘Everything was in order’

At the time of suspension, the Bagan division had 16 branches with more than 2,000 members.

In January 2007, the party leadership carried out a verification exercise to regularise all the branches seemingly in an effort to lift the suspension and revive the Bagan division.

However, only two branches - Butterworth and Bagan Ajam - were cleared and revived, while the rest, including Henry’s Jalan Raja Uda branch, remained suspended.

“My branch should not have been suspended in the first place, let alone have its suspension prolonged, because everything was in order,” said Henry.

MIC state chairperson V Muthusamy is Butterworth branch chief, while Bagan Ajam was headed by his wife and former national MIC wanita chief S Amathavaly. Both husband and wife are staunch Samy Vellu supporters.

Henry pointedly noted that their branches were revived to enable them to nominate Samy Vellu for the presidency this year, which Muthusamy and Amathavaly duly did.

pk subbaiyah Penang MIC deputy chairperson PK Subbaiyah’s (left) defeat to DAP’s A Thanasekaran in Bagan Dalam in the last general election was partly attributed to the suspension of Bagan MIC.

Henry said the suspension had deprived Subbaiyah of much-needed local election machinery and workers for his campaign.

“But Samy Vellu does not care about that. He is only interested in keeping his seat and running the party like his personal fiefdom,” alleged Henry.

“MIC has now been transformed from being a political caucus for the Indian Malaysian community to Samy Vellu’s private firm to serve only his and his cronies’ interests.”