Non-government Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC) has launched a booklet that highlighted the woes of the Indian Malaysian community and called for the resignation of MIC president S Samy Vellu.

Among the issues raised were the increasing number of Indian youths dying in police custody and the worsening economic disparity in the community as well as compared to other races.

Also mentioned were the government's alleged ineffectiveness in addressing the social ills plaguing the community, the poor monetary allocation for Tamil schools and the under-enrolment of Indian students in public universities.

The 23-page booklet titled - 'Election 2004. New politics for Indian Malaysians' - also complained that the government failed to resolve the Maika Holdings scandal and that no official inquiry was launched into the Kampung Medan racial riot.

Maika Holdings was set-up by MIC as an investment arm for the community to uplift its socio-economic condition.

However, it later became riddled with accusations of financial irregularities and the party president was also implicated.

On the other hand, the racial riot in 2001 left six people dead and scores others injured, a majority of whom were Indians.

Certain quarters claimed that the incident was orchestrated and that the police were slow in curbing it but these were denied by the authorities.

'Failed leadership'

Meanwhile, the booklet alleged that the community's welfare had been in decline for the past 26 years under Samy Vellu's leadership and in view of this, he should be removed.

GCC co-ordinator Charles Santiago told malaysiakini that the group wants Barisan Nasional chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi not to give Samy Vellu a ticket to contest in the polls.

He said that the community had lost faith in the veteran politician and that he would not be able to command the same kind of support which he enjoyed in the past.

On the Maika scandal, the booklet accused Samy Vellu of making conflicting and unsupported claims regarding the matter.

It added that many poor Indians borrowed money, pawned their jewellery or sold their livestock to purchase the shares.

The booklet also accused the state government of obstructing educational opportunities of the community by reducing the financial aid to Tamil schools.

This in turn, it said, hindered their economic progress and political participation in the country.

It stressed that a poorly educated and economically deprived community will not have the power to exert the same level of control as the elite over the country's political discourse.

"Denying the community to the right of education would create economic vulnerability and insecurity in the community which will subsequently lead to political marginalisation.

"And this marginalised community needs a strong political voice but alas, their current leader Samy Vellu has not been able to deliver," it said.