Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) today said that it cannot reveal the names of Indian leaders from six opposition parties who were said to have attended meetings with Prim and unanimously supported the party to be admitted as a fifth component of Barisan Alternatif.

"The Indian leaders have requested that we do not reveal their names because they could face disciplinary action from their respective parties for attending another party's meeting," Prim pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar told malaysiakini today.

"These leaders are actually very frustrated with the discrimination of Indians in the opposition," he said when commenting on denials made by opposition parties that their Indian leaders had attended meetings and endorsed Prim's admission into the year-old opposition coalition.

In a letter to malaysiakini today, PRM organising secretary Jonson Chong said that as far as the party was concerned, none of the Indian opposition leaders from PRM have indicated their support for Prim's entry into BA. [#1](PRM clarifies,Dec 6)[/#]

Keadilan deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar when contacted also told malaysiakini that Indian leaders in his party have not been informed of such support for Prim.

"From our own investigations, our leaders who represent the Indian committee do not know anything about the meetings and endorsement. There is something very odd here," he said.

In a statement released on Sunday, Prim said that it held numerous meetings and consultations with six Indian opposition party leaders from Keadilan, DAP, PRM, PSM, Workers Party and Prim as well as 118 non-governmental organisations over the weekend.

When asked for the list of names of the NGOs involved, Uthayakumar said, "We definitely have the list but there is an understanding that their names are not revealed because NGOs are not supposed to be involved politically as they can be deregistered."

Diversion from issue

He added that instead of focusing on who the Indian leaders are, BA should address the issue of Indian discrimination within the opposition front.

"Nobody has answered us as to why they are discriminating against the Indians. There is a diversion from the issue. Who these Indian leaders are, is a secondary matter."

He added that the six Indian opposition leaders and 118 NGOs in question are jointly organising a gathering at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on Feb 11 to discuss the marginalisation, discrimination and side-lining of Indians in the opposition.

"If the BA parties are so interested to know who these people are, they can come to the gathering and see for themselves," he said.

Uthayakumar added that Prim's main concern is that there is no Indian opposition voice in Parliament today.

"Since the 1999 general elections there has been zero Indian issues brought up in Parliament except just before the Lunas by-election when BA MPs brought up the issue that the Indians are being treated as third-class citizens in Malaysia.

"We had to apply to join BA as despite one and a half years since its existence, BA has failed to accommodate a multi-racial Indian voice in BA's top leadership," Uthayakumar said.

Meanwhile, Chandra reiterated that Prim was free to apply to join the opposition front if it was a registered party.

"We are quite clear that those parties which constitute BA should be registered political parties," he said Prim can join BA as an 'unofficial party',Dec 4)