Party champions downtrodden Indians, but Waytha says he serves all M’sians
Senator P Waythamoorthy sees no contradiction in leading an Indian rights party and also being a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
Just like any political party, he said he believes his Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) is entitled to champion a cause.
Senator P Waythamoorthy sees no contradiction in leading an Indian rights party and also being a minister in charge of national unity and social wellbeing.
Just like any political party, he said he believes his Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) is entitled to champion a cause.
“And my cause is the downtrodden Indian community who have been forgotten or sidelined.
“I have always said this, that the problem of the Indians (is that they are) a unique community [...] that has been misunderstood by Malaysians generally,” he explained when asked during a press conference at Universiti Malaya this evening.
“I champion the cause of the Indian community because I want the entire Malaysian population to understand the plight of this segment of the community,” added the minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
Waythamoorthy did not believe his commitment to his party detracted from his work as a minister, quoting the examples of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu.
The minister had earlier held an interfaith dialogue with representatives of various religious groups and associations.
“The PM belongs to Bersatu, which is a Malay party. Can we now say that the PM is not fit to govern the country?
“No. He has been elected as an MP and he represents all segments of society [...] just because he belongs to a party does not mean he cannot represent the entire Malaysian community,” he said.
“Likewise the defence minister is from Amanah. It is a Muslim party. There is no problem,” Waythamoorthy added.
M’sian Indians misunderstood
The minister opined that the problems faced by Indians today were in part due to systemic and historical factors, something many were not cognisant of.
“We have the largest number of displaced people in the entire region, over 800,000 people were displaced from the plantations and they were not properly relocated and not given proper jobs.
“So they became a very distressed society and that distress caused the youngsters to get involved in crime. People were homeless so they built homes illegally [...] they did not have ICs so they could not get married legally.
“[...] they have been misunderstood,” he said.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.