Undergrad2 asked the basic question : are Malaysian Indians really marginalized? “It is only when their position as a community is compared to those of the other races that ‘marginalization’ takes on any meaning”.

That is always true. To be more specific it is their position as a community relative to those of the other races now when compared to then (one must have a baseline time frame, say, 25 – 30 years ago).

We must assume that measuring on that basis the Indians have indeed been marginalized. Otherwise, what is there to discuss here? And otherwise also implies that Anwar has thrown a monkey wench at Samy Vellu. For when Samy shot back that Anwar was responsible for such marginalization, it simply means that the MIC leader has admitted the fact that Indians are marginalized : now why would MIC leader admit that unless the anecdotal as well as statistical evidence suggesting so is too overwhelming for the MIC leader to deny?

It is undeniable that even today Indians are higher represented in proportion to their population numbers in the professions especially law and medicine.

This is however an urban phenomena amongst middle and upper class Indians. The same is not true for majority rural Indians now spilling into the towns and cities displaced.

One notes that the thrust of Anwar’s attack on Samy Vellu is among others, the “Indians in estates were treated like slaves and subjected to abject poverty”. In other words we are talking of marginalisation of either rural Indians or Indians involved in the rural urban drift and displacement in relation to poverty.

Amongst the various indicators and benchmarks put forward in the media statement of 31st May 2006 by Protem- secretary general P Uthaya Kumar of Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia or PRIM of how Malaysian Indians are marginaliised from socio-economic angle are the following:-

· Studies revealed Indian poor form 60% of suspects shot dead by police. Out of 60% suspected offenders of Indian descent, 95% pleaded guilty without legal representation or legal aid;
· University intake for Indians reduced by 50% from over 10% quota in 1970 top 5.2% in 2003;
· Medical seats in University of Malaya reduced by 98% from 16 seats in 2001 to 1 seat in 2003. So many chose to study in Crimea State Medical university but its degrees were subsequently derecognised;
· 80% of 523 Tamil schools are in dilapidated conditions;
· Hindu temple demolishment carried out by authorities without due sensitivities;
· 2001 Kg Medan racial clashes leaving 100 dead did not deserve an official inquest;
· Indians have lower per capita income compared with Malays and Chinese;
· Suicide rates associated with poverty highest amongst Indians – 21.1 per every 100,000 persons compared to 8.6 for Chinese and 2.6 for Malays.

If Indians were indeed marginalized as above stated, what is Samy Vellu shifting focus of blame to Dr Mahathir and Anwar about?

Samy is the Indian big chief of MIC within BN. If leaders like TDM and Anwar at the helm of senior partner UMNO did not heed Samy’s request for assistance for his community, Samy should be prepared to give up his ministerial position & personal benefits and take the MIC out of BN. That would be the principled thing to do.

One who is representing the interest of his community can’t voluntarily stay, support and play by the oppressive rules of the dominant other within BN, get the benefit of this arrangement and then shrug off responsibility for one’s community being marginalized by not being prepared to pay the price of leaving the BN’s marginalising fold.