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Riding to power on the momentum created by the Hindu Rights Action Force, the DAP has suddenly found itself on the receiving end of the group’s wrath. COMMENT BY BARADAN KUPPUSAMY, THE STAR
A POINT often comes in any political marriage between disparate groups when the initial euphoria of association changes to despair, squabbles and a final parting of ways. In the case of the Hindu Rights Action Force’s (Hindraf) association with Pakatan Rakyat in general and the DAP in particular, that point of disengagement has arrived. The spark for a parting of ways is the fight between the DAP and Hindraf, a movement banned by the authorities last year as an extremist organisation, over saving the century-old Indian settlement of Kampung Buah Pala in Penang. The village is up for demolition and redevelopment into condominiums. The DAP says the settlers, mostly cowherds, should take the compensation, move out and start a new life. Hindraf leaders like founder P. Uthayakumar, however, argue that the DAP should use state land laws and forcibly acquire the land, pay compensation and preserve the area as a heritage site of early Indian migration and settlement. The DAP would have been the first to agree to such an expansive proposal. In fact, the DAP had demanded the heavens in its heyday as a opposition party and the Barisan Nasional had to squirm to explain and deflect the unfeasible demands. Now the roles are reversed with Hindraf demanding and the DAP, running Penang, squirming to deflect, with the Barisan watching from the sidelines. “Indians and others voted to put the DAP in power. Why can’t they use the powers of the Chief Minister’s office to correct the wrong?” Uthayakumar said. “It is just a signature … just a stroke of the pen. Acquire the land, end this tragedy!” Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who takes pride in running a tight ship, is aghast at the demand and the Hindraf demonstrations outside the party’s offices. “Acquiring the land will bankrupt the state. It is costly,” he said numerous times when explaining the issues at stake. With emotions running high, such explanations are falling on deaf ears. After the Nov 25, 2007 protest which resulted in the Hindraf leaders being placed under Internal Security Act detention, it was the DAP’s Indian leaders who corralled the Makkal Sakthi movement sparked by Uthayakumar and rode it to victory. Even PAS leaders were shouting the Makkal Sakthi mantra at political rallies in the run-up to the March 8 general election. The phrase became Pakatan’s battle cry. Pakatan candidates raised public expectations sky high, promised the heavens and vowed to protect their constituents, many of them trapped on the wrong side of development, till the very end. The line “over my dead body” was liberally used. One cannot blame the rural folk for believing that their new wakil rakyat would defend them to the end. Although Pakatan Rakyat won five states and now rules four, there is very little fundamental change in the people’s lives. Being among the poorest in the country, the Indian expectations for immediate change in their lives were very high post-March 8. When that change did not happen, there is now rising frustration with Pakatan. Income levels are the same and now with inflation and the rising cost of living taking away the value of their earnings, many pockets are empty. It is in this context of frustration that one must see Hindraf’s anger against Pakatan. It is anger arising from Pakatan not bringing material changes in their lives although that was something it promised but is beyond it to deliver. Uthayakumar is leading the charge against Pakatan/DAP and he has reasons for doing so. On July 19, he is announcing a new political party and hopes to create, in his words, a “third force” which is independent of Pakatan and Barisan Nasional. Heading his own political party, it is in his interest to attack Pakatan, rightly or wrongly, for doing “nothing” for Indians after promising the heavens to get their vote. He hopes to take away Indian support from Pakatan and to this end, he will be stringently questioning Pakatan’s alleged failure to raise the social and economic levels of the Indians. Like the DAP and other opposition political parties before, he, too, will be promising the heavens to wean away Indians from the Pakatan fold. The Kampung Buah Pala incident is an example of what’s ahead. There is no hidden hand behind the incident and the demonstrations against the DAP, as alleged by DAP leaders. These events are rooted in genuine grievances and have been taken advantage of by opportunistic politics, and signal a parting of ways between Hindraf and Pakatan Rakyat.
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