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SUNGAI SIPUT: The concerns of the global Indian community in the wake of the street protest organised by the Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) will be allayed by the facts, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday.

He said during his working visits to foreign countries, including India, he was often asked about the conditions of the Indian community in Malaysia. "There are two things I take into consideration when I answer such questions. The first is to explain the requests and proposals of the Indians that were met by the government. "The second is to explain those demands that have been turned down or not met. I cannot bluff like them (Hindraf organisers) and say that the Indians did not get anything," he said.

Samy Vellu was asked how he planned to explain the concerns raised by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, through Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

According to The Hindu, Karunanidhi had written to Manmohan about the rally. He reportedly urged Manmohan to employ the necessary measures regarding the "suffering and bad treatment" of Tamils in Malaysia. Samy Vellu, however, was quick to say that Karunanidhi had not meant to interfere,  "He will never do such a thing. But when there are reports that 50,000 Tamils were smashed on the streets, then naturally anybody, anywhere, and not necessarily in India, will be aghast."

He said a day after the street rally, he was interviewed by a New Delhi-based television station in which he told the interviewer "not to be taken in by the protest". "This is what happens when someone starts to throw wild allegations. "Are the Indians in this country without clothes? Are they without jobs? Are they without food? I cannot bluff like them. I will tell only the truth," he said.

He lashed out at Hindraf for capitalising on the allegation that the government had indiscriminately torn down temples, saying that these people had never erected temples anywhere in the country. "They have never fought with the government to get land for the temples. Instead, they have been on a worldwide campaign that Malaysia is against Hinduism. "I, on the other hand, have acquired several plots of land from the chief ministers to build temples. I have received money from the government. Each year we get RM1 million to build temples and the money has been channelled for that purpose solely."

He also said the rally organisers had produced a CD and were distributing copies of it worldwide alleging that 35,000 temples had been demolished in the country. Rubbishing the allegation, he urged the Indians to go through newspapers of the last 20 years and to read for themselves the number of temples demolished. He reiterated that any temple in a development area would be shifted and compensation paid. "There are so many temples which were built illegally. For instance, along the double-tracking project between Ipoh and Rawang, 76 such temples were shifted and compensation paid. "Anyway, I have been working on temple matters even before he (Hindraf adviser P. Uthayakumar) was born," said Samy Vellu.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Selangor MIC welcomed the prime minister's "reassuring" stand on the Indian community. MIC deputy president and Selangor MIC chairman Datuk G. Palanivel said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's statement on Saturday showed how concerned he is with the situation. "Malaysian Indians are fully aware of his fair and just commitment to all," Palanivel said. "The MIC is aware of the people's grievances, but our approach is both realistic and rational." He denied claims by Hindraf that Indians were marginalised or subjected to "ethnic cleansing".