Yesterday marked the 31st day or one month since Indians in Malaysia took to the streets to protest against marginalisation and discrimination against them. As a mark of respect for Christians who celebrate Christmas, I decided against writing about the significant milestone (unlike some who organise the General Assemblies on religiously significant public holidays and have the gall to complaint about newspapers not being delivered!).Even though 20,000 to 30,000 people were physically present, there seemed to be much, much higher number of support from nearly 1.8 million Indians and also other Malaysians who understood their predicament. From my experience, very few of the people I met talked negatively on the rally, perhaps less than 10%. From relatives to friends to acquaintances, there was words of support for the organisers, HINDRAF and the rally participants, and volleys of condemnation againsts MIC, the police and certain segment of the government.
What is clear is that the Indians are using the newly found spirit and camaraderie to jump-start their lives, with or without the millions from the British government. For the last 30 days, HINDRAF have been a topic over thosais and teh tariks, at home and office. There is a new born awareness against discriminative policies and citizen rights.
But how long will this last? The main leaders are behind bars, and HINDRAF is clearly not a political party will millions to spend.
The torch is seen to be taken over by MIC and a handful of NGOs who before this were quite invisible. The ordinary Indian is left wondering where were this folks when bad things happened to them. Again, how long the torch is carried by the newly self-election champions is left to be seen.
The government had taken initiative to spew statistics, make promises (without the word “promise” in it) and set up committees and panels; all the usual stuff expected of a government. Nothing out of the ordinary happened.
All the players are playing their cards now. The trump card is still with the Indian community. How well would they remember the water canons and tear gases in another 30 days? More importantly, how well would they remember the last 50 years when the candidates come knocking on their doors?
What can the Indian community learn from the rally and subsequent voice of discontent raised by themselves? How can they make use of this energy to improve their lives and to ask for their rights? What is the role of the individual? Can this rally be used to turn the youths into better persons, the women into equally important contributors to economy, the men into educated and matured citizens?
Can the community force a reduction in crime statistics, suicide percentages, and school dropout rates? Can they work together, with or without HINDRAF to make this country a better place to live?
HINDRAF has set the pace. It is now the responsibility of the Indian community to ensure the sacrifices made by the group is not forgotten and left to rot.
Let’s see how things are after the 100th day.