DESPITE MIC’s promise to be the voice of the Indian community, it did not take long for the party to expose its hypocrisy, said Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof P Ramasamy.
This comes after the news of 50 people from the Indian community in Selangor, the Federal Territory and Pahang were detained by the Security Offences (Special Measures Act 2012 (Sosma) for various crimes, which has yet to be revealed.
Out of the 50 that were charged and arrested, 21 of them were not given legal assistance. In fact, some of them had been stuck in prison since 2016, depending on the year they were charged with the crimes.
“While the MIC was putting on the show of providing legal assistance to the detained Indians, its elected representative in the Parliament gave undivided support to the Government in extending the sub-section 4 (5) of Sosma for another five years,” Ramasamy pointed out.
According to him, while the MIC may only have a sole parliament member, but the fact remains that they should have abstained from voting for the motion.
“If the MIC is so concerned about the Sosma arrests and detention, it should have made it known loud and clear that it was against the extension.
The party’s refusal might not have affected the extension, but surely it would have sent a strong message that the party is against not just against the extension but also Sosma in general,” Ramasamy goes on.
He also said that the support of the extension of the sub-section merely reaffirms the hypocrisy and contradictory nature of the party.
“Worse still, it gave the impression that the MIC was just fooling the Indians. The propaganda on legal assistance could be just a pre-election gimmick. Whatever said and done, there is nothing to stop the MIC from withering away,” he ended. – July 30, 2022
