The blackout and lack thereof local media coverage of Hindu grievances does not help it cause. Its been deemed a radical underground movement in most presses. There’s still a vociferous retrograde protectionist from the majority Malay. Any discussion pertaining to “social contract” is hijacked and politicized by the ruling party right wing. There’s plenty of fingers pointing to go around ie the Chinese(Han?? what history book did that word popped out) and Malay. My qualm is the British & the ruling class in drafting a constitution that does little to served the underclass minorities. All chauvinism (Malay or Chinese or Hindu) aside they have to do away with all the race based policies agendas and political parties.

p/s Preston: I appreciate your insights on M’sian politics thanks VV for bringing it up I only wished more could be done

It’s a tricky issue. The primary reason the Malay government implemented such racially divisive policies in the first place was to prevent the Han Chinese from politically dominating the country. Generally they have the money and the connections to pull it off, especially at the founding of Malaysia. The Indians were in the same boat except they were more often working class.

The problem with the system they set up though, was that it wasn’t dynamic at all. So as social pressures and class issues changed over time a political system designed to keep a balance where everyone stays in their place starts to chafe more and more.

Long story short. Eliminating Malay chauvanism will just lead to Chinese chauvanism. I don’t think there is any easy solution here.

I wonder if this analysis isn’t (implicitly) a bit too left-wing. Yes, the Tamil intelligencia is more likely to be found in Toronto or Chennai (or, heck, Delhi or Staten Island) these days than in Jaffna or KL, but, still–the problem here is Malay ethnic supremacism, so I don’t see why working-class Tamils in Malaysia (like the unforgettable cabbie in Naipaul’s “Among the Believers” with his crab-purchase) and bourgeois Han Chinese in Malaysia can’t come together (combined, they’re a pretty big part of the population and economy) and reach an agreement that radically (yet, peacefully) reduces the power of the Malay chauvinists.

All of this stuff aside, and excepting the fact that the HINDRAF 5 are still imprisoned without charge, Malaysia took a serious step toward reconciliation at the last election. The racial calculus is beginning to break down, and there is less support for the various entrenched quota systems and preferences that have defined the country since independence. HINDRAF and the Indian minority (and here we are really only talking about lower-middle and working-class Tamils) have shown that their future lies in their Malaysian citizenship, as participating members of a democracy and not as rebels, insurgents, or separatists.

I appreciate that breakdown Preston. You seem confident about the possibility for future amity and harmony, but does the country not still face a very potent and maybe even rising tide of support among Malays for retrograde protectionist measures, often under the banner of religion and cultural preservation? I sometimes wonder if the rise of mainland Chinese power and influence won’t only stoke these flames further in the coming future.

Also — and this is at the heart of the government’s justification for the use of the Internal Security Act — HINDRAF leaders, including at least one of the five men imprisoned, have made vague noises about LTTE-style resistance. Most Malaysian Indians are Tamils, and they are sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers and the cause of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka. Now let’s be clear: HINDRAF is not a guerrilla movement and does not advocate the violent overthrow of the Malaysian government. The March 8th election proved that fact. HINDRAF very quickly morphed from a group demanding provocative but peaceful protest into a political strategy seeking opportunities at the ballot box in the form of several different non-Indian political parties.

But last fall some of its insiders were pretty cavalier about speculating what Malaysia could look like if the Indian (Tamil) complaints were not heard.

The big picture here, and worthy of discussion, is the role of Hindusim in Malaysian politics. The odd thing is that Indians have been in government since independence, but the Malaysian Indian Congress is largely seen as corrupt and ineffective. So in the last election, Indians mostly abandoned it for other non-ethnic parties, including the DAP, which has mostly Chinese among its constituents but is a secular, non-ethnic party.

Kuala Lumpur is home to the annual Thai Pusam festival at the Batu Caves, which draws nearly a million Hindu pilgrims who pierce their flesh with skewers, hang little weights on them, and climb the 162 steps up the side of the mountain to the cave opening. It’s a huge bloody display of tridents and sacred ash, saffron, matted hair, wailing and drums. There is also an enormous gold Murugan statue, towering over the proceedings.

In mostly Muslim Malaysia, some people find all this disquieting, even though the festival has been celebrated for years and is the purview of people tied to the Malaysian Indian Congress.

But activist Hinduism as a political force is a new phenomenon — hence the odd name of the group in question: the Hindu Rights Action Force. The government also accused its leaders of ties to India’s RSS, for which there is no proof. But Malaysians read Indian newspapers and can see what some forms of political Hinduism look like in India, and India’s Hindu leaders, especially Tamil politicians, can be very vocal about criticizing the Malaysian government for its treatment of its Indian communities.

All of this stuff aside, and excepting the fact that the HINDRAF 5 are still imprisoned without charge, Malaysia took a serious step toward reconciliation at the last election. The racial calculus is beginning to break down, and there is less support for the various entrenched quota systems and preferences that have defined the country since independence. HINDRAF and the Indian minority (and here we are really only talking about lower-middle and working-class Tamils) have shown that their future lies in their Malaysian citizenship, as participating members of a democracy and not as rebels, insurgents, or separatists.

(And if there were a specific reference or citation, and someone from Hindraf did want to disavow…. how could they really counter when their movement has just been banned? To announce any affiliation would be to invite arrest, as this example quite clearly demonstrates.)

Finally, I will translate Bhumiputera: sons of the earth/soil–policies to favor Malays, since it’s “their country.”