Thursday November 26, 2009
Hindraf has lost much of its old influence
TAMIL Nesan chronicled the two-year journey of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), saying that the movement had lost much of its bite today.
When it began in 2007, Hindraf organised a protest that saw thousands of working-class Indians taking to the streets in unity, but little remained of its influence today, the paper said.
S. Suman, one of the protesters and currently facing court charges, said there was unity within the community for only six months after the protest.
Hindraf, he said, submitted a memorandum to the Government about the plight of the Indians but its main focus of uniting the people had failed.
Although Nov 25, 2007, is considered a turning point for the Indian community, he said the goals had not been achieved.
He said a lack of understanding among Hindraf leaders and their different political aspirations had affected unity in the community.
Many Hindraf leaders and members had also moved on by joining political parties, he added.
There was a lack of creative leadership to pull the movement out of its rut, he said.
The newspaper also reported that a 50-year-old elephant named Suma saved its mahout from being electrocuted in a village of Hosur in south India.
The 20-year-old man was standing on the elephant, trying to pull the leaves of a coconut tree when he accidentally touched an electrical wire.
Suma was also jolted but it recovered quickly and used its trunk to place the mahout on the ground.
People who had gathered around thought that the elephant had gone mad. But they soon realised their mistake and sought blessings from Suma.
- Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a > sign, it denotes a separate news item.
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