Lets not be too quick to negatively judge DAP's move to revive the Indian Affairs Bureau

Lets not be too quick to negatively judge DAP's move to revive the Indian Affairs Bureau


24 Jan 2025 • 7:30 PM MYT



TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher

Image credit: Seehua / The Malaysian Reserve


Former DAP assemblyman Satees Muniandy might be mocking DAP Penang’s move to revive its Indian affairs bureau, by labelling it as a desperate attempt to counter its dwindling support within the community, but rather than be too quick to denounce the DAP for the move, I think perhaps it would be a good idea to give DAP the benefit of the doubt for now, and compliment them for their gesture, for what it has done is what we want from them after all .


One of the major grouses that the Indian community has against DAP in recent times is that DAP only seemed to value the support of the Indian community before it rose to power rather than after it had assumed power.


After it had assumed power, a series of actions taken by DAP has made the Indian community question whether we have been used or taken as fools by DAP. That is why they courted us when they needed our support to gain power, but once they had gained power, they looked askance at our desire that they share a commensurate amount of power with us, on account of our contributions towards them gaining power.


That one most prominent DAP leader in Penang, former Deputy Chief Minister P. Ramasamy and his lieutenants, many if not all of whom are of Indian ethnicity, were unceremoniously booted out of DAP before the 6-state-elections of 2023, was taken as a sign that DAP might be insincere in its professed desire of empowering and dignifying the Indian community.


This disappointment with DAP was shown in the result of the 6-state-elections itself, where support for the Dap amongst the Indians dipped palpably.


That in the aftermath of the 6 state elections, DAP chose to elect Jadgeep Singh Deo to the position of Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang, when that position was originally created specifically for the Indian community, only served to add salt to the wound.


Jagdeep Singh Deo is not Indian. He is Sikh. I will not be drawn into a semantic and pedantic argument about why Jagdeep Singh Deo is actually an Indian, because Sikhs originate from Punjab and Punjab is India. Instead, I will just state categorically that in Malaysia, the term Indians does not include the Sikhs. This is not even a controversial statement. On the ground, the Sikhs themselves see themselves as an identity group that is different from Indians just as Indians see ourselves as an identity group that is different from the Sikhs, and we are both happy with the way we see ourselves and each other.


That Dap somehow thought that putting a Sikh in a position created specifically for Indians, and that a Sikh will be able to take care of the interest and understand the peculiar needs of the Indians, was a tone deaf and insensitive move to make.


It is akin to putting a person of Thai origin as the head of MCA, under the assumption that the Thai will be able to take care of the interest and understand the peculiar needs of the Chinese.


But as they say, to err is human, to forgive divine.


While we cannot fault ourselves for feeling aggrieved by the DAP's lack of appreciation and insensitivities towards us, we also have to reflect on ourselves and look at our own faults to understand what went wrong in our relationship.


Did we expect too much from DAP? Did we assume too conveniently that they will know what we hope from them on their own and do right by us even without us needing to communicate our needs and aspirations to them?


Seeing that both of us might be at fault in causing our relationship to deteriorate, maybe it is best to not brood over the misunderstanding we had in the past, accept that we too might have a share of blame in causing it to happen, learn from our mistakes so that we do not repeat them again in the future, and move forward.


DAP’s gesture in reviving the Penang chapter of its Indian affairs bureau is a reconciliatory step. The revival is akin to them offering us their hand to reconcile our strained relationship. If they can be magnanimous enough to look past our shortcomings and express their desire to reconcile with us, we should match their magnanimity and re-establish our fellowship with them with an open heart.


While Satees might be right in that the bureau that that DAP intends to establish does not yet offer any “tangible solutions” to improve the lives of Penang Indians or show any plans to come up with policy papers on what to do with the Indians in the state or grant it the rights to have an influence in state linked companies or that it might just serve as an an organising committee for cultural events like Ponggal, Deepavali and Thaipusam and nothing more, let us not assume for the worst just yet, but instead, hope for the best.


A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. That Dap is reviving the Penang chapter of the Indian affairs bureau might just be the first step that it is taking to reconcile its relationship with us. Rather than too quickly assume that this is all that it has planned, perhaps it would be better to assume that this might just be the first thing that it has planned.


As they go along, and if we cooperate with them as they go along, maybe we can hope for better things as things go along.


In truth, all the races and political parties in Malaysia likely have their grievances with each other.


But if we continue to brood over our past misunderstandings and judge each other according to our old experiences, all that the future will have in store for us is frustration, discontent and tension.


Rather, perhaps it would be best for us to have some faith in the goodness of others, not be blind to our own faults and shortcomings, forgive others for their faults and shortcomings as how we would like to be forgiven ourselves and learn from our previous mistakes and not try to repeat them again.


At some point, somebody will have to start mending broken ties and make things better before all of us in the country can hope for a better future.


As they say, "Well begun is half done."


If we receive DAP's gesture graciously and reciprocate their gesture with the best of intentions, perhaps it would be DAP and the Indian community that can be the first to show the country how to leave behind an unfortunate past and head towards a better future.