Extreme absurdity

One of the most ludicrous events that may happen on our shores right now is the proposed march by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Sunday to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

What is the Hindraf? It's supposed to be a non-political organisation that purportedly looks after the interests and grievances of the Indian community in this country. And like bloody hell, there are lots of grievances to air ... from the demolition of illegal Hindu temples to religious conversion controversies which Hindraf claims are not being addressed by the Barisan-led government or by their MIC representatives from within the government.

So there's a lot for the Indians to be unhappy about and they pin-point all these troubles to two centuries ago when the British brought in Indian immigrants to work in Malaya.

The purpose of the march is to submit a petition with 100,000 signatures to Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community here in a class action suit against her British Government for bringing in the Indians as labourers and exploiting them.

But who do the Hindraf people think they are? Like, as if the Queen can do anything at all. As if the court action would succeed. As if the Indians here have nothing else to do.

If the objective is to protest the bringing in of Indian immigrants, what's past is already past. What do Hindraf hope to achieve from this march? Nothing. Their forefathers are already dead and gone. Are they (that is, their forefathers) going to benefit from this march even if the class action takes place, even if they win? And what will they win?

But if the objective is to prod our government into acting, do you think it will succeed? The people in power are in their ivory towers and are very secure and comfortable there. You'd think they'd care about the protests? Anything that goes against them is always deemed as against the national interest. Their interpretation of the national interest, which is their own interests. It'll simply be a class of wills and you know how it'll end. Might is right, and they have might on their side.

And all the money spent, all the sweat and effort that goes into this. I call it an absurdity because the poor in this country - regardless of race or religion - don't need this march to remind them of their dire situation. This march will fill them with false hopes of achieving something tangible but it will not. At the end of the day, nothing will change politically here, I assure you.