British lords praise Najib

 

GEORGE TOWN: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s decision to engage Hindraf to address ethnic Indian issues has won praise from members of the British House of Lords.

Lord Diljit Rana called it a wise move and Baroness Sandip Verma said it showed Najib’s seriousness in addressing issues of concern to the Indian community.

Both spoke yesterday at a ceremony to honour Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy’s appointments as a senator and deputy minister in charge of Indian affairs.

The event, sponsored by Rana and Verma, was held in the British upper house. Among the guests were Malaysia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Britain, Wan Zaidi Wan Abdullah. Several Malaysians residing in London and representatives of various civic groups also attended.

Najib's Sincere, Genuine Intention To Help Indians Is Why Hindraf Decided To Support BN - Waythamoorthy

SHAH ALAM, May 2 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's sincere and genuine intention to help the Indian community is why the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) decided to support Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 13th General Election (GE13).

Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy said Najib's actions were in contrast to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) which is not serious or genuine in trying to help solve problems faced by the marginalised Indian community.

"Yes, it is true that we (Hindraf) opposed BN in the past, but since Najib took over as the Prime Minister, he has shown a positive approach in trying to solve problems faced by the Indian community. He had openly apologised for BN's mistakes in the past.

"To us, the BN was ready to accept our demands but PR was not. In fact, there were a number of aspects that were added on by Najib in the list of requests from Hindraf. That is an endorsement to the Indian community," he said during a Hello Malaysia programme (Tamil version) on Bernama TV.

The programme will be aired on Astro Channel 502 by Bernama TV from 2pm to 3pm tomorrow (Friday) and a repeat of the programme will be aired on Saturday from 10.30pm to 11.30pm.

P. Kamalanathan lauds Najib for giving recognition to Hindraf

KUALA LUMPUR: Hulu Selangor Parliamentary candidate, P.Kamalanathan lauded the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for giving recognition to The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

"The chairman of Hindraf, Waytha Moorthy, had gone over to Opposition leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 26 times in order to discuss their blueprints, and no recognition was given, let alone a discussion.

"One day before Waytha Moorthy was scheduled to meet the Prime Minister, Anwar had called him over, and despite Waytha's effort to be hopefully present for the promised meeting, Anwar was not present," he said during a visit to an MIC operations room in Batang Kali.

Kamalanathan said that Waytha had not expressed any ill intentions.

"All he had asked for, was for the betterment of the indian community and was rightfully deserving of an opportunity to put forward his ideas," he added.

Kamalanathan shared that,Pakatan Rakyat, had once used the "Makkal Sakti"  (People power) tagline to campaign during the 2008 elections, in order to appeal to the indian community.

"Taking that into consideration, now choosing not to recognise Hindraf and neglecting their needs and intentions seems like an act of unfairness,"

Recently,a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Hindraf and Barisan Nasional was signed to make right all previous shortcomings in addressing the plight of marginalised Malaysians, including the poor among the Indian community.

The MoU which was signed by Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor on behalf of BN while Waytha Moorthy represented his organisation was witnessed by the Prime Minister.

The memorandum was described as a smart partnership between BN and Hindraf, the MoU aims to bring poor Indians into the mainstream of the country's development.

(Source: http://www.nst.com.my)

Waytha gives full backing to Najib, BN

KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional and Hindraf today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the uplifting of the Malaysian Indian community.

The event at Vivekananda Tamil School in Brickfields here was attended by the BN chairman and prime minister Najib Tun Razak, Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy, several top MIC leaders and a throng of orange-clad Hindraf supporters.

Speaking during the event, Waythamoorthy urged Indians to return BN its two-thirds majority in the upcoming general election on May 5.

He insisted that their welfare will only be cared for by the ruling coalition BN and not Pakatan Rakyat.

“They (Pakatan) told me there would be a meeting but none of the leaders showed up,” Waythamoorthy told the crowd here.

“Even up until a few days ago, I was begging them. I thought of them as my friends,” he added.

Waythamoorthy acknowledged that there was skepticism over the agreement with BN but hoped Najib would dispel these criticisms by implementing the blueprint for the 1.5 million Indians that stand to benefit from the deal.

“I hope the prime minister will prove them all wrong,” he said.

Hindraf’s blueprint, among others, highlights issues related to displaced Indian plantation workers, the need for tertiary-level education for Indian students, job opportunities in the government sector, financial loans to Indian entrepreneurs, and the establishment of a Minorities Affairs Ministry.

Najib signs surprise deal with Indian rights group

Hindraf leader P. Waythamoorthy (left) and Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor sealing the alliance with BN as PM Najib looks on.

TWO days before Nomination Day in what is shaping up to be Malaysia's hottest elections, Prime Minister Najib Razak signed a surprise pact with Indian rights group Hindraf, promising help for the Indian community in exchange for their support at the polls.

Datuk Seri Najib on Thursday signed a five-year plan to uplift the Indian community through job and education opportunities, and address the issue of stateless Indians in the country.

In return, the movement - which was influential in swinging Indian votes to the opposition in 2008 - said it would tell the Indian community to vote for Mr Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN) in the election.

"Today marks a new relationship between Barisan Nasional and Hindraf," Mr Najib said in a packed hall of Hindraf supporters. "Hindraf's strategic decision to partner with Barisan Nasional speaks volumes of confidence in my leadership."