Hindraf chief to quit minister, senator post on 

Monday

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — Hindraf chief P. Waytha Moorthy will resign from both his government and Senate posts on Monday in a protest move against Putrajaya’s alleged failure to deliver on promises to aid the Indian community.

According to The Star Online, the Hindu rights group also apologised to the community for raising their hopes when it agreed to support the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

Hindraf secretary P. Ramesh reportedly said that the decision on Waytha Moorthy’s impending resignation was reached by the group’s central committee after it found that Putrajaya has been “dragging its feet” on its pledges, despite signing the 18-point memorandum of understanding last April 18.

“Hindraf owes its loyalty to the Malaysian Indian poor community and to them only.

“We did the most unthinkable - signing a pact with our one-time nemesis, entirely in the interest of the Malaysian Indian poor and in the honest belief that Barisan Nasional will fulfil its promises.

“We have given up hope of that happening, after eight months of trying,” Ramesh was quoted as saying by the news portal.

He added that despite Waytha Moorthy’s appointment as Senator and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, the latter’s attempts at ensuring the pledges were delivered were met with an “unending series of delays and dead ends”.

“It is now clear to us that the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional are not going to honour the memorandum, as they have neither the political will nor courage to deliver,” Ramesh was quoted as saying. Waytha Moorthy went pro-government last year and took a pool of Hindraf leaders and supporters with him, armed with a belief that Hindraf’s support for BN would result in a better life for the country’s Indian community. Hindraf was outlawed by the federal administration following the historic rally it organised in 2007 to demand rights for the community.But several months before the 2013 general election, the government decided to lift the ban, earning accusations from critics that the move was merely a political maneuver to win the Indian vote.