KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan has appealed for a stronger Indian mandate for Barisan Nasional (BN) from the community in the coming 14th General Election (GE14).
Gerakan Vice President, Datuk A. Kohilan Pillay said BN under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the most Indian-friendly government to date.
In a statement today, he said Pakatan Harapan (PH) had made many promises but non were realistic.
He said there were ample examples of how PH state government in Penang and Selangor had repeatedly failed the people in the last 10 years.
Kohilan also took to task Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s premiership, and accused the latter of not demonstrating respect for the Indian community.
“The problems faced by the Indians were unattended during the administration of a 93-year-old man where many Indian settlers in plantations were displaced due to overemphasis on heavy industries without taking their livelihood into consideration.
“However, things started to turn for the better during the administration of Najib, we stand witness to the gradual enhancement and empowerment of Indian community in recent years, which never happened during Dr Mahathir’s tenure as prime minister,” he said, pointing out that Najib had made the uplifting of the Indian community a top priority.
He cited the creation of many groups such as the Malaysian Indian Blueprint, Secretariat of Empowerment of Indian Entrepreneurs (SEED), Socio-Economic Development of Indian Community (SEDIC) among others as testimony of efforts taken to uplift the community.
Kohilan said the MyDaftar campaign had also proven to be a success as it provided citizenship to many stateless Indians.
“The programme is still ongoing. More citizenship issues can be solved under the administration of Najib.
“Indian voters should consider the track record of BN such as the previous GE13 Manifesto where 99.4% was delivered. Again, BN Manifesto for GE14 has promised to continue the good work and more betterment for Indian community,” he said.
Kohilan also took issue with the lack of Indian leaders in PH, noting that the opposition could not be expected to understand and fight for the Indian community without such structure in place.
“BN remains the best choice for Malaysian Indians to see a better and brighter future for the sake of our children.
“There is no need for the Indians to regress back into a previous leadership instead of a current one that truly cares and delivers for the people,” he said.