panditan

Pandithan pours on the 'masala'

After a grandiose opening ceremony filled with much glitter, Indian Progressive Front president M.G. Pandithan went on to take jibes at his former mentor, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, in his address. This and the near-unanimous decision to reject the invitations of the MIC and PPP appeared to be an ego-massaging exercise for Pandithan, writes A. LETCHUMANAN.
THE huge garlands for Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his wife, Datin Seri Endon Mohamed, at the IPF delegates conference on Sunday were lowered from the ceiling using pulleys.

Specially designed headgears for Abdullah and his wife were placed by Datuk M.G. Pandithan and his wife Datin Jeyashree. Then, Pandithan placed a sash with the words Wira Perpaduan Melayu (Hero of Malay Unity) on the Deputy Prime Minister.

Earlier, when walking to the stage at the PWTC Merdeka Hall, women clad in red sarees sprinkled petals on the path that Abdullah and Endon took.

One could also easily note that all delegates wore a tag with the picture of Abdullah on it, something different from the past.

It was obvious that Pandithan and his men did not leave any stone unturned to ensure Abdullah got the "royal'' treatment.

Before Pandithan gave his opening address, he kissed Abdullah and Endon's hands before going to the podium.

However, all these cultured behaviour stopped when Pandithan started speaking about how MIC had been single-handedly blocking IPF's entry into Barisan Nasional.

He said IPF was on the verge of being accepted into the Barisan fold but it was blocked by a security guard at the door.

"We were invited to join Barisan. Nearly half of our body was inside but we were denied entry by a security guard. It is unfortunate that the security guard is an Indian,'' he said. Later, he said Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had publicly admitted that he opposed IPF's entry.

The 2,950 delegates and 1,000 observers, who revere Pandithan as a demigod, roared in laughter which made him crack another joke about the community.

He said a crab seller once bought three baskets of crabs--Indian, Chinese and Malay--and had left them open while he went for a drink.

"However when he returned, he was shocked to see the baskets containing the Malay and Chinese crabs empty while the Indian crabs were still there.

"On closer examination, he realised that when an Indian crab was trying to climb out of the basket, another was pulling it down. This is the sorry state of affairs in the Indian community,'' he said.

Some senior members, who had laughed along during the speech, later wondered whether it was necessary for Pandithan to make such an embarrassing speech, ridiculing his own community in front of invited local and foreign guests.

"It only shows the immaturity of the community's politicians in the country. They just play to the gallery,'' a senior IPF leader said.

Said an MIC leader: "What did Pandithan achieve by these anecdotes and by attacking Samy Vellu? He just wanted to go on an ego massaging trip, ably assisted by all his sycophantic supporters.

"After all they even went to the extent of collecting money and buying him a Mercedes Benz. So this is nothing for them.''

With so many things at stake for the community, the leaders of the three Indian-based parties--MIC, IPF and PPP seem to be more interested in slinging harsh words at each other.

One observer said none of them has taken the initiative to bring them together to discuss the problems, especially on the growing number of social ills in the Indian community.

"They should have taken a cue from the efforts of the Malays to have a unity talk,'' he said.

It was strange that PPP president Datuk M. Kayveas had kept quiet when his party was included in the referendum after his invitation to IPF to join the party was reported widely. But a day after the voting, he claimed that PPP did not extend an invitation.

So was this whole episode staged as Samy Vellu had described?

One IPF official said Pandithan and party members were pushed to the wall to come up with the referendum as they felt the invitation was a farce.

"His hard-hitting speech against Samy Vellu was to appease the anger of the delegates against the MIC president.

"The MIC did that as a ruse to steal the thunder from our assembly,'' he said.

Refuting Samy Vellu's claim, Pandithan said the MIC president preferred to look at the negative side.

"In fact his invitation (for us to join) was a political drama, to gain political mileage. He was not genuine in his offer,'' Pandithan said.

He said that it took MIC 12 years to extend the invitation but they had the right to know the plans.

"He is an architect and to construct a house, he should know there must be a plan. We want to know where is the door, window, kitchen and bathroom. There is nothing wrong in asking for a plan (written invitation),'' he said.

On the lavish opening ceremony which many had criticised, Pandithan said Abdullah deserved the respect as he was a senior leader of the country.

"When I was in MIC, I did the same thing for Samy Vellu during his birthday and other functions. It is my style to accord an elaborate welcome to show utmost respect to the invited guest,'' he added.

Pandithan said that this was the first time that such a senior politician was officiating an IPF assembly.

"I still feel we should have done better at the opening ceremony,'' he said.

He added that the question of money wastage did not arise.

"Now the party, which represents the down-trodden, has arrived and is respected. I don't think these people will get such an opportunity in other political parties like MIC and PPP.

"IPF is the only party which represents the grassroots. It is among this poor group where all kinds of problems exist. The upper and middle class Indians are living comfortably.

"Our future is in Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's hands. If he wants, he can admit us into Barisan but we will be patient and not resort to giving any ultimatum,'' he said.

All said and done, the conference showed Pandithan's grip on the party is unshakeable. He seems invincible and is revered by party members.

However, the referendum has opened up old wounds and could possibly lead to a confrontation between the titans in the community.

If the number and size of garlands a leader receives are a criteria when deciding on a party's application to join Barisan, then IPF will win hands down.