Caucus to tacke issues faced by Indians

NST, 30 April, 2008
RAWANG: The opposition’s Indian members of parliament have formed a committee to address issues faced by the community in the country.
Although the committee, led by R. Sivarasa (Subang) and S. Manikavasagam (Kapar), will table Indian-related issues in Parliament, it will also raise issues related to other races as well.
The committee will also come up with a guideline where assemblymen, too, can contribute to the cause by highlighting Indian causes.
Sivarasa said: “It will be an ongoing fight led by committed MPs to resolve many issues faced by Indians and to keep up the pressure on the government to attend to issues such as relocation of Hindu temples and to improve the physical condition of Tamil schools.
“Such problems (temples and Tamil schools) would be handled differently by us. Such issues have in the past raised questions on freedom of religion and human rights,” he said, without elaborating how differently they were going to handle the issues.
He said the formation of the select committee was also in line with the objective of the new Selangor state government to solve multi-racial problems at the grassroots level as it promised during its election campaigns.
He said the committee was formed because they believed that issues should be solved collectively.
“We do not believe in a one-man show. Any problem faced by anyone can be resolved by getting inputs from as many people as possible. The committee we are forming would play its role by liaising with all elected representatives to resolve the issues with consensus,” added Sivarasa.