Altercation At Ph Mic Meeting Over Who Ll Speak At World Tamil Conference

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Screengrabs from a viral video showing a committee member helping to defuse the situation.KUALA LUMPUR: The meeting of the organising committee for the 11th World Tamil Research Conference here, which starts tomorrow, nearly ended in blows when MIC deputy president M Saravanan was initially not given a slot to speak at the event.
The two-hour joint Pakatan Harapan-MIC meeting, which was chaired by human resources minister V Sivakumar, with Saravanan as his co-chair, at first decided that only the minister would address the international conference followed by the keynote speech of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
However, a source said this was questioned by one of Saravanan’s supporters who asked why Saravanan, who he said was a better-known leader and also co-chairman, was not being given the same treatment as Sivakumar.
“A peeved Saravanan thumped the table and said he would not beg the committee for an opportunity to speak.
“He then asked what would happen if people gathered to protest against the decision not to allow him to speak.
“Sparks flew when former MIC leader Ohms Thiagarajan, who is with PKR now, said Saravanan’s words could be interpreted as being tantamount to rowdyism.
“Saravanan’s supporters rushed up to him, but the situation was defused by others who stopped them in the nick of time,” the source said.
Following the incident, the source said Sivakumar declared that both leaders would address the 600 delegates at the three-day event, which also sees foreign participation.
When contacted, Saravanan said his supporters reacted when the meeting was told that he would not be allowed to speak although he had been appointed co-chairman by Anwar.
“I’m not a deputy chairman but a co-chairman, appointed by the prime minister.
“I should be treated fairly. Don’t make me an underdog just because I’m not a minister (anymore).
“This is a world Tamil conference. Everyone knows where I stand globally when you talk about Tamil language and literature,” he said.
A video clip of the incident is making the rounds. - FMT

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