Mic Leaders Assure Members Pas Not Radical

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Top MIC leaders today moved to convince members gathered at its annual convention in Kuala Lumpur that the party will not be left behind as Umno moves to formalise its cooperation with PAS
The leaders, who urged members to embrace the cooperation promoted as a way for BN to return to power, also reassured there was no truth in the "radical" image attached to PAS by its critics
MIC president S Vigneswaran recounted how he had led a delegation of party leaders to meet with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang - not long after he was elected president in July last year - and was reassured that there is no issue of PAS being against religions other than Islam
"Tok Guru asked me, 'Tan Sri do you have anything to say?' I said it was difficult for me to say it because we (MIC) only had one problem (against cooperation) that is about religion
"He told me, 'if that's the case then we don't have any problems’," said Vigneswaran."I then said to him (Abdul Hadi) there was a perception among a segment of Malaysian Indians that PAS is an extreme party that holds radical views and will not accept other religions
"But the feedback I personally received from Tok Guru was different," said Vigneswaran, who revealed that he was first contacted by PAS Supporters Congress chief N Balasubramaniam on possibilities of cooperation
"So at that point as a leader I have to make a decision whether it was reasonable for us (MIC) to refuse to cooperate with PAS," he said, adding that he had no further reasons to object
Following BN's historic GE14 loss, Umno moved to renew its ties with PAS in the name of "Malay-Muslim unity" and this has culminated in several by-election victories and the upcoming signing of its cooperation charter
Prior to the election, BN had 13 component parties but this has since been reduced to three – Umno, MCA and MIC
The Senate president noted that MIC has a long history of understanding and working with Malays from Umno and the time has come for members to also adopt the same approach towards PAS supporters
"I have to make a decision as a leader that if my race wants to live peacefully in this country, we have got to work with PAS
"Not for my own good but for good of the nation in coming years," he stressed to cheers from delegates comprising MIC's Youth, Women, Putera and Puteri wing members
In his speech, MIC Youth chief R Thinalan (photo, above) urged members to set aside their differences with PAS and embrace the new cooperation
He said this as there were parties spreading rumours of Umno abandoning other BN components and turn "more ultra" as it forges a new friendship with PAS
"I believe, however, that just like MIC and MCA, our friends in Umno will remain together in BN and let us all together move forward to counter false hopes and demand (Harapan) to fulfil its election promises," Thinalan said
"I would like to say to all delegates here, that we MIC Youth supports any cooperation to strengthen the opposition bloc
"I invite PAS Youth to not just cooperate with Umno Youth, and if they want to directly work with MIC Youth grassroots, we welcome them, as long as we can respect our respective rights and differences," said Thinalan
Present during the function today were Umno Youth chief Ashraf Wajdi Dusuki and MCA Youth chief Nicole Wong together with their exco members
To mark their new ties with Umno, PAS Youth was also represented by its chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin and his exco members. - Mkini

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