Malaysian Hindu rights group supports ruling coalition

A Hindu rights group in Malaysia has come out in support of the country's ruling coalition ahead of the country's May 5 general elections.

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairman P. Waythamoorthy has urged ethnic Indians in that southeast Asian nation to vote for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, adding that Hindraf has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BN April 18, The New Straits Times reported Wednesday.

BN is a coalition of three major race-based parties - the United Malays National Organisation, the Malaysian Indian Congress and the Malayasian Chinese Association.

Waythamoorthy said that the MoU was a "smart partnership" that would help bring poor Indians into the mainstream of the country's development.

Indians comprise a little over seven percent of Malaysia's total population of about 30 million.

According to Waythamoorthy, the other major coalition, the Paktan Rakyat, which holds power in four of the country's 13 states, has fooled the Indian community.

"We were hopeful that Pakatan would carry out the economic plans and solve issues faced by the Indian community, but, unfortunately, Pakatan betrayed us," he was quoted as saying.