Malaysian Indian Congress

Malaysian Indian Congress Kongres India Se-Malaysia மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ் 马来西亚印度国民大会党
Leader	G. Palanivel
Founded	August 1946
Headquarters	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Youth wing	MIC Youth Movement
Ideology	Nationalism, Conservatism
National affiliation	Barisan Nasional
Parliament:	3 / 222
Website
http://www.mic.org.my/

The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) (Tamil: மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ்) is a Malaysian political party and is one of the founding members of the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, previously known as the Alliance, that has been in power since the country achieved independence in 1957.

The MIC was established in August 1946, and has ceased to exist at the end of World War II, to fight for Indian independence from British colonial rule. After India gained its independence, MIC involved itself in the struggle for the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia which was achieved in 1957. It positioned itself for representation on behalf of the Indian community in the post-war development of the country. The MIC joined the National Alliance comprising the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in 1954 which became the Barisan Nasional in 1973 with further expansion in the number of component parties. The current head of the MIC is President Dato' Palanivel Govindasamy.

Like the other racially based political parties in multi-racial Malaysia, membership in MIC is open to all people of Indian origin.

History

Malaysia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Malaysia

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At the outset, MIC was founded to represent the interests of ethnic Indians in Malaya, the majority of whom had been brought to the country from South India as indentured laborers by the British. The party's founder John A. Thivy (1946-1947) also sought to check social problems such as low literacy level, alcoholism and family violence faced by the Indian community.^{[citation needed]} At the outset, the party was committed to positive inter-racial harmony and cooperation and obtaining a fair share of the economic cake for the Indian community.^{[citation needed]}

It was the intense anti-British sentiment that made the MIC under the leadership of its second president Budh Singh (1947-1950) critical of the Malayan Union, which did not obtain Indian support.^{[citation needed]}

Under its third president, K. Ramanathan was when the MIC contested in the 1952 Kuala Lumpur Municipal Elections in alliance with the multi-racial Independent Malayan Party (IMP) under Dato' Onn Jaafar and other non-communal organisations. However the results showed that the MIC’s attempt to preach and practise non-communalism would not prevail in Malayan politics when communalism was the winning factor.^{[citation needed]}

In 1954, the MIC under its fourth leader K.L. Devaser (1951-1955) became the third partner in the Alliance with the Malay-based UMNO and the Malaysian Chinese-based MCA after realising that political alliances were fundamental to success in Malaysian politics of the time.^{[citation needed]}

Under Tun V.T. Sambanthan who took over the party’s leadership as the fifth president (1955-1973) the party grew in membership and became a mass-based party, at the same time firmly entrenching itself as a partner of the Alliance.^{[citation needed]} On August 31, 1957, Independence was achieved under the Merdeka Agreement, to which Sambanthan was a signatory.

One big challenge that the party faced during this time was the fragmentation of estates, that disrupted the livelihood of ordinary Indian workers.^{[citation needed]} While the Malaysian government banned further fragmentation, the party sponsored the establishment of the National Land Finance Cooperative Society (NLFCS) comprising workers as members and used their periodic contributions to buy up whole estates.

During Tan Sri Dato' Seri V. Manickavasagam's term as the sixth president, the MIC became part of Barisan Nasional. The party sponsored the Nesa Multipurpose Cooperative and the MIC Unit Trust as part of its programme for economic ventures, and also set up the MIC Education Fund for members’ children and the Malaysian Indian Scholarship for higher education.^{[citation needed]}

Nevertheless, Samy Vellu, who is the longest serving leader of a mainstream Malaysian political party, having been MIC president since October 12, 1979 has not been without controversy, marked by allegations of corruption and a perceived decline in Malaysian Indian welfare.

In 2006, Samy Vellu successfully ousted his long-time deputy, Dato' S Subramaniam and replaced him with Dato' G Palanivel. The process was done through the 2006 party elections.

On 6 December 2010, Samy Vellu then announced that he will no longer be the President, even though his current term expires on January 2011. His deputy, Dato' G. Palanivel took over the party leadership.

List of presidents

1. John A. Thivy (1946 - 1947)
2. Budh Singh (1947 - 1950)
3. K. Ramanathan (1950 - 1951)
4. K.L. Devaser (1951 - 1955)
5. Tun V.T. Sambanthan (1955 - 1973)
6. Tan Sri Dato' Seri V. Manickavasagam (1973 - 1979)
7. Dato' Seri Samy Vellu (October 12, 1979 - December 6, 2010)
8. Dato' G. Palanivel (December 7, 2010 - current)

Education welfare

More than 10,000 students have obtained loans and scholarships totalling about RM60mil in the past 20 years from the Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED) fund, the education arm of the MIC.^{[citation needed]}

The party sponsored the Nesa Multipurpose Cooperative and the MIC Unit Trust as part of its programme for economic ventures, and also set up the MIC Education Fund for members’ children and the Malaysian Indian Scholarship for higher education.^{[citation needed]}

Ninth Malaysia Plan

MIC as the main party representing Malaysian Indians, has succeeded in getting the government to make a statement that the government would help Indians to achieve 3% equity by the year 2020 in the business sector as a measure of equitable equity distribution, although the expectation was that the target ought to be achieved in the year 2010.^{[citation needed]} No mechanism be had been identified so far on the achievement of the above object in the above plan.^{[citation needed]}

Private university project

The Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University (AIMST) is the major ongoing project by MIC. It has already commenced operations and is offering a range of science and technology-based programmes including Medicine. It was founded on March 15, 2001, by the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED), the educational arm of the MIC.

2008 General Election

In the March 2008 General Election, S. Samy Vellu lost his seat. Also losing their seats were two MIC Vice-Presidents as well as the heads of the women's wing and the youth wing.

References

• Goh, Cheng Teik (1994). Malaysia: Beyond Communal Politics. Pelanduk Publications. ISBN 967-978-475-4.
• Pillai, M.G.G. (Nov. 3, 2005). "National Front parties were not formed to fight for Malaysian independence". Malaysia Today.
• The Star (Aug 2, 2006): "Education a Key MIC Thrust"; M. Krishnamoorthy

External links

• Official web site
• Official Web Site of Pemuda MIC (Penang State MIC Youth Wing)
• Official Web Site of Putera M.I.C