Malaysian Indian Congress
Encyclopedia
The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) is a Malaysian political party and is one of the founding members of the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
, 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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, to fight for India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n independence
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
from British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colonial
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
rule. After India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
gained its independence, MIC involved itself in the struggle for the independence of Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
(now Malaysia which was achieved in 1957. It positioned itself for representation on behalf of the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n 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
Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
(MCA) in 1954 which became the Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
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
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
in multi-racial Malaysia, membership in MIC is open to all people of Indian origin.
History
At the outset, MIC was founded to represent the interests of ethnic Indians in MalayaFederation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
, the majority of whom had been brought to the country from South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
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. 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.
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
Malayan Union
The Malayan Union was a federation of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government so as to simplify administration. The Malayan Union later became the independent...
, which did not obtain Indian support.
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
Onn Jaafar
Dato' Sir Onn bin Ja'afar, KBE was a Malay politician and a Menteri Besar of Johore in Malaysia, then Malaya. He was the founder of United Malays National Organization and was also responsible for the social economic welfare of the Malays by setting up the Rural Industrial Development Authority...
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.
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
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...
-based MCA after realising that political alliances were fundamental to success in Malaysian politics of the time.
Under Tun V.T. Sambanthan
V. T. Sambanthan
Tun Thirunyanasambanthan Thevar s/o Veerasamy Thevar, better known as Tun V.T. Sambanthan Thevar, was the fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress and one of the Founding Fathers of Malaysia along with Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tan Cheng Lock...
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. On August 31, 1957, Independence
Hari Merdeka
Hari Merdeka is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957, celebrated on August 31 each year. It is not to be confused with the formation of Malaysia...
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. 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
V. Manickavasagam
Tan Sri Dato' Seri V. Manickavasagam is the sixth president of the Malaysian Indian Congress from 1973–1978. He was also the former Minister for Communication in the Malaysian cabinet.-President of MIC:...
's term as the sixth president, the MIC became part of Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
. 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.
Nevertheless, Samy Vellu
Samy Vellu
Dato' Seri Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu is an Indian Malaysian politician. He is the longest serving President of the Malaysian Indian Congress , a component party of the Barisan Nasional coalition, holding the position since 1979, for 11 consecutive terms...
, 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
- John A. Thivy (1946 - 1947)
- Budh Singh (1947 - 1950)
- K. Ramanathan (1950 - 1951)
- K.L. Devaser (1951 - 1955)
- Tun V.T. SambanthanV. T. SambanthanTun Thirunyanasambanthan Thevar s/o Veerasamy Thevar, better known as Tun V.T. Sambanthan Thevar, was the fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress and one of the Founding Fathers of Malaysia along with Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tan Cheng Lock...
(1955 - 1973) - Tan Sri Dato' Seri V. ManickavasagamV. ManickavasagamTan Sri Dato' Seri V. Manickavasagam is the sixth president of the Malaysian Indian Congress from 1973–1978. He was also the former Minister for Communication in the Malaysian cabinet.-President of MIC:...
(1973 - 1979) - Dato' Seri Samy VelluSamy VelluDato' Seri Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu is an Indian Malaysian politician. He is the longest serving President of the Malaysian Indian Congress , a component party of the Barisan Nasional coalition, holding the position since 1979, for 11 consecutive terms...
(October 12, 1979 - December 6, 2010) - 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.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.
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. No mechanism be had been identified so far on the achievement of the above object in the above plan.Private university project
The Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology UniversityAIMST University
The Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University, founded on 15 March 2001, is a private university in Malaysia established by the Maju Institute of Educational Development , the educational arm of the Malaysian Indian Congress , a component party of the Barisan Nasional...
(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.