Editing Malaysian Indian Congress (section)

=== K.L. Devaser and a focus on Malayan independence ===
The MIC's fourth President, [[K. L. Devaser|Kundan Lal Devaser]], served from 1951 to 1955. It was during his period that MIC started to focus on the fight for Malayan independence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://malaysianindian1.blogspot.my/2008/02/mic-hidden-history.html |title=MIC – The Hidden History |website=malaysianindian1.blogspot.my}}</ref>

Under Devaser, the MIC contested the [[1952 Malayan local elections|1952 Kuala Lumpur Municipal Elections]] in alliance with the [[Independence of Malaya Party]], [[Dato Onn Bin Ja'afar|Dato' Onn bin Jaafar]] and other non-communal organisations. The election ended with a failure for MIC as their coalition was defeated by the [[Alliance Party (Malaysia)|Alliance Party]]. The defeat showed MIC that it stood a better chance of gaining influence by joining the Alliance. In 1954 the MIC joined the [[United Malays National Organisation]] and the [[Malaysian Chinese Association|Malayan Chinese Association]] in the Alliance, securing a place for Indians in the administration.<ref name="Kailasam 2015" /> The party's broader membership was less enthusiastic than the MIC leadership about joining the Alliance but were willing to support the move if the party could secure concessions from the Alliance on inter-communal issues, particularly on education.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Indian minority and political change in Malaya, 1945–1957 |last=Brown |first=Rajeswary Ampalavanar |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-580473-2 |location=Kuala Lumpur |oclc=8080662}}</ref>

Devaser was primarily popular among the urban-based Indian elite, and lacked wider grassroots support. For the first eight years, MIC leaders were either of North Indian or Malayalee origin, a minority among Malayan Indians. The majority of Indians in Malaya at that time were Tamils, most of whom were labourers in plantations. Indian plantation workers experienced enforced segregation because of plantation compound housing. The plantation labour system also worked against the integration of Indian workers into society and perpetuated racial and occupational differentiation. Plantation workers were unable to acquire the skills required to move to better-paying jobs.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Migrant plantation workers were both marginalised and polarised in Malaya. Their wages were tied to rubber prices, falling when the rubber price fell, and were about 50c per day. Devaser came under heavy criticism from the Tamil media for not addressing the pressing issues facing the community. Some in the party felt that there was a need for a leader with a stronger relationship with the party's grassroots. In March 1955, the local daily ''Tamil Murasu'' urged Tamils to boycott the MIC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=/2007/7/16/focus/18293824&sec=focus |title=Archives |website=The Star |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=14 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614011132/https://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=%2F2007%2F7%2F16%2Ffocus%2F18293824&sec=focus |url-status=dead}}</ref> This was followed by a call for change in MIC's leadership, led by Tamil MIC leaders, and Devaser stepped down.<ref name="Kailasam 2015" /> The MIC then faced the challenge of reconciling the political aspirations of the middle class with the needs of the working class, who at the time comprised 84% of the plantation workforce.