YeinJee's M'sian Voices

MIC president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu is calling for the release of the five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders under ISA detention, saying two of them should be freed sooner because one is ill and the other is now an elected representative. [Bernama]

It’s funny reading how many times Samy Vellu had to stress that it’s not a political stunt; I doubt many would agree with him in this sense. He should have make the call much earlier, but it’s better late than never… political stunt or not, I don’t really mind as long as it makes a change at the end.

This raise the same old issue again… what’s the point of having ISA at the first place? It’s probably the most barbaric act we have in Malaysia. I can understand the need for certain laws to protect the nation against terrorism or racial crash, but locking up people without trial for months and years is just not right.

I would have support an act to detain a suspicious terrorist for prolonged period, say for 14 or 28 days… but if there is no solid proofs to file any charges, the suspect have to be let go. It’s one of the basic fundamentals of our constitution… that we would rather let a criminal off the hook than to put an innocent man into wrong justice.

I am not saying that the Hindraf 5 are innocent; the Hindraf memorandum still rings in my mind occasionally… truth or not it’s seditious nonetheless. However, it’s just not right to detain anyone without giving them a fair trial.

It’s not just about releasing the Hindraf 5… ISA should be abolished.

Quoted from Nuraina A Samad…
“If the government was so sure that the 5 Hindraf leaders had breached any law of the land, then the 5 should have been subjected to the processes of law. Detention under the ISA is not a due process of law. It is unjust.”

Malaysian bloggers and opposition party leaders are one sided in calling Samy Vellu to quit from the coming election (and probably from all his political posts as well)… but is Samy Vellu really that unwanted by the Indian and Malaysian community?

The Hindraf rally (and post mortem events) is a clear indication that there are serious discontent among the Indians about Samy’s leadership. There are also bloggers’ reports that Samy was being booed and insulted in various events that he attended in the past few months.

Thing is… can Hindraf and some others represent the majority voices of the Hindus or Indians? There are still large group of Indians (and non Indians) that have been silence about Hindraf and recent development about the Indian community… and we can never assume anything about what they are thinking.

Besides, those people who constantly claimed that Samy Vellu is unwanted probably have not been to Sungai Siput before… as far as I know, Sungai Siput is one of the best maintained areas in Perak, and Samy (and his representatives) has been very responsive to the community issues in the zone.

Samy is unwanted only if he can’t win at his stronghold at the end of the election day… else, it probably shows that he still has his influence after all, and that the silent majority still has some fate or hope for the MIC leader.

Let the voters decide.

The five-year old daughter of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy will lead hundreds of rose-bearing children - and their parents - on February 16 to petition at the Parliament building for the release of the group’s detained leaders. [Malaysiakini]

I don’t feel good about this at all. I am against the use of ISA, but I am also against using children to fight for political or social causes.

I can understand the girl’s pledge to have her father home… but to fight for the rights of Indians? Am I supposed to believe that a 5-year-old girl could have such a mature thinking without being influenced or exploited by the adults?

Believe in what you want… I see this as a shameful exploitation.

The Sessions Court here today acquitted and discharged 31 people charged with attempting to murder a police officer during an illegal assembly organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) in front of the Sri Subramaniar temple in Batu Caves, near here, on Nov 25.

Judge Nursinah Adzmi made the decision after allowing the application by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to withdraw the charges against them. [Bernama]

This have to be one of the biggest Malaysia jokes in 2007… it was a murder attempt charge, not chicken stealing. The AG should not have press the charges at the first place if he didn’t have enough evidence to prove the case… and if he does have solid evidence to prove it, they shouldn’t withdraw it at all.

I am not a law expert, but I know simple enough that our law should not be treated as a game… it’s controversial to press the charge, but it’s even worse to drop the case rather easily. The whole thing is just stupid.

Well, at least it’s good news for these 31 people… I hope that they are really innocent and not being let off for political reasons.

You must have read about Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Musa Hassan’s allegation by now, that the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) is trying to garner support from terrorist groups… i.e. Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the RSS, a militant organisation in India (as said by Mohamed Nazri Aziz).

Thing is… if the police or government has any proof about the allegation, what are they waiting now? Go ahead and put the Hindraf leaders into lockup, charged them with whatever act they could think of and declare an official war on Hindraf. The only reason the government and police are not doing so is because the terrorist-link allegation is simply stupid words without solid backing.

What the IGP said is serious accusation… it could cause serious damage to the peacefulness of the country and the social harmony between races. He shouldn’t voice about it without having facts and proofs about it… it caused unnecessary tension and served no good purpose for the general public.

Regardless, I doubt any action would be taken against Musa Hassan if it is a false alarm in the end. They would come out with million of reasons that the IGP was just showing his concern, that they haven’t found any proof yet but it’s true, that their words are MISINTEPRETED… and Musa walks away.

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters were charged with attempted murder and causing damage to public property during the mass rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25. [Malaysiakini]

No sympathy from me. I know some people will argue that the police were using tear gases, water cannons and some violent acts as well, but two wrongs don’t make one right… it doesn’t mean that it’s ok to throw bricks and iron pipes at the police when the cops were using force.

Yes, the charges might be biased and discriminative. It’s uncommon for Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail to personally handle the case when he is ignoring some other more pressing cases (Altantuya’s murder for example)… and besides that, I can’t stop wondering what has happened to the officer that fired 4 shots to the crowd at Batu Buruk fracas.

Still, it doesn’t mean that it is wrong to charge the Hindraf supporters. If there is anything to concern about… it’s to make sure that the prosecutors are not framing the accused but have solid proof to press the charges, and that the trial is handle fair and square with proper transparency.

The India government seems to be concern about Malaysian Indians’ welfare since the Hindraf rally. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was the first to respond, but was told by Malaysia’s Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz to back off.

Nazri’s response has probably created as much debate in the India Parliament as of the Hindraf’s plea itself. For once though, I have to agree with Nazri that this issue is none of India’s business.

Malaysian Tamil, Malaysian Indians, Malaysian Chinese, or Malaysian Bumiputras, whatever… we are MALAYSIANS. Whatever issue it is, it should be settle in Malaysia itself, and is none of other nations’ business.

I am pissed with some opposition leaders and political bloggers for supporting India’s stand regarding this matter. Anwar Ibrahim for example has told NDTV that India is right in taking up the issue of ethnic Tamils in the country… well, would Anwar approve if India decided to up their ante and send their armed force to ‘protect Malaysian Tamils’?

We can’t hail everything that is against the government simply for objecting sake; we still need to use our logical mind to see what is right or wrong… and Anwar is losing his mind here. So, what’s next? Chinese asking for China’s help for discrimination?

Fine, it’s freedom of speech… India’s leader can say whatever they want, but it ends there. Any further demands are unwanted and unwelcome. We don’t need foreign interference to handle Malaysian matters, period.

Saw this from Rocky… Hindraf’s memorandum to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. There are some strong accusations mentioned, judge it yourself…

HINDRAF
Hindu Rights Action Force
No. 135-3-A, Jalan Toman 7,
Kemayan Square,
70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
Malaysia. Tel : 06-7672995/6
Fax: 06-7672997 Email waytha@hotmail.com

15.11.2007
The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown
Prime Minister of the United Kindom
10 Downing Street, Fax: +442079250918
London, URGENT
SW1A 2AA

Dear Sirs,

RE: 1. COMMONWEALTH ETHNIC INDIAN PEACE LOVING SUBJECTS IN MALAYSIA PERSECUTED BY GOVERNMENT BACKED ISLAMIC EXTREMIST VIOLENT ARMED TERRORIST WHO LAUNCHED A PRE DAWN VIOLENT ARMED ATTACK AND DESTROYED THE KG JAWA MARIAMAN HINDU TEMPLE AT 4.00 A.M THIS MORNING (15.11.2007).

2. APPEAL FOR U.K TO MOVE EMERGENCY U.N RESOLUTION CONDEMNING “ETHNIC CLEANSING” IN MALAYSIA.

3. APPEAL TO REFER MALAYSIA TO THE WORLD COURT AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT FOR CRIMES AGAINST IT’S OWN ETHNIC MINORITY INDIANS.

We refer to the above critical matters in Malaysia but which generally gets the least attention locally even by the Opposition parties, NGO’s, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission and the media for this community is generally regarded as politically insignificant, do not draw local or international funding and are deemed not pressworthy. To the contrary the Malaysian government has successfully projected itself to the world as a modern Islamic thinking country which is not true.

The ethnic minority Indians in Malaysia were brought in to Malaysia by the British some 200 over years ago. Since independence in 1957 the Malaysian Indians have been permanently colonialised by the Islamic fundamentalist and Malay chauvinists UMNO led Malaysian government.

Among the recent atrocities committed by this government are as follows:-

1.100 over Indians were slashed and killed by the UMNO controlled Malaysian government in the Kampung Medan mini genocide. Despite numerous appeals, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission has refused to hold a Public Inquiry. The UMNO controlled Malaysian courts struck off a victim’s public interest civil suit for a Public Inquiry to be held without even the said UMNO controlled government having to file in their defence. The UMNO controlled Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police refused to investigate and / or initiate an inquest into the death of at least six Indians in this tragedy despite.

2. Every week one person at average is killed in a shot to kill policy and in every 2 weeks one person is killed in police custody. About 60% of these victims are Indians though they form only 8% of the Malaysian population.

3. In every three weeks one Hindu temple is demolished in Malaysia.

The latest being the demolishment of the Mariaman temple in Padang Jawa, Shah Alam, Selangor early this morning (15.11.2007) and the next being the (Mutaiya) Hindu temple in Sungai Petani scheduled for the 29.11.2007.

A violent armed pre down attack at 4.00a.m this morning was launched by the UMNO controlled Malaysian government backed by about 600 police, riot police, Islamic extremist and armed terrorists which completely destroyed this temple.

In an attack two weeks ago, uniformed police, riot police and city Council officers hurled rocks and attacked unarmed Hindu devotees with knives, sticks and iron rods.

At least 20 Hindu devotees were seriously injured and 19 arrested including 4 of their United Kingdom trained lawyers in direct violation of Article 5 (Right to life) Article 8 (Equality) Article 11 (Freedom of Religion) Section 295 (defiling a place of worship), Section 296 (disturbing a religious assembly), 298A(causing racial disharmony) and Section 441(criminal trespass) of the Malaysian Penal Code.

These authorities are plagued by an above the law mindset and in fact liberally take the law into their own hands. These atrocities however does not happen to almost all Islamic places of worship. Please visit www.policewatchmalaysia.com for further and better particulars.

4. State sponsored direct discrimination against the Indians in Public University intakes, Indian (Tamil) Schools, skills training institutes, civil service and private sector job opportunities, business and license opportunities and in almost all other aspects of daily life.

Despite our hundreds of letters, appeals and pleas to the Malaysian King and Sultans, the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Inspector General of Police, Ministers, Chief Ministers and the latest being our letters to the Prime Minister dated 29.10.2007 and 30.10.2007 and to the Attorney General dated 1.11.2007 the Malaysian authorities are only proceeding with greater ferocity and with impunity with very little regard for the Federal Constitution and laws of Malaysia. So please help us.

CONCLUSION

We fear that this peace loving Indian community of Tamil origin having been pushed to the corner and the persecution getting worse by the day may be forced to into terrorism in a matter of time as what has happened to the Sri Lankan Tamils.

APPEAL

On our part we are committed to a peaceful and lawful struggle and pray and appeal that the Government of the United Kingdom:-

1. Moves an emergency United Nations resolution condemning these state sponsored atrocities and persecutions of Malaysian Indians in Malaysia.

2. Refers Malaysia to the World Court and the International Criminal Court for Crimes against it’s own ethnic minority Indians

Thank You,

Yours Faithfully

P.Uthayakumar
Legal Adviser