Politics 101 Malaysia

P Waythamoorthy, who has been living in self-imposed exile after organising the mammoth Hindraf rally last November, denounced the government for allegedly revoking his passport. MCPX

The Hindu Rights Action Force chairman, who has been in London since he fled the country last December, said he has sought asylum in Britain after learning that Kuala Lumpur had cancelled his passport.

“Technically, I am now without a state and am asking Britain for asylum,” the chairman of rights group Hindraf told AFP in a phone interview. ”Continued”

Is the caretaker government today going to release four of the five Hindraf leaders who are detained under the ISA?

The ISA Advisory Board will hear representation and defence of P.Uthayakumar, M.Manoharan, V.Ganapathirau, R.Khengatharan and T.Vasanthakumar at 10:00hr next Monday at the Kamunting Detention Camp.

The five Hindraf leaders are represented by Karpal Singh, A.Sivanesan, M.Kulasegaran, and Gobind Singh.

Malaysian Indian Congress leader and Public Works Department Minister Dato Samy Vellu was in Chennai to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to clarify his government’s stand on the Malaysian Tamils issue.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV the minister admits that his government has no concrete evidence to suggest that Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force), a coalition of 30 Hindu organisations in Malaysia, has links with the LTTE and explains his Cabinet colleague’s recent outburst against the Tamil Nadu chief minister.

Following is the excerpts from the interview: ”Continued”

by K Kabilan, malaysiakini, Jan 5.

A movement is fast gaining momentum on the ground to canvass support among the Indian community to boycott the Batu Caves temple for the Thaipusam festival which falls in Jan 23.

Short message services (SMSes) and emails are being circulated asking people not to fulfill their spiritual vows in Batu Caves following the temple committee’s role in allowing the police to violently disperse a gathered crowd in the early hours of Nov 25.

So far no one has claimed leadership or responsibility for the boycott call but the feedback from the ground seemed to indicate that it is a random act of protest propagated by unknown individuals.

“As mark of respect for all fellow brothers and sisters who were part of the Nov 25 rally, we will fulfill all our spiritual vows at other temples in Malaysia except Batu Caves during Thaipusam,” said one such SMS making its rounds in recent weeks. Other SMSes with similar messages have also been in circulation lately. ”Continued”

By Traveler, Indianmalaysian.com, Jan 5.

MIC President Samy Vellu, who is in Tamil Nadu attending several functions and meeting top politicians in order to discredit Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), accused his former deputy S Subramaniam as the man behind Hindraf in an interview to Kumudam Reporter, a leading Tamil weekly.

“One year ago, Subramaniam lost in his bid to retain MIC deputy presidency. He came to power long before me; his only achievement was to obtain a piece of land for Ramalinga Esvar Temple that he himself claims.

After the defeat, his only work is to campaign against us and for that purpose they started Hindraf. What is that word ‘Hindu’? Indian Christians, Muslims and Sikhs are not important for them. They had political ambitions but did not materialize. They say, Malaysian government did nothing… come to my country.. you wont see a single beggar. Ordinary person here earns in thousands,” said Samy in the interview. ”Continued”

Media statement by P.Waytha Moorthy for Hindraf, in Middlesex.

HINDRAF’S PEACEFUL STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE MINORITY INDIANS WILL CONTINUE TO THE END

HINDRAF WILL NOT GIVE UP EVEN IF WE ARE FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE .

MY STATEMENT TO AP TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT

On the 30th December 2007 I was interviewed by a journalist from the AP who had spent about 1 ½ hours interviewing me. I am equally disappointed that a small portion of the interview had been blown out of proportion to mean I am giving up the struggle of Hindraf or that the struggle is likely to die soon. ”Continued”

Haris Ibrahim, in his blog, wrote:

I was shocked and gravely disappointed to see and hear DAP leaders at the forum play and manipulate the race card by harping on the issue of marginalised Indians simply because the audience in the hall was almost 80% Indians. I was most disheartened when I heard Kula refer to the Indians in the audience as his ‘countrymen’. Kula, am I not your countryman? Were the non-Indians in the audience not your countrymen?

by RK Anand, malaysiakini,| Dec 18.

As citizens of Malaysia, Indians have the right to enjoy equal opportunities and must not be treated like third-class citizens.

This was the crux of Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba) president P Sivakumar’s hard-hitting speech during the special meeting between Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last Friday.

“In the past, only the educated and middle-class Indians were unhappy about the difference in treatment. But over the last three years, every Indian in the country is unhappy and angry over the way we are treated,” he said. ”Continued”