Friday, September 4, 2009

High Chaparral: Umno and DAP get a whacking

The Human Rights Party (HRP) today condemned both Umno and DAP of violating the land law in carrying out the demolition of three vacant houses and part of an occupied fourth house in Kampung Buah Pala in George Town today.

Saying that that the proposed developer was an Umno-linked company, HRP secretary general P Uthayakumar (left) accused the BN party of violating Section 116(1) (d) of the National Land Code which states that 'where in any alienated land..... no such building shall be demolished, altered or extended without the prior consent in writing of the appropriate authority.'

Similarly he said the DAP Penang government had also refused to issue an official letter prohibiting the demolition of Kampung Buah Pala by virtue of Section 116(1) (d) of NLC.

"DAP is obviously aiding and abetting Umno in the commission of this crime of demolishing Kampung Buah Pala," he said.

Kampung Buah Pala, also commonly known as Tamil High Chaparral, faces eviction to pave way for a lucrative project - the Oasis - undertaken by Umno-linked Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd.

The Penang DAP government transferred the land ownership from the state to a government civil seevants society - Koperasi Pegawai Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang - on March 27.

At today's demolition exercise, police were seen by many assaulting and detaining villagers and their supporters, who formed a human barricade to stop the destruction of the village.

'Umno and DAP the villains'

Uthayakumar, also the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) legal advisor, alleged that both Umno and DAP have taken full advantage of the vulnerable, poor, marginalised, defenceless, voiceless and politically powerless working class Indians in Malaysia.

He also chided the police for siding the politically powerful Umno at the federal level and DAP at state level.

He pointed out that the arrest of working class Indians in Kampung Buah Pala proved that the police were biased against those detained today who were not real criminals, who violated the law.

"We were told that the police, who were supposed to be neutral, used rough and aggressive tactics, assault and detained the villagers and their supporters, causing a lady to faint," he said in a press statement today.

He also slammed the police for arresting the villagers' lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira, who was merely discharging his duties further to Section 42 of the Legal Professional Act 1976.

He was detained, manhandled and dragged away forcefully while carrying out his official legal duties.

Real culprits off the hook?

"Of course, the attorney general would not bother prosecuting the real criminals but may instead prosecute these arrested poor, defenseless and homeless people.

"HRP condemns these injustices and especially the arrest of lawyer Darshan Singh," he said, taking a swipe at both Umno and DAP governments' popular themes.

The HRP leader asked how could such open violations of law and order take place in the country under the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's One Malaysia concept?

He also asked how could such human rights infringement takes place when Penang is being governed by the DAP, which espouses the Malaysian Malaysia concept.

Moreover, he said the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had always been bragging about his CAT government based on competency, accountability and transparency.

"But all these wrongdoings took place today under the One Malaysia, Malaysian Malaysia and CAT governments.

"Such serious violation of human rights can only happen in Malaysia, nowhere else in the world," said the former ISA detainee.