PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 - Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today that Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) founder P Waythamoorthy’s passport had been neither confiscated nor cancelled.
Waythamoorthy had claimed he was victimised by the Malaysian government and that his international passport had been revoked.
The self-exiled leader has been living in London since the government crackdown on the organization in 2007 and has sought asylum in Britain.
Former Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar had also refuted the allegations and said that Waythamoorthy’s passport and travel documents were still active in the Immigration Department of Malaysia database.
However Hishammuddin told reporters today that Waythamoorthy’s passport was, in fact, still in the custody of the Malaysian High Commission in London.
“His passport is still valid, his passports expires on Oct 17, 2010. As far as I am concerned, 2010 means that his passport has not yet ended and we did not confiscate his passport but he gave his passport to the our High Commission in United Kingdom,” he said.
Hishammuddin pointed that Waythamoorthy needed to only to return to the High Commission and claim his passport.
“Yes, he was the one who surrendered the passport,” he confirmed.
He added that Waythamoorthy should stop claiming that the government is stopping him from getting his passport.
“Why should we apologise to him? Would you? Of course, not,” he said.
Hishammuddin also added that Waythamoorthy could be too ashamed to go and get his passport because he had surrendered the document himself.
“Maybe he received a better offer at that moment, he felt that the grass is always greener on the other side but when he went to the other side, he felt that it was not worth it.
"Maybe he was ashamed because he himself surrendered the passport. That is why he claimed that we did not allow him to have his passport,” he said.
