'OK for Umno to rally, not Hindraf'
Athi Veeranggan Mar 1, 09 5:03pm

The police action to spray chemical-laced water on Hindu Rights Action Force supporters at the Brickfields police station in Kuala Lumpur yesterday was “brutal and inhumane”, an outraged Hindraf leader said today.

The outlawed Hindraf national coordinator RS Thanenthiran accused the police of practicing double standards where "there is one set of laws for illegal and violent Umno demonstrators, and another for those participating in peaceful assemblies and gatherings.""While the police were lenient and even provided protection for Umno illegal demonstrations, including mobsters, they resorted to forceful means to batter others," he said, referring to Umno Youth’s action against prominent opposition parliamentarian Karpal Singh.

Yesterday Hindraf supporters have gone to Brickfields police station to lodge mass reports against the Home Ministry and Kamunting Detention Centre authority for neglecting the health of detained Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar.They claimed that the authorities failed to provide proper medical treatment for Uthayakumar, a diabetic who is suffering from a fractured toe."We went to the police station only to exercise our fundamental rights to lodge police reports on behalf of Uthayakumar. It was not an illegal demonstration or protest,” lamented Thanenthiran.“We cannot understand why the police resorted to violence to stop us. It was a gross violation of our basic human rights."

He accused Brickfields police chief Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid for going back on his words after acceding to ‘a gentleman’s agreement’ to allow Hindraf supporters to lodge reports at the police station.According to Thanenthiran, Wan Abdul Bari had earlier agreed to allow 50 Hindraf supporters to lodge 10 joint police reports in separate groups of five, including family members of Uthayakumar."However, we were caught by surprise when Wan Abdul Bari suddenly gave the order to the supporters to disperse. It was a shock that the police resorted to brutality and inhumane action to disperse and arrest Hindraf supporters," said Thanenthiran, a former teacher.Some had to seek medical attentionThe police sprayed chemical-laced water at about 300 supporters of Uthayakumar, who had been detained under the draconian Internal Security Act since 2007.

Most of the crowd subsequently dispersed save for a few, including Kapar MP S Manikavasagam and Police Watch and Human Rights Committee coordinator S Jayathas.The duo were among 17 individuals arrested, according to Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, who arrived at the scene later to act as the group’s lawyer.They have all been released since.A few people were injured and suffered from itchiness and breathing difficulties after they were doused with chemical-laced water and they had to seek treatment from the hospital.

Thanenthiran called on Malaysians to vote against Barisan Nasional in next month’s by-elections in Bukit Selambau state seat (Kedah) and Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat (Perak) to register their anger against the police brutality."This is not a racial issue. It’s about human rights. Malaysians must demonstrate their disagreement with the police action and BN’s arrogance in violating human rights," said the Hindraf leader.

Little Darshini- denied right to get education ( watch the clip)

Please visit this new youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/MakkalSevai and see a short chronicle of the recent experience of a mother whose daughter Darshini, a std five lass who was almost expelled from school because she did not have a Birth Certificate.

What the mother is effectively saying, is that if the poor misstep even a little, the system is brutal to them. Missteps are not at all uncommon for the ignorant and the unguided. Try to understand .

This video is not a commercial for Makkal Sakthi. It is an expression of Makkal Sakthi - so we may find sustainable solutions for these self reinforcing and endemic problems.

More to follow.

United we must stand
United we must act.

Water cannons turned on Malaysian Indians, 17 held

Water cannons turned on Malaysian Indians, 17 held

Malaysia Sun

Saturday

28th February, 2009 (IANS)

Police Saturday turned water cannons on a group of ethnic Indians in Malaysia who refused to disperse outside a police station - where they had come to lodge complaints alleging mistreatment of a jailed activist - and arrested 17 of them.
P. Uthayakumar, a leader of the banned Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) and who suffers from acute diabetes, has been detained under the stringent Internal Security Act (ISA) as one of the five organisers of a protest rally in November 2007.The crowd refused to disperse despite repeated warnings, city police chief Mohammed Sabtu Osman said.

Seventeen people, including lawmaker Manikavasagam, have been arrested for the 'illegal gathering'. Among the arrested, three, including a woman, were sent to hospital but police declined to comment on this.Earlier Saturday, about 300 people, including several MPs, had gathered to make police complaints. Police allowed about 50 people - five family members of Uthayakumar and five representatives each from the country's nine states, including MPs - to enter the station to lodge the complaints.The rest outside were asked to disperse. Most of them did but about 30 refused to leave.

The Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) began shooting chemical-laced water at the crowd. The 30 ran away and then returned.There were three rounds of regrouping by the protestors and follow up action by police lasting 40 minutes, Star Online said.Police have since established a safety perimeter around the police station.
Hindraf claims to speak for Malaysia's two million Indians, a bulk of them Tamil Hindus who came here during the British era. It protests discrimination in jobs and education and alleges that the government demolishes their religious shrines indiscriminately.They form about eight percent of Malaysia's population.

Malaysia's Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan said police had no choice as the crowd had ignored police advice to disperse as they were inconveniencing others at the police station.'The police station is a security area and we cannot allow such huge numbers inside for security reasons,' he said.

Musa warned that police would not hesitate to take stern action against any illegal gathering.

Gobind Singh Deo, an opposition ethnic Indian lawmaker of the opposition Ddemocfratic Action Party (DAP) who arrived later, said the incident should not have happened as every citizen had the right to lodge a police report regardless of the number.'It is clear there are different standards practised by the police when dealing with such matters,' he said.

Bersihkan Guantanamo Malaysia

Date: Sunday, March 01 @ 10:19:35 MYT

Topic: Pendapat

Oleh Afrar Yunus

Sejak adanya Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA), beribu orang telah dijadikan penghuni di Kem Tahanan Kamunting Taiping Perak.
Undang-Undang ISA memilih mangsa mengikut kehendak nafsu dan kerakusan kerajaan biarpun perisik asing, dadah, Jamaah Islah, senjata dan sebagainya dijadikan alasan tahanan.
Akta yang dirangka RH Hickling pada tahun 1960 adalah lanjutan dari Ordinan Darurat 1948.
Akta ini memberikan kuasa kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri Malaysia menahan ‘mangsa’ selama 60 hari dan kemudian dari itu selama dua tahun dan boleh berterusan bertahun-tahun tanpa dibicarakan.

Walaupun Malaysia mempunyai pelbagai undang-undang, namun kerajaan persekutuan yang ada sekarang takut dan gagal memanafaatkan akta-akta yang sedia ada dan dikira lebih demokratik.

Mereka yang pernah ditahan mengadu didera secara fizikal dan mental. Pelbagai ancaman, pukulan, deraan, ditahan di bilik kecil tanpa cahaya dan udara, dinafi dan dihadkan lawatan keluarga dan pelbagai kaedah ganas dan zalim digunakan di Guantanamo Malaysia itu.
Bukan sahaja parti politik seperti PAS, Keadilan dan DAP memperjuangkan sejak sekian lama supaya akta dracula ini dimansuhkan hatta badan kebajikan sukarela seperti Aliran, ABIM, JIM dan berpuloh pertubuhan lain bangun menyuarakan hasrat yang sama.
Malah sejak kebelakangan ini parti komponen BN seperti MCA, PPP, MIC dan beberapa parti di Sabah dan Sarawak juga melaungkan kehendak yang sama.
Sejak dahulu lagi, Malaysia dikritik oleh negara-negara dunia agar memansuhkan ISA.
Apa guna bercakap soal demokrasi, Negara Islam dan sebagainya jika diri sendiri terpalit dengan kekejaman terhadap rakyat sendiri.

Selepas krisis UMNO, pada tahun 1988 Abdullah Ahmad pernah mengatakan bahawa , "Jika kita semua hendak menyelamatkan Malaysia dan UMNO, Dr Mahathir mesti dibuang. Dia menggunakan undang-undang kejam ISA untuk mendiamkan pengkritiknya."
Tetapi Abdullah sama seperti manusia lain. Apabila telah mendapat tempat sebagai Perdana Menteri dan setelah adanya kuasa, ia berfatwa pula, ISA adalah "undang-undang yang perlu".
Media arus perdana termasuk Utusan Malaysia pada 10.12.08 melaporkan masih terdapat 64 orang tahanan ISA di Kem Tahanan Kamunting sehingga 30 Jun 2008.
Ada yang ditahan melebihi tujuh tahun tanpa bicara.

Pernah seorang penghuni di Kamunting, Shahrial Sirin, tidak sempat menemui anaknya kerana lewat dibenarkan menziarahi ahli keluarganya yang sakit tenat itu.
Selain dari Abdullah Ahmad, Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar dan ahli kabinet Malaysia adalah mereka yang bertanggungjawab dalam pungutan saham Guantanamo ini.

Satu masa dahulu Kamunting terkenal kerana sejarah perlombongannya.
Namun ia bakal mencatatkan sejarah modennya dengan penderaan, penyiksaan dan kezaliman terhadap penduduk pribuminya.
Sampai bila lagi Guantanamo Malaysia.
Lalang yang dtanam, takkan mengharapkan padi yang tumbuh ?

http://alkerohi.blogspot.com/

Those held under the ISA are defined as a group that has virtually no rights, so it is hardly surprising that prison guards treat them as less than human.
Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division.

I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force.
Albert Einstein “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere . . . Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King Jr.

"All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul."