Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Hindraf set to raise temperature of Najib's India visit - Malaysiakini

If the list of demands by Hindraf to the Indian government is met, the scheduled meeting between foreign minister SM Krishna and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is expected to be a hot affair.

"Foreign minister SM Krishna was really moved by the 'Malaysian Indian Minority & Human Rights Violations Annual Report 2009: Malaysia Truly Asia' which was distributed during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas international conference recently," said Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar.

hindraf btn 151209 uthayakumarAs such, Uthayakumar (right) said Krishna would likely highlight the 'human rights violations' against Indian Malaysians to Najib during the latter's maiden visit to the state starting today.

"We have also asked the Indian government to use diplomatic means to handle (the) issue," he said.

Uthayakumar was optimistic about India's intervention as the minister and a representative of an opposition party, Sushma Suvaraj, has also promised to look into the matter seriously and bring them to the attention of the Indian cabinet.

"Most of them were shocked (about) how Indians are being ill-treated and marginalised in Malaysia. This does not happen in other countries. Only in our country," he said.

About 1500 copies of the annual report was distributed to delegates from 53 countries.

'Trade sanctions proposed'

Among the requests submitted to the Indian government were to persuade it to terminate all present and future Malaysian company projects in India especially by Plus, Gamuda, IJN, Scomi and other Umno-linked companies.

Uthayakumar said India would also be asked to stop buying Malaysian palm oil and to halt all its information technology professionals from working here.

Hindraf has also proposed to India to imposed trade sanctions on Malaysia until all the atrocities and injustices against Indian Malaysians end.

When asked about the negative implications that Malaysia may encounter due to the trade sanctions proposed, Uthayakumar said this is the only option left.

"People may suffer for awhile but this is the only option left for us as Najib has refused to address and resolve the problem," he said.

Uthayakumar who is also the Human Rights Party secretary-general hopes that the Indian government would intervene and end the sufferings of marginalised Indians in Malaysia.

"Najib would know what to do during his official visit, but what concerns me the most are the human rights issues of Malaysia Indians," he said when asked to comment on what would be the outcome of Najib's maiden visit to India.

He said he would continue to fight for the rights of Indians even if he became a scapegoat or was again arrested by the ISA.

Malaysian Indians want support from Diaspora

CHENNAI: Delegates of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) this year may be forced to look into the gross human right violations by the Malaysian government — demolition of temples, burial grounds, Tamil schools and relocation of Indians, to mention a few — as they meet in New Delhi for three days from January 7.

Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), an organisation fighting for the rights of Indian ethnic minorities in Malaysia, plans to distribute copies of its second annual report on the rights violations at the annual conference of the Indian Diaspora and urge the participants to devote a session to discuss the issue.


Though two million people of Indian origin were being treated as “second grade citizens” by the Malaysian government, the issue had never figured in the discussions of the PBD, HINDRAF legal advisor P Uthayakumar told Express.


Uthayakumar, who was in Chennai enroute to New Delhi, accused the PBD of deliberating only on issues relating to business and trade agreements.
He alleged that the ruling racist United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) was denying birth certificates and identity documents to around two million Malaysians of Indian origin with a view to having political control by preventing a section of the population from participating in the political process.


Moreover, in the name of development, traditional settlements of Malaysian Indians were being demolished.
Apart from losing their places of worship, burial grounds and Tamil schools, 70 per cent of Malaysian Indians, who were agriculturists by profession, have now lost their land and livelihood, he claimed, adding that those people had been forced to migrate to urban areas, where they have no proper place to stay, no school to study and no proper job.
“Malaysian Indians are given only low profile jobs like cleaners, bearers, road cleaners, office assistants and sewerage workers and anyone from the ethnic group trying to make it big in business finds his license cancelled with the police helping in demolishing the establishment,” Uthayakumar alleged.


Impelled by a sense of outrage over the prevailing difficulti es, nearly 3,30,000 Malaysian In dians in the age group of 15 to 34 have taken to crime and the suicide rate is the highest, he said.
Most of the Malaysian Indians who put up a fight against the discrimination had been killed or harassed in poli ce custody, he said, adding that an ann ual report highlighting the human rights violations would be submitted to the Minister of Overseas and External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s office.

Cops quiz exco on 'abuse' of Tamil school funds - Malaysiakini

The police today recorded the statement of Selangor exco Xavier Jayakumar at his office in Shah Alam with regards to a police report lodged against him.

The report, filed with the Klang district police headquarters, concerned the alleged 'abuse' of RM1.67 million in allocations for Tamil schools last year.

After lodging the report, Klang's Parents Teachers Association chairperson G Jeganathan said the state government had given the funds, meant for upgrading the schools, to three NGOs without a clear explanation.

The three NGOs are Child Information, Learning and Development Centre (Child), Tamil Foundation Malaysia and Educational, Welfare and Research Foundation.

xavier jayakumar pc 190110 01Speaking to reporters after the police left, Jayakumar did not rule out the possibility that the episode could be politically motivated.

"I don't know from what angle this is coming (from) and who is behind this report. I'm sure its not Jeganathan, he doesn't seem to know anything, he doesn't seem to know the issues," he said.

Jayakumar explained that the funds provided to the NGOs were part of a programme by the Selangor government to improve Tamil education

"We took six months to study the proposal from them (the NGOs). We had multiple meetings. The state will have a five-year programme in order to increase the standard of Tamil school education," he added.

Continuous effort needed


Furthermore, he said that it is the prerogative of the state government on how to allocate the funds.

He said that a total of RM4 million was allocated to Tamil schools last year and of this amount, RM1.58 million was given as an "outright grant" to the three NGOs.

He pointed out that the Parents Teachers Association changes every year and therefore the programmes that are carried out would also vary.

"If you don't have a concerted effort of putting a continuos programme over five years, you cannot get results.

"That is why we are working with NGOs who are experts in this, who have hands on experience and they know exactly how the ground works," he said.

Following the allegation, Jayakumar has published on his blog a list of tables detailing how the state's allocations were spent for Tamil schools last year.

Hidup di dalam gudang selama 5 tahun

AMPANG JAYA, 19 Januari - Panchavarnam dan suaminya Sivam tinggal di sebuah gudang sejak lima tahun yang lepas dan sedang mengharungi pelbagai dugaan hidup. Seorang pemilik bengkel motor berbangsa Cina, telah memberi tempat tinggal di sebuah gudang yang dimilikinya yang terletak di Ampang Campuran kepada Panchavarnam (40 tahun) dan suaminya Sivam (63 tahun) sehingga kini. Sivam yang terlantar di katil selama 10 tahun kerana lumpuh memerlukan penjagaan isterinya. Jadi Panchavarnam yang telah bekerja sebagai pencuci terpaksa berhenti kerja dan menjaga suaminya. Mereka tidak mempunyai sebarang pendapatan untuk menyara kehidupan mereka.

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Bekalan elektrik dan air diputus. Hidup dalam kegelapan selama 5 tahun

SHAH ALAM, 18 Januari - Dua buah keluarga India sedang mengharungi kehidupan harian tanpa kemudahan elektrik sejak 5 tahun yang lalu. Situasi menyedihkan ini berlaku di Rumah Pangsa Hicom BBR. Selepas kematian kedua-dua ibu bapa dan ditinggalkan suami tiga tahun lalu Pn.Chandragantha Kuppusamy (43 tahun) sedang tinggal di rumah tersebut bersama empat orang anaknya dan abang sulungnya Mathurai Veeran Kuppusamy (44 tahun) yang tidak sihat. Pendapatan tidak seberapa yang diperolehi oleh anak Chandragantha yang berumur 20 tahun serta sedikit bantuan yang diberi oleh Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM) digunakan untuk menampung perbelanjaan harian mereka. Disebabkan tidak mampu bayar bil sebanyak RM 438.00 bekalan elektrik di rumah mereka telah diputuskan. Setelah sekian lama mengharungi hidup dalam kegelapan anak Chandragantha yang berhasrat menyambut deepavali telah membawa RM300 untuk membayar bil elektrik. Tetapi dia pulang dengan kecewa kerana diberitahu rekod mereka telah dihapuskan daripada pendaftaran elektrik kerana sudah lama tidak membuat sebarang pembayaran. Malah mereka kena bayar RM600 untuk membuat permohonan baru bagi mendapatkan bekalan elektrik ke rumah tersebut.

Selain itu, Pn. Murugammah Renggasamy (59 tahun) sedang menjaga anaknya berumur 30 tahun yang terlantar di katil kerana tidak sihat di sebuah rumah sewa yang tiada elektrik dan air. Dia mengalami kehidupan yang sukar tanpa elektrik dan air dan menjalani hidupnya dengan mendapat bekalan air yang sedikit daripada jiran mereka setiap hari. Melihat cucunya membaca di ruang tamu dengan sedikit cahaya yang memasuki ruang tersebut daripada rumah depan amat menyedihkan hati.

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UMNO rule : 1% Indians in civil service, down from 50%

Indians from only 1.8% of the workforce in the public sector (the Star 5/1/2010 at page N 45). But we estimate a mere 1%. Dr. Mahathir in his book The Malay Dilema acknowledged that an estimated 50% of Division 1 and 2 officers of the civil service were Indians even in the 1960s. But this has systematically been reduced to a mere 1% in over the last 52 years since independence. Indians and Chinese have been ethnically cleansed from the civil service, government sector, the uniformed services such as the Police, Armed Forces, Customs and Immigration, other than a token representation as window dressing.

Indians in Malaysia cannot even get the job of a postmaster today but the blacks in the USA already have their first black “muslim” Presidental.

One Malay-sia?

P. Uthayakumar

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Peanuts to Tamil school pupils

(Sinar 6/1/2010 page S3)

This PKR Indian exco mandore is powerless to even get his “Tuan” Menteri Besar to grant land to all 97 Tamil Schools in Selangor which the MB can do merely by the stroke of a pen. It has been almost two years that Pakatan has been in power and yet nothing has been done. Like the previous UMNO regime this PKR Selangor state government is even refusing to honour this basic right to education. PKR any different from UMNO? This Tuan like the previous UMNO regime gets his Indian Exco mandore to dish out peanuts to these Tamil schools or engage in ‘kosong’ paper politic talk in an attempt to be seen to be doing something for the Indians.

HRP demands that all Pakatan ruled states acquire the land that the school is situated on, and further allocate lands to schools so that they have an endowment and are empowered, and have their own source of income instead of relying on the government for grants and peanuts each year! Allocation of land is an off budget exercise and does not take anything from the budget.


S. Jayathas

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UMNOs’ rule : Janagy and 3 toddlers homeless sleeps in corridor

(Star Metro 5/1/2010 at page M 10). All Janagy wants for the new year is a roof over her head. This is the height of the UMNO state sponsored poverty in Malaysia where a family cannot even afford to pay even RM 250.00 per month rentals as her husband earns only RM 700.00 as a security guard.

To solve these Indian problems Umno would never offer them the 10 acres land in schemes for the poor as in Felda, Felcra, Risda, Fama Agropolition etc., which largely only goes to the malays.

UMNO intends the Indians to live with crumbs and never mind if the lfes are miserable. They are Indians after all. Just look at the misery in Janagy’s face and the look on her children’s faces.

HRP demands that the government implements minimum wage and allocates agricultural lands to all the poor and dispossessed as in the Felda schemes.

P. Uthayakumar

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DAPs’ middle Malay path Indians excluded

With Kapitan Lim Guan Eng’s ‘Middle Path’ the Rakyat would ride on towards Putrajaya as reported in Malaysiakini.com on 17/1/10 excludes the Indians as follows:-

1) arson and vandalism attack an churches – playing to the Sabah and Sarawak voter gallery and Western countries money purse.

2) Increased state funding for Islam related matters increased two fold to RM 24.3 Million in the 2010 budget compared to the BN Budget in 2008.

But all 28 Tamil schools, all hindu temples as well as for the crematoriums in Penang, the Penang state has refused government land, so that they can be indiscriminately demolished at any time at the mercy of Kapitan Lim Guan Eng as what he ruthlessly did in Kg Buah Pala.

Remember this Kapitan Lim Guan Eng was prepared to go to jail only for a Malay girl to get to play to the malay muslim gallery cum vote bank. Why has this Kapitan Lim or any of the other Aduns and MPs in PKR or PAS not stood opposed in front of a bulldozer to prevent a Hindu temple from being demolished? Let alone going to jail for the same !

P. Uthayakumar

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