Friday, December 10, 2010

Hindraf leaders sue gov't over unlawful arrest

(Malaysiakini) Lawyers and Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders P Uthayakumar and M Manoharan today filed suits against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and five others over their arrest under the Internal Security Act in 2007 and detention for 514 days in Kamunting, Perak.

uthayakumar arrest 231107 draggedUthayakumar (wearing tie), who is also Human Rights Party leader and Manoharan, who is Kota Alam Shah assemblyperson, are each seeking RM100 million from six defendants for their unlawful detention.

The other defendants are former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, the commandant of the Kamunting detention camp where they had been detained, and the government.

The two lawyers filed the suit today to coincide with International Human Rights Day, which falls tomorrow.

They were arrested on Dec 13, 2007, after they organised the Hindraf rally in the heart of Kuala Lumpur to highlight the plight of the Indian community, which they say is being marginalised by the government.

It was during his detention that Manoharan won the March 8, 2008, general election and according to the lawyer, this proves he was no threat to national security as alleged. As a result of this, he had to take his oath of office while in detention in Kamunting, near Taiping.

The government had publicly alleged that Hindraf leaders were linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, accusations they had strongly denied.

hindraf btn 151209 manoharanThe Hindraf group claimed that they were merely fighting for the human rights of Malaysians, particularly the Indian community, which faced persecution, threats, isolation and discrimination from Umno and BN-led government.

As a consequence of the defendants' action in detaining them, Uthayakumar and Manoharan (right) said, they had to bear pain, losses and damages, for which they were seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages.

Uthayakumar claimed that as a result of his detention, he had to close his law firm in Mutiara Bangsar, as his practice suffered a 95 percent drop.

Following this, both of them sought RM100 million in general damages each, special damages to be assessed by the court, interests and costs of the action.

Uthaykumar denied medical treatment


Uthayakumar also claimed that he was denied his diabetes medication while in detention, and he had to be warded at the Taiping Hospital instead of being taken to the National Heart Institute to enable him to undergo a heart examination.

The lawyer also claimed that his left leg suffered a fracture, as a result of walking in the detention camp, which he said was improperly maintained.

A total of 80 police reports were also filed against the government during this time, but despite this, Uthayakumar said, he continued to be persecuted.

He and Manoharan claimed that 2.5 million people from the Indian community had sought, and even held campaigns, for their release, but the plaintiffs continued to be detained without trial.

Uthayakumar said as a lawyer, he has had many clients who complained of being discriminated, but the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) was the penultimate in discriminating the civil rights of the people in the country, resulting in unlawful detention of the citizens.

He maintained that the claims he had made about ethnic cleansing were correct as the Indian community was forced to move out when Putrajaya and Bukit Jalil were developed.

Manoharan: Najib delayed release


Manoharan said Najib was personally named because as prime minister, he had delayed their release. The two were released from the Kamunting detention camp in May last year.

NONEThe Kota Alam Shah assemblyperson said this was the first suit where Najib (left) was personally named.

Manoharan said despite being released in May, an order not to move out of the Travers area had been slapped on Uthayakumar, while he had been ordered not to move out of Klang.

The order against Uthayakumar was lifted in July this year, while that against Manoharan was lifted in September.

Manoharan said since Najib became prime minister, he had pledged to review the controversial ISA law, but nothing had been done so far.

“It is certainly a cruel legislation that should be removed and in light of International Human Rights Day (Dec 10), we are again calling for the repeal of this law,” he added.

Yayasan Selangor wants more applications from non Malays

Senator Dr. Ramakrishnan

Yayasan Selangor under the stewardship of UMNO since 1970 was turned into a Malay domain. It is state financed and set up to help improve the educational performance of all poor Selangor born or Selangor residing Malaysians. Its residential schools, loan receivers and scholarship benefiters are 99% Malays.


See the table below to ask what MIC, MCA, GERAKAN and PPP were doing all this while? The table below shows the number of student taken loan from Yayasan Selangor from the year 2000 to 2010. 





















































2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

KAUM

MELAYU
198
279
374
353
341
468
193
234
320
502
483

CINA
6
1
5
7
3
3
3
3
2

INDIA
14
6
9
4
11
20
8
1
4
2
20

BIL. BERJAYA
218
286
388
364
355
491
204
238
324
504
505

BIL. PERMOHONAN

620
547
627
446
957
511
360
604
1001
1096

























   
Yayasan wants more applications from non Malay students. Loans are given to Selangor residing students studying in local public institutions. More information can be obtained from www.yayasanselangor.org.my. Students who maintain consistently high CGPAs, their loans will be converted to scholarships.
Besides Yayasan Selangor also provide residential schools for Selangor residing students. Students who score a minimum 4 A and 1 B in UPSR are eligible to apply. Below are the numbers of students residing in their hostels all over Selangor! More information can be obtained from the above mentioned website.    
 STATISTIK PERMOHONAN BERJAYA MENGIKUT PECAHAN KAUM

TAHUN 2007 - 2011













PERKARA
TAHUN
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
JUMLAH PERMOHONAN
1169
1559
1573
1129
1220
BUMIPUTERA
498
535
535
543
KIV
KAUM LAIN
2
10
7
2
KIV
PERMOHONAN BERJAYA
500
545
542
545
KIV
PERMOHONAN TIDAK BERJAYA

669
1014
1031
584
KIV









A meeting was held recently to make the hostel accommodation more conducive for non Malays students to stay. The management has agreed and I call upon all parties concern to make these transformation successful. The presence of more non Malay students will enrich both the Malay and non Malay students. If the prime minister is really serious about 1Malaysia all hostels all over Malaysia must be made multiracial and multi religious. Mr Prime Minister, the test of your 1Malaysia is in its implementation and not in political rhetoric in front of UMNO.