HIndraf Makkal Shakti

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Hindraf wants two-year ban lifted

By Athi Shankar - Free Malaysia Today,

GEORGE TOWN: The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) wants the federal government to lift the nearly two-year ban on the human rights movement. In an open online letter posted today, UK-based Hindraf supremo P Waytha Moorthy said it was time the ban be lifted to allow the movement to address pressing issues pertaining to the marginalised Indian community in the country.

He alleged that the Indians have been subjected to state-sponsored discriminative policies for more than half a century.

He urged Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein to repeal the ban to pave the way for the registration of Hindraf, which was outlawed on Oct 15, 2008.

“Once registered, Hindraf can pursue its struggle lawfully,” said Waytha Moorthy, who left the country during the government crackdown on the movement in the aftermath of a mammoth rally on Nov 25, 2007.

Waytha Moorthy’s Malaysian passport was also revoked by then Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

Since then, Waytha Moorthy has been living in London under British political asylum.

He said the ban was ineffective as it did not stop Hindraf from carrying out its social responsibilities and domestic and international campaigns for betterment of the Indian community.

He said that Hindraf was a consistent movement championing and protecting human rights of the community.

Arbitrary power
Waytha Moorthy, a UK-trained lawyer, criticised Syed Hamid for wielding his arbitrary power vested in the ministry under the archaic and draconian Societies Act 1966.

He said although Hindraf had attracted 70% of the poverty-stricken Indians to its cause in a peaceful manner, Syed Hamid had abused his vested power by silencing the movement.

Nonetheless, he claimed that all efforts carried out by the home ministry to curb the movement have been futile.

“Hindraf has grown over the years as witnessed in its recent inaugural national convention,” he said.

Some 1,000 delegates from across the country attended the convention held on Aug 8.

Following two years of international lobbying, Waytha Moorthy said Hindraf was now a recognised human rights movement.

He said the government must accept reality and formally engage with Hindraf to address human rights violations suffered by ethnic Indians.

UMNO: 17 years to get Birth Certificates, 35 years to get I.C and a life time for most of 450, 000 stateless Indians.

No.6, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 03-2282 5241 Fax: 03-2282 5245
Website: www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com Email: info@humanrightspartymalaysia.com

Your Reference :

In Reply : MISC/09/2010

Date : 03^RD September 2010

(Press Release-03/09/2010)
The Human Rights Party Malaysia’s Proposals to eliminate Statelesssness among the Malaysian Indian poor

The problem of statelessness among Malaysian Indians is a serious problem, not only in numbers, which we estimate could very well run into several hundred thousands, but also for what this continuing problem implies. What has been constitutionally guaranteed has been systematically and procedurally denied to these poor and vulnerable people. This has contributed to their marginalization and continuing dispossession from mainstream Malaysia.

One of the major objectives of Hindraf/HRP is to bring these marginalized Indians into the mainstream of national development and an early and enabling condition for this is the elimination of this endemic problem of statelessness among them.

The main causes, as we understand for this current state of affairs are:

1) Extreme poverty and resultant life norms of the affected.
2) Racial and religious bias in the system that works against them.
3) The complicated and outdated procedures of the National registration system .
4) Birth registrations not handled in a manner consistent with Malaysian Federal Constitution.

Given that understanding of the root causes of the problem we make the following proposals to the Government Department and we hope that they will take this up seriously for implementation.

1) The Government should set up a special unit in the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara to address this Statelessness problem among the Indians. This unit should be adequately resourced all the way from field workers to Department Director. Their charter will be to:

a) Identify all Indian Malaysians who do not have a Birth Certificate (BC)
and/or an Identity Card (IC) or have some problems with their status.
b) Create a database of them and establish appropriate programs to clear them one
by one by the 31^st of December 2011.
c) Simplify the procedures for applying for delayed BCs and ICs. Make the
process “poor friendly”
– do not require the applicants to fill out so many forms
- do not require them to provide so much and often redundant
documentary evidence
- do not require them to come to the JPN offices so many times
- do not reject their applications because they did not cross their ‘t’s or
dot their ‘i’s.
- treat them with more respectat the JPN counters and support them
through this process
d) Authorize Senior and respected members of the community to certify birth and parentage where a hospital is unable to do it.

2) Religion, race and marriage should not be made non- Constitutional barriers to birth registrations.

3) Parents must be empowered to decide the religion of their children on the basis of equality of all religions.

4) The JPN or other religious organizations should not impose the Syariah law on non-Muslims. Mixed marriages are one of the major reasons for the stateless Indian problem.

5) Empower this newly set up special unit within JPN to address this problem without interference from any religious bodies.

6) The JPN should upgrade their procedures employing technologies like the National database and DNA profiling. All, that is really required, is for the hospital where the child is born to be made responsible for the registration of the birth. The birth then goes into the national database of births . The birth is registered – a birth certificate should be issued. For deviations from the normal case, like for births at home or for abandoned children – a similar simple enough alternative procedure needs to be established.

7) The Government should extend the e-Government system to cover this crucial need.

The Government needs to set up a mechanism to monitor and report on this effort to eliminate statelessness in the JPN website.

9) The special unit in the JPN must be authorized to work with the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry, Welfare Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry to resolve any associated problems pertaining to those Ministries.

These proposals are what we consider a minimum for correcting the problem and for preventing future recurrence of the problem. We hope all this will yield some fruitful results from JPN.

The family we present to you – that of Mr.Thayalan, is but one live example of how this problem of statelessness perpetuates in the country after 53 years unabated, the destructive effects of it on the young, the possibility for expeditious resolution of the situation when there is a will, given that the seven children were issued birth certificates in about 3 weeks from our intervention.

The UMNO led government has ignored this problem for far too long. Now, it is time the government picked up the will needed to resource the effort to eliminate STATELESSNESS among the Indian poor in the country. The Human Rights Party will not let up in its campaign till we see a complete elimination of this problem.

We are taking this campaign nationwide and we will step up the campaign as we go along, unless we see a psotive move by the government on this problem.

On Sunday the 5^th September we are gathering 40-50 stateless people in our HRP Perai office to begin the documentation of their application to the JPN for BCs and ICs. We invite all those in the North to come to the HRP Operations Center at 1^st Floor, 15 Jalan Perai Jaya 5 ( Along Pacific Mall), Perai from 10.00 amd to 4.00pm . The following people can be contacted Kalaiselvan – 0174107244, Devendran – 012 5409943, Ganesan – 012 480 3284.

For those in the Central region and Southern Region please contact the HRP HQ office NO.6, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: 03-2282 5241 Fax: 03-2282 5245. Contact Persons – Ms.Jeevita or Mr.Sambulingam – 010-2774096, S. Thiagarajan-019-3085944

S.Thiagarajan

Wrongful arrest: Uthaya awarded RM145,000

Friday, September 3, 2010

Wrongful arrest: Court awards Uthaya RM145,000

Human Rights Party (HRP) pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar was awarded RM145,000 by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today as compensation and damages stemming from his wrongful arrest and detention by police on Jan 16, 2003, at a magistrate's court in Sepang.

Judicial commissioner Rosilah Yop in her judgment dated July 29 ordered Uthayakumar to be paid RM55,000 as aggravated damages,RM50,000 for “wrongful arrest and detention” and RM40,000 for exemplary damages, with an interest of eight percent from a year since the commencement of the case.

NONE

Uthayakumar (right) had sued the government, the Royal Malaysian Police Force and 11 police officers for malicious conduct for forcing him to strip at the Sepang police station during his detention.

His arrest was ordered at the end of an inquiry by a magistrate's court into the death of a detainee in police custody, S Tharmarajah.

He had been detained to face a charge of criminally intimidating a chief inspector of police during the inquest into Tharmarajah's death.

The charge under Section 506 of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of seven years.

Among others, Uthayakumar had asked the court to find that "the arrest and detention of the plaintiff (Tharmarajah) for 25 hours, without a court order, violated Article 5(4) of the constitution" and that he had been subjected to “malicious prosecution”.

A moral victory against police atrocities

Lawyer M Manoharan, who represented Uthayakumar, described the judgment as a victory for them, for it showed that the police have been abusing their powers.

“I have no regret... the good thing that has happened from this is that instances of death in police custody and by (police) shooting have dropped by 90 to 95 percent, although some of us had to suffer (to achieve) it,” said Uthayakumar.

He was referring to his 18 months in detention in Kamunting, Perak, under the Internal Security Act (ISA), shortly after a massive street protest in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25, 2007, by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), of which he was one of the key leaders.

Besides Uthayakumar, four other Hindraf leaders were also incarcerated under the ISA in December 2007 for organising the mammoth anti-government rally.

“Though the civil suit victory may not involve a huge sum, it is a moral victory in the fight for justice and for those who have died in police custody,” he said.

Senior federal counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom and Lailawati Ali, who represented the government and the police force, filed an appeal against the judgment on Aug 26.

However, since no stay order was applied for, Manoharan said they would demand that the payment is made in the interim, until the appeal is heard.

Malay mob beat up Indian youths who were in turn arrested and detained by Malay-sian police. Zero police arrest of criminals despite severe head injuries and almost blinded.

KUMAR HASHIMAH & CO No 6(A), Jalan Abdullah,

PEGUAMBELA & PEGUAMCARA Jalan Bangsar,

ADVOCATES & SOLICITORS 59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel : 03-2282 5622

Fax : 03-2282 5245

P. UTHAYAKUMAR. LL.B, CLP.

____________________________

Hours :

Mon. – Fri.

9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Sat. & Sunday – Closed

Your Reference :

In Reply Please Quote :

Date : 2-08-2010

Y.B Dato Seri Hishamuddin Hussein

Home Minister,

Aras 12 Block D 1,

Complex Kerajaan Fasa D,

Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, Fax: 03-2693 3131

62546 Putrajaya. E-Mail: hishamuddin@moha.gov.my

Tan Sri Musa Hasssan

Inspector General Of Police,

Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,

Bukit Aman,

50560 Kuala Lumpur. Fax: 03 – 2273 1326

DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar

Chief Police Officer of Selangor,

Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen Selangor,

40912 Shah Alam,

Selangor. Fax: 03-5510 1201

ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed

Officer In Charge of Police District

Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah,

PDRM Jalan Pencala,

46050 Petaling Jaya. Fax: 03- 7954 8740

Dear Sirs,

Re: 15 to 20 Malay mob beat up Indian youths who were in turn arrested and detained by police. Zero police arrest of criminals despite severe head injuries and almost blinded.

We act for Mr. Kalaikumaran a/l Ramasamy of No 25, Lorong 3A, Taman Kayu Ara, Indah Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Mr. Selvan a/l Sundanathanaven of No 22 Jalan Satu R/ Murah Taman Kayu Ara Indah, Kg Sg Kayu Ara damansara Utama, Mr. Nitthianathan a/l Sundanathanven of No. 22 Jalan 1, Rumah Murah PKNS, Taman Kayu Ara Indah, Damansara Utama, 47400, Petaling Jaya, and Mr. Mugilan a/l Ramasamy of No. 08 Tingkat 6 Blok B 1, Vista Damansara, Kg Sg Kayu Ara 47400 Sg Buloh. Our clients had vide their four (4) respective police report numbers Damasara 014813/10 dated 22/08/2010, 014919/10 dated 22/08/2010 and 014922/10 dated 23/08/2010 lodged a police report that on 22/08/2010 while they were just whiling away (lepak) near the Sri Ara, Vista Damansara Flats where Mugilan a/l Ramasamy’s family was living, they were attacked by a malay mob (some of the attackers are known to them) using baseball bets, big buckled belts and helmets after being accused of trying to steal motorcycles. And the Malay mob led by Azlan (staff in charge of maintaintainance) Irwan, Mussyid and about 15 to 20 others robbed Kalaikumaran a/l Ramasamy of his chain worth RM 1, 500.00 and further extorted RM 500.00 from each of them.

All of them suffered severe beatings. Selvan suffered injuries to his eyes, shoulder and head. Nitthianathan a/l Sundanathanven and Mugilan a/l Ramasamy suffered injuries to their head.

When a police patrol car arrived, our clients had informed the policemen of the aforesaid cronology of events but the victims ie our client Selvan a/l Sundanathanaven , Mugilan a/l Ramasamy and another were instead arrested and put in the police lock up for one day.

Selvan a/l Sundanathanaven had immediately thereafter on 25/08/2010 received medical treatment for assault and burns to his right eye as a result of a lighted cigarette butt being thrown on his said right eye. Despite the above said actrocities by the said mob and four (4) police reports having been lodged by our clients up to date and despite about two weeks now the Petaling police have refused to arrest and prosecute the said criminals. Why? Because the criminals are Malays and the victims are merely the poor and politically powerless Indians?

In the circumstances we urge your goodselves to forthwith order the arrest of these criminals and they be prosecuted accordingly like any other Indian criminal according to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equality before the law.

This would not only see justice being done but also justice being seen to be done.

Lastly we also wish to bring to your kind attention of the lately increasing Malay Muslim mob attack on the ethnic minority Malaysian Indians and zero criminal action by the Malay-sian police the last being the attack in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan last month.

Thank you.

Your faithfully,

…………………….

P. Uthayakumar.

Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy and Raja Petra Kamarudin joint-statement

We refer to the article entitled ‘The RPK blip, bleep and the Beeb’ written by Shane Fuentes and published in Malaysian Mirror, in particular the following part of that article:

When RPK tried to desperately contact London-based Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy, the latter was understandably very wary and kept a good distance from him. RPK used a go-between to get Waythamoorthy to see him but the latter rebuffed all attempts. Finally, RPK turned up one morning at Waythamoorthy’s door himself. He was virtually shown the door.

Subsequently, he went on a tirade against Hindraf, labeling it and the Ponnusamy brothers – including the elder Uthayakumar – as racists. Hindraf did not dignify RPK’s attacks with any rebuttal.

In a statement that make no reference whatsoever to RPK, Hindraf has explained that “a racist is one who denies other people their rights in the sun”.

In the case of Hindraf, it was further explained, the ad hoc apolitical movement was only fighting for the rights of the marginalized to have their place in the sun without depriving others, in the process, of their rights”.

Hindraf sees no need to speak up for others but to focus only on the plight of the marginalized. This has been latched on by RPK to label Hindraf in his blog as racist since “it doesn’t speak up for all but only one group”.

Is it any wonder therefore that the BBC has found RPK not newsworthy enough or credible to appear on its HARDTalk show?

RPK neither makes a difference for the better nor for worse. He’s in the non-news category. No news is bad news. Bad news is good news. When a dog bites a man, it’s not news. When a man bites a dog, it’s news.

It’s more likely that Hindraf’s Waythamoorthy will soon appear on a BBC show. Even hardcore Malay racists in Malaysia concede, albeit grudgingly, that Hindraf Makkal Sakthi makes a compelling case. (read more here).

We wish to confirm that the article above is inaccurate, to put it mildly, as we have a very good relationship that extends beyond just a professional relationship but is very personal in nature. We have met many times and have visited each other’s homes on numerous occasions. Your commentary is therefore not only misleading but also malicious in intent.

Issued by:

Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy and Raja Petra Kamarudin

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

53 years of no Merdeka for Indians . End racial and religious supremacy in bi racial neo colonialist UMNO & One Malaysia will naturally resurface.

Today Malay-sia celebrates it’s 53^rdIndependence day . Even right up to 1969, One Malaysia existed naturally from the hearts and souls of the people. There was then no need for the One Malaysia propaganda because there was existing genuine One Malaysia . But today because of the 53 year old racial and religious supremacist rule by UMNO,multiracial One Malaysia has evolved to become Bi racial One Malay-sia,
The Malaysian Chinese who control up to 50% of the Malaysian economy were forced to be taken in as partners in the national mainstream development on Malaysia. The orang asli ,Kadazan and Iban are bumiputras and have their special position according to the Federal Constitution. Plus the poor Malays,poor orang asli ,poor Iban ,poor Kadazan have thousands of their traditional heritage villages and ancestral heritage land as their social safety net. Why, even the poor Chinese have their hundreds of Chinese New villages as their social safety net.
Even the much touted abused foreign workers have their respective governments and embassies in KL and many highly funded NGO’s like Tenaganita etc to speak up and offer them same form of protection.
For example the Indonesian government is demanding a minimum wage of RM 650 per month for Indonesian maids and the Philipines government RM 1,300 . But for the poor Indian rubber plantation workers UMNO has set RM 325.00 per month as the salary or RM 10.58 per day even in the UMNO Sime Darby estates which has now replaced the British colonialists.

One Malay-sia does not cry for these poor Indians.
From the above said Malaysian society the only community that is left out of the national mainstream development of Malaysia is even the sixth generation poor Malaysian Indian community.
The poor Malaysian Indians did not have a head start unlike what the Chinese had some 53 years ago. Even then the few Philanthropists,Traders ,businessmen,shopkeepers etc were the Chinese. The Corporate,Industrial,Banking,businessman and rich Chinese and their guilds and associations had helped the Chinese poor come out of poverty in these 53 years .

The UMNO led Malay-sian government has helped the poor malays out of poverty. For example at least 442,000 poor Malays have been given a ten acre land ownership scheme in Felda , Felcra and Risda to come out of poverty.Through the UMNO racial and religious supremacy the Malays control about 98% of the 1.2 million civil service jobs and about 40% of the economy.
Today the Chinese control of the Malaysian economy and need no or very little government help. Indians have been denied government civil service jobs and the appropriate promotions. For example the Indians in the civil service has been reduced from as estimated 70% before Merdeka to a mere 1% or so after this 53 years of Independence.
And the trampling of the oppressed Indians under the racial One Malay-sian UMNO regime continues with impunity, the tip of the iceberg of which is recorded on a day to day basis in especially www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com
The only way forward to end this UMNO bi racial One Malay-sia
is HRP’s Project 15/38. Until than there is no merdeka for the Malaysian Indian poor under the 53 year old rule of the neo colonialist
bi racial UMNO regime rule.
Old wine in new bottles.The British colonialists are now replaced by the neo colonialists malay muslim UMNO.The helpless and politically powerless poor Indians are left to rot in the present day
bi racial One Malay-sia by the UMNO controlled Malay-sian government and the Malaysian Chinese capitalists who practice racism.
From womb to tomb and from cradle to grave the poor Indians are politically engineered by UMNO to become the new underclass in Malaysia to do bi racial One Malay-sia’s dirty jobs like toilet cleaners,office cleaners. 95% of the UMNO DBKL Alam Flora garbage collector workers are Indians and similiarly in other such establishments nationwide.Also as unskilled plantation and general workers,office boys,security guards,daily salaried taxi,bus,van and lorry drivers etc..
An estimated 150,000 even sixth generation Malaysian born Indian children are maliciously denied their birth certificates by UMNO. Another estimated 300,000 Indians have been maliciously denied their identity cards.
Hundred of thousands of Indians were and are denied even the very basic skills and vocational training in these 53 years . For example unlike the Giatmara which is literally available to all and any poor malay and also available literally
at their doorsteps.
Hundreds of thousands of deserving Indians were denied higher and tertiary education ,JPA,Mara,Petronas etc scholarship ,matriculation places ,teachers training oppurtunities etc.
Hundreds of thousand of deserving Indians have been denied licences,permits to even open up scrap metal and car wash outlets.
Let alone the opportunities to operate food and other stalls,petty trading,Petronas,KFC,Mc Donald ,Highway rest area business opputunities,low rental local council shops,taxi express bus and heavy lorry permits,projects and contracts,business loans and hundreds of thousands of business opportunities.
The British colonialists on this 53^rd Merdeka day have obviously been replaced by the neo colonialist UMNO.
P.Uthayakumar

Today 31 Aug 2010, Malaysia is 53 years old. As a nation, we have come a long way, but the life of the Malaysian poor Indians largely remain the same, or worse than 1957.

Today (31.08.10) Malaysia is 53 years old. As a nation, we have come a long way, but the life of the Malaysian poor Indians largely remain the same, or worse than 1957.

To change the current sufferings of the Indian community, Hindraf / HRP was born. Here we list 53 reasons why every Indian should support HRP / Hindraf.

1. For the first time in 50 years (2007), Hindraf created the mass realization of the Indians in this country. 25th November, 2007 rally buried the ‘crab story’ that Indians can never be united! Give them a reason, they will be united. At the right time, Indians will come together to move mountains. Hindraf did exactly that.

2. Since 25th November, 2007, there is no more fear factor among the Malaysian Indians. They do not fear the police, authorities, the UMNO government and this has been demonstrated in all HRP / Hindraf activities to date.

3. HRP is full of fearless leaders, young and old, nationwide. Fear is stupidity!

4. In 514 days ISA detention, Mr. P. Uthayakumar meditated upon and realized the real reason for Indian problems in Malaysia. While many Indians blame Samy Vellu, Tamil movies, and Indian attitude for their failures, Uthayakumar concluded that the real culprit is the UMNO’s racist policies.

5. HRP realizes that MIC / Samy Vellu is a dead horse. There is no point in condemning MIC anymore. All BN component parties have no power. UMNO rules the country in the way they want at all levels. UMNO has well trained Biro Tatanegara graduates to segregate Indians in all aspects of life.

6. HRP realizes that Indians have been systematically segregated from the mainstream development of Malaysia by UMNO’s racist policies and practices. Time has come for UMNO to pay for this karma!

7. HRP understands the real way things work in Malaysia. They realize UMNO’s dirty politics in creating a mandore system and propagating ‘Indian fights Indian’ scenarios. So, they have avoided all ‘Indian vs Indian’ situation to the best of their ability.

8. Mr. P. Uthayakumar realized (in his 514 days in jail) that the only reason Indians were treated badly is because they don’t have political clout and therefore created the 15/38 political empowerment strategy.

9. Hindraf / HRP is bold and courageous. They articulate what should be articulated without fear or favour. They express political ideas in very direct and clear words. They minimize politicking to greatest extent possible.

10. HRP is full of positive energy and good people. Here you see Indians who think and believe that they are crucial in Malaysian politics and have the people power (makkal shakti) to bring change.

11. Mr. P. Uthayakumar’s boldness and character has brought like minded Malaysian Indians and all the forces of good together. Day by day, more and more Indians are attracted to join HRP because of it’s true, bold and selfless nature.

12. Hindraf / HRP have supporters from all over the world. Their message is being heard loud and clear in countries like England, USA, Australia etc.

13. The implications of Hindraf / HRP struggle is for the whole nation, nay, minorities all over the world. All communities and the country will enjoy the benefits of the change that it intends to bring.

14. HRP is a group of political activists with true desire to bring real change. They are absolutely different from the conventional politicians who are self centered.

15. While HRP is at war against UMNO, that does mean to give a blank cheque to Pakatan Rakyat (PR). There will be no more free votes from Indians.

16. HRP says a big ‘NO’ to replace UMNO with a BN clone Pakatan government. HRP wants real and substantial change for the Indian poor which Pakatan has failed to demonstrate so far.

17. HRP is not going to be part of any coalition, BN or PR. HRP will remain as a check and balance, a Third Force in Malaysian politics. This force is crucial to handle race based UMNO politics and vote based PR politics.

18. P. Uthayakumar is a very focused person and does not divert his attention from raising the Indian issues which has no takers at all. If the Malay/Muslim and Chinese MPs speak up on Indian issues, HRP won’t be here today.

19. Hindraf / HRP are not racist organizations. Hindraf / HRP do not deny any Malaysians’ their rights. They fight for the victims of racism (the poor Indians) in UMNO’s 1Malay-sia.

20. HRP realized that the poor Indian is the poorest of all communities in Malaysia, poorer than the Malay, Chinese, or even the orang asli. The sky is the limit for Malays, Chinese have rich community support and new villages and orang asli have their ancestor’s land. While the poor Indian do not have any of these!

21. HRP brings up issues, not a racist agenda. They only want the government to help all poor, and that means not to segregate the Indian poor.

22. HRP fights for the basic needs of the Indian community – land for Tamil schools, Hindu temples, burial grounds, scholarships, etc.

23. Mr. P. Uthayakumar is a super analyzer and critical thinker who sees newspaper reports from an Indian angle on a day to day basis and comes up with conclusions and convictions that no Malaysian has ever done. Refer to www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com.

24. Mr. P. Uthayakumar is a loving and caring person. He loves his fellow Indians especially the poor and feels their suffering as his own. He has renounced his entire life in fighting for the Indians in this country.

25. HRP does not only condemn the government and system but also makes positive criticism towards the government, if they listen it will only improve the government delivery system for all communities. HRP offers practical and permanent solutions that would make any government great (BN or Pakatan), if they listen.

26. HRP wants a permanent and blanket solution for all Indian issues. HRP believes that granting of land (scheme) alone will help solve many of the critical Indian problems.

27. HRP has developed and tirelessly work at maintaining an alternative media, www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com on a day to day basis to champion the Indian issues.

28. HRP is a very objective organization with special concern for numbers – from 18 point demands to 27 issues on HRP website, to 15/38 Indian majority seats. They know what they want!

29. Only HRP has got a workable plan to bring change to the Indian poor. All other Indian parties have no practical solution, even on paper, against continuous marginalization of Indians by both the BN and PR governments. They are lost. Now, Indians have no choice but to support HRP.

30. Consistency is HRP’s strength. They take up issues and go forward till the end.

31. Today, HRP is the authority on Indian issues. HRP website has all the evidence.

32. While HRP points out what’s being done (or not done) by both UMNO and Pakatan governments, their critiques are more interested in the ‘hope’ of a better government for all if Pakatan goes to Putrajaya.

33. HRP is Nike style – they ‘just do it’! They do not wait for perfection, they speaks their minds and do what need to be done ‘now’. HRP’s progress so far is evident of this Nike style of leadership.

34. HRP understands and believes that only change in the government policies and practices can help solve the multi-faceted Indian problems. Like eradication of poverty is the job of the government, not some NGOs or group of individuals.

35. HRP knows clearly how UMNO and Pakatan governments cheat the Indians by giving peanuts and do media politics of ‘telur sebiji riuh sekampung.’ Because of this, both parties find it difficult to work with HRP. Whereas HRP means business.

36. HRP realizes and has demonstrated that only peoples’ power (makkal shakti) can bring change. UMNO is worried only of peoples’ power! Wherever HRP goes they are welcomed by big numbers of policemen.

37. HRP is a productive organization, they are not just talkers like most Indian parties. They are doers of the real work that need to be done.

38. HRP’s continuously reference to the constitution and it’s violation by the UMNO government has given birth to a more informed Indian community leaders nationwide. Now, Indian want their rights, not the mercy of the UMNO government!

39. Mr. P. Uthayakumar and Mr. P. Waythamoorthy are indeed assets to the Malaysians. To put this country in order, all Malaysians and media must take efforts to recognize, appreciate and understand them for what they are.

40. HRP realizes that Indian problems are not their doing, it’s the result of UMNO’s social engineering in bad faith over the years. As we all know no Indian want’s to be poor, no Indians’ ambition is to be a criminal!

Only Hindraf / HRP champion the rights and welfare of the ‘stateless Indians’ in this 53 years old country. Hindraf / HRP boldly says that all those persons in Malaysia who are not citizens, are British subjects!

41. HRP fights for the upward mobility of the poor Indian community. That can happen only through granting equal educational, scholarships, and business opportunities to the Indian poor.

42. HRP realized that Indians have been systematically segregated from the mainstream development by the UMNO government for decades. UMNO’s pro-Malay policies has only helped the Malay and Chinese business communities. This bi-racial business cooperation has further denied Indian of all possible opportunities.

43. Out of 4,000 Indian lawyers, HRP / Hindraf has only a few who are championing the Indian poor issues. Hindraf chairman, Mr. P. Waythamoorthy is in London to continue his international lobby. While Mr. P. Uthayakumar leads the HRP and grooming the future leaders.

44. These two leaders are the God given heroes for the Indian community. So, it’s the duty of every Malaysian Indian to fully utilize them to bring about the change they most desire.

45. HRP realizes that the whole Malaysian politics is about number of racial votes. Struggle for the Malay votes has been the primary goal of the both political divide. The Indian poor’s votes have been practically seen as the least important for any political party to be or remain in power. In such a situation Indians have no choice but to form their own block of political power by creating Indian majority seats. And that’s what HRP is doing. And they have succeeded in Buntong and Sri Andalas.

46. HRP’s fight is based on needs, not race. For example, they fight for the eradication of poverty, of which 90% happens to be Indians. HRP wants affirmative action by the government of day to address serious socio-economic issues related to the Indian poor.

47. HRP fully understands that it were the Indians who opened up this country, which was largely an uninhabited and impenetrable jungle, and thereby opened up the country for large scale immigration of Indonesians and Chinese into the interior. The Indians were the precursors of modern Malaya.

48. HRP fully understands that all those temples, cemeteries and schools should have been granted land and gazetted as such way back in 1957. And the failure to do so by the Alliance and BN governments results in today these institutions are classified as ‘illegal structures’. This is a double cheat!

49. Hindraf boldly says that Britain still has locus standii over Malaysian affairs as the terms of the handover has been breached.

50. Hindraf boldly says Malaysians have a right to assemble, or form associations and parties, and that registration is a mere procedure, and that such procedures cannot inhibit or prevent the forming of an association and dcurb their constitutional rights. Therefore, Hindraf exists!

51. Hindraf / HRP declares that any rights they fight for, is a fight for the rights of all Malaysians!

52. Hindraf became the agent of change in 2008 GE! It electrified the nation and opened the possibility of the opposition parties working together under a single umbrella.

53. Hindraf / HRP declares that BN will be removed from power in the next general election (GE 2012/13)!

Happy merdeka day, HRP will make sure Malaysian Indians also will ‘merdeka’ soon from marginalization !

CikguParu

IF THIS IS THE VOICE OF YOUR YOUNGER GENERATION IN MALAYSIA , YOU WILL BE BLESSED.

Sharyn completed her Diploma in Advertising from Taylor's College, and then left motherland to pursue her BA degree majoring in Media Studies and Anthropology at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. While waiting for her graduation in May 08, she interned briefly at M&C Saatchi Wellington, a global advertising firm. Upon returning to Malaysia, jobless and relieved of rent payments, Sharyn stumbled upon Wild Asia through The Star which sparked her interest to learn more about nature and environmental causes. Armed with a communications background, Sharyn works on the Wild Asia website and editorial, translating geek terms into laymen language, easily accessed and understood by visitors regardless of their backgrounds, be it scientific, business, the arts or just plain interested.
By The Tunku's Great Granddaughter

This is a great piece. She has all the qualities of her great grandfather. Tunku has reason to be proud of her!

Tunku Abdul Rahman's great granddaughter

Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan, 24, Conservationist

Both my parents are Malay. My mum's heritage includes Chinese, Thai and Arab, while my dad is Minangkabau. Due to my skin colour, I am often mistaken for a Chinese.

I'm happy that I don't have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up "Are you Chinese or Malay"

Like, why does it matter? Before I used to answer "Malay" but now I'm trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead.

There's this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I don't have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that I'm older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesn't define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or Ali and still be a Christian.

I've heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we don't need to be told to be united. We've come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders.

For the concept to succeed, I think the government should stop with the race politics. It's tiring, really. We grew up with application forms asking us to tick our race. We should stop painting a negative image of the other races, stop thinking about 'us' and 'them' and focus on 'we', 'our' and 'Malaysians'.

No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, "I don't feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysia is my home, and I don't feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there.

I know some baby Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. I'm a fourth generation Malaysian. If I am Bumiputra, why can't they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term.

I think the main reason why we still can't achieve total unity is because of this 'Malay rights' concept. I'd rather 'Malay rights' be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity.

For my merdeka wish, I'd like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.

I wish that Malaysia would truly live up to the tourism spin of Malaysia truly Asia. Malaysians to lead - whatever their ethnic background. Only ONE NATIONALITY MALAYSIAN. No Malays, No Chinese, No Indians - ONLY MALAYSIANS. Choose whatever religion one is comfortable with.

MERDEKA
MERDEKA
MERDEKA

The struggle for Merdeka: what the Malaysian history books do not tell us

Yesterday, I wrote an article called ‘Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!’ regarding the Selangor Royal Family’s opposition to British colonial rule. Today, I want to publish chapter 34 of the book ‘Malay Nationalism Before Umno: The Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain’ to show that Umno was not involved in the early moves to gain Merdeka for Malaya.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Some of you may not want to read the entire chapter of eight pages (I know Malaysians malas membaca). So allow me to summarise the main points of this chapter.

1. The fight for Merdeka in 1946 was not spearheaded by Umno (as the Malaysian history books claim). It was spearheaded by the All-Malayan Council of Joint Action (AMCJA). The AMCJA was a leftist group (what Umno would call Communist).

2. This was the second attempt to gain Merdeka. The first was in 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Malaya. In fact, Japan had already agreed to Merdeka, which was supposed to have been declared on 17 August 1945. However, Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945 (just two days before Merdeka) after the bombing of Hiroshima followed by Nagakasi. If the Americans had delayed the bombing just a few weeks, Malaya would have seen Merdeka on 15 August 1945 instead of 31 August 1957.

3. The 1945 and 1946 moves to gain Merdeka was made by a multi-racial group amongst who were nationalists, religionists and communists. It was not an all-Malay group. And Umno was certainly not in the group. Umno did not talk about Merdeka until about 10 years later.

So that is story of the struggle for Merdeka and don’t let Umno tell you otherwise. And take special note that all the races, not just the Malays, participated in the fight for Merdeka.

Of course, at that time, the British would not consider Merdeka because then Malaya would have become a socialist state (with a Constitutional Monarchy). Instead, the British arrested those calling for Merdeka. The British then promoted and backed Umno, a party of British-trained Malays, to ensure that post-Merdeka Malaya would remain pro-British.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Photos!! Police insult the Sultan of Perak by throwing down the petition to His Highness and show utter disregard for the wishes of the rakyat..

Senior Hindraf Activist Capt Bala


	The Police report lodged by Uthayakumar on the insult to the Sultan and the assault on Uthayakumar

The people’s petiton to the Sultan of Perak with all the signatures thrown down by the police. A serious insult to the Sultan of Perak and utter disrespect for the people’s petition.

The police bullies