PS from WMP - Welcome the talk mediate by PAS and urge others to join

MEDIA STATEMENT

04/11/2008

The UMNO led Malaysian Government in its attempt to silent the voice of HINDRAF had made this people's Civil Rights Movement an illegal movement. The aspiration of HINDRAF has always been to address the grievances of the ethnic Malaysian Indians who are continuously marginalized and discriminated in every aspect of socio-economic in Malaysia.

PAS and other political groups as well as non partisan groups have voiced their dissent against the government's stance in declaring HINDRAF illegal as they truly understand that in reality, the Malaysian Indians are subjected to socio-economic imbalance due to unfair and unjust policies thus creating a new underclass society in Malaysia.

The voice of the underclass Malaysian Indians being a minority have never been heard before until HINDRAF came along to address the genuine grievances of this mass to be treated equally and fairly. The UMNO led government instead of engaging us to listen to the public's grievances rather chose to silence us by fear and intimidation by unjust operation of law.

This only creates further animosity amongst the Malaysian Indians toward the ruling government.

We welcome PAS's intention to act as mediator and negotiate on behalf of HINDRAF to lift the ban on HINDRAF. Along with PAS, we would like to invite matured and seasoned politicians like Tun Musa Hitam, Dato Seri On Ka Ting and Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan to participate together to act as mediator for HINDRAF in all fairness as we trust they are able understand the problems faced by the Malaysian Indians as a minority and maybe able to reach out to the UMNO led government in lifting the ban on HINDRAF.

If the government fails to engage HINDRAF through these mediators, it clearly shows that the UMNO led government is least interested in addressing the Malaysian Indians dilemma but rather continue their obstinate methods in further alienating the Malaysian Indian in every aspect of socio-economic development in Malaysia.

Thank you.

P. Waytha Moorthy

Chairman

Despite ban, Hindraf continues to attack government

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 - The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) continues to speak up against the government, this time scoffing at Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's statement that the plight of Malaysian Indians is being looked into by a special Cabinet committee chaired by him.
Despite its recent banning, its chairman P. Waytha Moorthy called the statement made at the government's Deepavali open house yesterday "empty talk" and mere "eyewash" and insisted that authorities must state the initiatives "in dollars and cents."
"The DPM, who is also the Finance Minister, should make a concrete announcement of an allocation of funds to uplift the socio-economic condition of Indians in the country. Enough of setting up special Cabinet committees and all the years of empty promises," he said in a statement to the press.
"Malaysian Indians have woken up and can no longer be cheated with mere promises. The government of the day has to be serious and come up with a concrete plan of how to address the issue instead of giving piecemeal solutions and empty promises," Waytha demanded.
He added that these promises were made every "Deepavali" and "MIC annual general assemblies," where Indians are made to believe that "their plight is being looked into" and "help is just around the corner".
"We have been hearing this for the past 51 years and no Malaysian Indian would believe this apart from the MIC cronies who live and thrive on the 'biscuits' thrown at them by Umno.
"The DPM must have thought the Indians could be fooled as usual. Perhaps he would have received a thunderous applause for his goodie announcements, which no doubt must have come from all the planted MIC cronies."
Hindraf was declared illegal on Oct 15 in the aftermath of its controversial presence at the Cabinet Hari Raya open house, but it continues to lobby over issues related to the Indian community here, although not necessarily under its own name.
Just prior to Deepavali, leaders of the group, insisting they were there as ordinary citizens, were arrested as they attempted to submit a letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi demanding the release of five Hindraf leaders currently held under the Internal Security Act.
The Other Press

PS from WMP - On DPM Deepavali Open house pledge, another eyewash

MEDIA STATEMENT 03.11.2008

DPM NAJIB’S OPEN HOUSE PLEDGE ANOTHER EYEWASH

DPM SHOULD INSTEAD ANNOUNCE A SPECIAL ALLOCATION AND CONCRETE PLAN TO UPLIFT THE INDIAN SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS

We refer to DPM Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak’s Statement that a “the Indian community's plight was also being seriously looked into by a special cabinet committee, which he chairs, to ensure that it had participation in the national economy and equity”.

HINDRAF wishes to reiterate that the Indian community had heard enough promises for the last 51 years that would last them the next 3 generations of the Government’s promises that it cared for the plight of the Indian community and that they “would look into it”. The statement of the DPM is yet another eyewash during the festive Deepavali period to pacify and mislead the Malaysian Indian community as usual.

Every Deepavali open houses and MIC annual general assemblies the Indians are made to believe and given the assurances that their “plight are being looked into” and “help is just around the corner”. We have been hearing this for the past 51 years now and no Malaysian Indian would believe this apart from the MIC cronies who live and thrive on the “biscuits” thrown at them by UMNO.

The DPM must have thought the Indians could be fooled as usual and perhaps he would have received a “thunderous applause” for his “goodie announcements” which no doubt must have come from all the planted MIC cronies. The DPM who is also the Finance Minister should stop the “empty talk” and instead make a concrete announcement of an allocation of funds to uplift the socio economic condition of Indians in the country.

We want to know how serious the Government is in solving the woes of the Indian community in dollars and cents. Enough of setting up Special Cabinet committees and all the years of empty promises. The Malaysian Indians have woken up and can no longer be cheated with mere bare promises. The Government of the day has to be serious and solemn, come up with a concrete plan of how to address the issue instead of giving piecemeal solutions and empty promises.

P.Waytha Moorthy
CHAIRMAN
HINDRAF

Letter from FL to Malaysian King on recent Hindraf ban

Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud
Supreme Head of State (Yang di-Pertuan Agong)
Office of the Head of State
Istana Negara
50500 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

23 October 2008

Re: Family members of detained HINDRAF human rights lawyers arrested

Your Excellency,

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that family members of detained Hindu Rights
Action Force (HINDRAF) lawyers were amongst 11 persons who were arrested on 23 October
2008, including the 6-year old daughter of HINDRAF Chairperson P. Waythamoorthy, as they
attempted to submit a letter to the Prime Minister's office in Putrajaya.
On 23 October 2008, at approximately 3.15 pm, P. Vwaishhnnavi, daughter of P. Waythamoorthy
and niece of HINDRAF leader P. Uthayakumar, approached the Prime Minister's office in Putrajaya together with her mother K. Shanti, S. Jayathas, P. Taramaraju, P. Waytha Nayagi, Poobalan, R. Kannan, Mary Shanti, Bala, Rajasekaran and Ravi Sundaram. They were there to accompany P. Vwaishhnnavi as she submitted a Deepavali card to the Prime Minister in which she called for the release of all those falsely imprisoned under the Internal Security Act (ISA), including five human rights defenders from HINDRAF and also invited the Prime Minister to her home for an open house to celebrate the festival. The 11 detained persons are currently being held at the Putrajaya district police headquarters.
Police Chief Abd Razak Abd Majid declined to comment on the arrests but reports indicate that the child, the two women and eight men are being held under either the Societies Act, for participating in an unlawful society, or the Police Act, for illegal
assembly.

On 15 October 2008 the Home Ministry officially declared the HINDRAF organisation illegal, as a result of investigations by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) which reportedly found that 'the
organisation’s activities contravened the Societies Act 1966 and if left unchecked, the organisation could pose a threat to public order, peace, security and morality in Malaysia'.
Messrs P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Ganapathy Rao, T. Vasanthakumar and
R. Kengatharan were arrested on 13 December 2007 and charged under the Internal Security Act (ISA) of Malaysia on the grounds of threatening national security by organising a peaceful
demonstration. All five human rights defenders had taken up and worked on, on a pro bono basis, many cases of death in police custody and police violence. They had filed many cases against the Malaysian Government and authorities. Chairperson P. Waythamoorthy remains in self-exile in the United Kingdom.

Front Line believes that the above-mentioned persons have been arrested and detained solely on account of their legitimate human rights activities calling for the release of Messrs P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Ganapathy Rao, T. Vasanthakumar and R. Kengatharan. In addition Front Line believes that the five members of HINDRAF were targeted as a result of their work defending the rights of the ethnic minority Indians in Malaysia. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of all of the aforementioned human rights defenders.

Front Line urges the Malaysian authorities to:

1. Immediately release the above-mentioned persons who were arrested on 23 October 2008,
as well as Messrs P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Ganapathy Rao, T. Vasanthakumar
and R. Kengatharan as it is believed that they are being detained solely on account of their
legitimate human rights activities;
2. Immediately repeal the decision to ban HINDRAF;
3. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological security and
integrity of the aforementioned human rights defenders and their family members;
4. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Malaysia are able to carry
out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all
restrictions including judicial harassment.

Front Line respectfully reminds you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and
Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally
Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN
General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals.
We would particularly draw attention to Article 5 “For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: (a) To meet or assemble peacefully”; and to Article 12 (2): “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present declaration.”

Yours sincerely,
Mary Lawlor
Director

Doom, gloom and Deepavali

Mkini-Dean Johns Oct 29, 08 10:09am

Here’s wishing everybody - and especially my Hindu friends and colleagues - a happy and holy Deepavali.

With all the doom and gloom around right now, it’s the perfect time to hope and pray for what this ancient festival represents: the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.Not that I’m all that depressed about the economic meltdown, crunch, tsunami or whatever you choose to call the financial crisis currently sweeping the world.My personal economy has been in recession ever since I forsook a fat salary in advertising for the thin financial rewards but far greater fulfilment of freelance journalism, and so I find it comforting in a way to see the global situation catching up with my own.I take no responsibility for causing the recession to go global, however.

All credit for that must go to the bankers, traders and speculators who, emboldened by years of apparently limitless profiteering, stratospheric salaries and megabuck bonuses, upgraded their mantra from ‘Greed is good’ to ‘Greed is God’.And I have to say I feel very little sympathy for all these high-flying ‘victims’ now they’ve been panicked into crying poor and begging for taxpayer-funded rescue packages. In fact I’m with the US congressman I saw on the news one night declaring that the wizards of Wall Street and elsewhere should “suck up their own mess”.But not a chance.

Now banks and other financial institutions are sucking up untold billions of dollars in bailouts everywhere from the US to the UK, Iceland to India, Belarus to Brazil, Japan to Pakistan, and Russia to Argentina.Australia hasn’t seen the worst of it yet, but share prices have plummeted and the local currency has plunged from around US97 cents three months ago to around 62 cents today. Meanwhile Malaysia, so the Barisan Nasional government smugly assures us, is as safe as can be. Not that I personally believe a word the government says. And even if the nation is safe from economic recession, it’s still clearly in the grip of the usual BN-led ethical and institutional depression. How depressing it’s been in the past few weeks to see that, despite the prime minister’s repeated promises of reform, things keep going from bad to worse.

The judiciary appears more compromised than ever, with the appointment of the new chief justice, unresolved allegations of evidence-tampering by the current attorney-general, and the endless dragging-out of the Altantuya murder amidst suspicions of involvement by higher-profile figures [which they have denied] than those currently on trial.Also on the top-level corruption front, there’s been no proper investigation of alleged irregularities in the purchases of Sorkoi fighters and Scorpene submarines, yet now there’s a new scandal surrounding the agreed RM1.7 billion purchase price of 12 Eurocopter EC725 Cougars.As I’ve seen on Lim Kit Siang’s blog, similar questions surround Maybank’s recent acquisition of Bank International Indonesia for RM5 billion, or an astonishing five times its book value, and the awarding of a RM11.3 billion contract to TM Bhd for a proposed high-speed broadband network.

New wave of outrage

But an even more blatant new example of crony capitalism than these is the government’s recent decision to use RM5 billion of EPF funds to help some shadowy government-linked entity called ValueCap prop-up the prices of stocks on the KL stock exchange.This move has triggered a wave of outrage, on the grounds that, as Malaysian Trade Union Congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud reportedly declared, “the provident fund is the custodian of the workers’ money and not some automated teller machine for the government”.Of course, the EPF management has denied any impropriety in this ‘investment’ and disclaimed any involvement in attempts to shore-up the stock market.But given the total lack of transparency in the government’s murky financial dealings, a great many people find such bland assurances increasingly difficult to accept.In fact BN’s credibility appears to be sinking even faster than the prices of crony companies on the KLSE.

And no wonder, considering all the lies the prime minister has told, the empty promises he’s made, and the culture of secrecy and dissembling at every level of the administration.And I’m reminded that in the past the BN regime has presided over financial fiascos including the RM600 million Maminco tin-market scandal, the EPF-Makuwasa affair involving the illegal misuse of pension funds to recoup stock market losses, the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal, and the RM30 billion losses in a Bank Negara forex trading fiasco overseen by Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who has since, amazingly, been promoted to the post of second finance minister.But it’s not only money management - or mismanagement - that’s becoming more depressing than ever under the auspices of BN.

The nation is losing more freedoms than ever too, sinking to its lowest place ever on the latest Press Freedom Index following the growing harassment of dissenting voices on the Net and the incarceration of Raja Petra Kamarudin and the Hindraf 5 under the ISA, and the declaration of Hindraf itself as an illegal organisation.Never mind that Hindraf has always acted openly and peacefully in its efforts to draw the government’s and the world’s attention to the marginalisation and outright victimisation of Indian Malaysian citizens, in what to me reflects the true spirit of Deepavali.

Victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance are precisely what not only millions of Malaysians, but billions of people around the world have been crying-out for forever.Let’s hope that the global recession will hurt the needy less than the greedy, and help empower repressed citizens everywhere in their struggle to rid themselves of depressing ruling regimes.

Indian marginalisation clear-and-present

H Lee Oct 29, 08 12:06pm

So Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar – in a decision, as he puts it, of self-sacrifice for the sake of protecting society – has banned Hindraf.

Similar home ministerial valour must have been present when he chose to detain Raja Petra, Teresa Kok, Tan Hoon Cheng and hundreds of others under the ISA.

Many Malaysians have expressed their outrage at the latest cruel and callous act of repression against a civil group which has highlighted the continuing plight of marginalised Malaysian Indians.

I would like to examine an aspect: the assertion that Malaysian Indians are not marginalised and are actually doing better than Bumiputera Malaysians, and thus, they have no grounds to feel aggrieved, let alone angry. This is a cynical and specious claim.
We should first take note of the often ignored fact that the Malaysian Indian community is diverse, stratified and complex. Like any other.
Some are rich, some are part of the middle class, some are poor; some are posited in the mainstream, some are at the margins – and some are beyond the margins, trapped in urban squalor. The imperative question is whether the concerns of the Indian poor are being addressed by our government's attitudes and policies.

But the ruling regime would rather treat groups as monolithic blobs, then go about brandishing statistics to preempt debate - and stamp the lowly back into their place.
And so, in dismissing Hindraf's cause, Syed Hamid invoked the reality of high proportions of Indians among registered legal professionals (21.4 percent) and among doctors (18.4 percent), and the ratio of Indian to Bumiputera household incomes, of… 1.20. That's right, according to 2007 household income survey data, Indian households on average have 20 percent more income than Bumiputera households.

Is there something wrong with these figures? Why has the message of Hindraf resonated when official data paint opposing images of social mobility and nice averages?
There is no need to question the numbers, but every need to handle them responsibly, within context and in recognition of their limited scope. These bits of information provide no basis to conclude that all of the community is doing well and should therefore shut up and get on with their happy lives.

In fact, we do have evidence that Malaysians Indians are struggling as much as others to earn a decent living.

Averaging numbers

Of course there are many Indian lawyers and doctors – who's not cognisant of that? But there are far more Indian labourers, factory workers, and others at the low reaches of the labour market.

It is highly probable that the household income of the Indian community is propped up by the high earnings of professionals and managers.
Meagre family incomes of displaced agricultural workers and urban elementary workers get shrouded in the process of averaging the incomes of all Indian families.
Consider some changes that have taken place in the past decade or so.
In 1995, 17.7 percent of employed Indians worked as agricultural labor, while 8.7 percent were in professional and technical occupations.

By 2005, only 4.9 percent of employed Indians were agricultural workers, but 20.1 percent worked as professionals and technicians.
Albeit rather cursorily, we gain some impression here of developments at two ends of the socio-economic hierarchy: the continuous urbanisation of a low-skilled former plantation workforce; a steadily growing presence in highly qualified jobs providing middle class living standards.

In what sort of jobs are most Indians working? Within communities, Indians registered the highest proportion of persons classified as production workers.

In 2005, 45.8 percent of employed Indians fell in this category, compared to 33.8 percent Chinese and 34.1 percent Bumiputera.

Due to the unfree state of information in this land, the most we can do with officially disclosed statistics is make deductions and inferences such as these.

We are still left with a knowledge gap.

However, a study by Branko Milanovic, a World Bank researcher and renowned scholar of global inequality, helps fill the void¹.
He analysed Malaysia's household income data of 1997. This is from the national survey that the Statistics Department conducts twice in five years, from which all the inequality measurements we know are calculated.

One difference with the official accounts is that Milanovic focussed on individual earnings (wages, salaries and bonuses) instead of household income (the sum of household members' earnings, property income and remittances) . His findings are therefore more reflective of the earnings capacity of Malaysians in the labour market.

The housewife factor

The study analyses inequality more generally, but in the process finds something very striking: in 1997, the ratio of Indian to Bumiputera individual earnings was 0.98.
The official figure for Indian: Bumiputera household income was 1.41. In other words, the average earnings of individual Indians was basically the same as the average earnings of individual Bumiputera, even though average household incomes were quite unequal.
How might this be possible?

In terms of the gap between individual earnings inequality and household income inequality, we could postulate that combined earnings of Indians, especially in households with both spouses in professional jobs, raised their income to levels significantly higher than Bumiputera households.
This is a guess, and that's as far as we can go with available data.
What's not a guess is this objective report that average individual earnings of Indians and Bumiputeras were equal in 1997.

In 2007, with an Indian-to-Bumiputer a household income ratio of 1.20, what might the inter-group earnings ratio look like? We don't know, but it is more than likely that the ratio is less than 1.20.

It is possible that earnings are on average close to equal, or that Indian earnings are less than Bumiputera earnings.

Consider recent data on the distribution of employed persons by occupation.
In 2005, with 45.8 percent of the total employed Indians engaged as production workers and 4.9 percent as agricultural workers, it is plausible that average individual earnings are on par with the average among employed Bumiputera, of whom 34.1 percent are production workers and 15.2 percent are agricultural workers.

These two low-paying occupational groups account for about 50 percent of employed persons of both race groups.
Again, we won't have a clear picture unless we have access to data and can engage in constructive discussion.

Hindraf has grounds

We have a clear enough picture, however, to affirm the plight of marginalised Indian households, whose tough circumstances in labour markets and poor living conditions are a shameful reality that cannot be garbed in middle-class statistics.
Hindraf has grounds for grievance – yes, even in the official data, if only we would take a more balanced and critical look.

And we could better understand this whole inequality thing, and devise fairer and more effective policies, if the ruling regime would release more information to our - um - knowledge society.
Resistance towards extending the same policies to members of the Indian community as currently provided to Bumiputera is partly predicated on official household income statistics.
But they give us an oversimplified and selective glimpse to a complex of problems.
It is high time to reevaluate the way we assess income and earnings and to aim assistance at the people who need or merit it most.

¹ Branko Milanovic (2006) "Inequality and Determinants of Earnings in Malaysia, 1984-97", in the Asian Economic Journal, 20(2).
H LEE is a postgraduate student in economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Hindraf's Review Adjourned, Federal Court Ordered To Write JudgmentBy

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- The hearing of an application for a judicial review by five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders detained under the Internal Security Act was adjourned today because there was no written judgment by the Federal Court.
Federal Court judge Datuk Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman, who presided over the hearing, ordered the previous Federal Court panel which made the decision to write the judgment as the court could not proceed without the grounds of judgment.Justice Nik Hashim, who sat with justices Datuk S. Augustine Paul and Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, then adjourned the hearing until the written grounds of judgment are ready.

Earlier, counsel for the five men, Karpal Singh, informed the court that today's hearing was for a judicial review of the Federal Court's rejection of their habeas corpus appeal to be freed but the grounds of judgment had yet to be written.On May 14 2008, a three-member panel of the Federal Court headed by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff (now Court of Appeal President) dismissed their appeal after ruling that the order for their detention at the ISA camp in Kamunting, Taiping, by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was also the Internal Security Minister then, was lawfully executed.

The five are lawyers M. Manoharan, 46, who is also the state assemblyman for Kota Alam Shah, P. Uthayakumar, 46, V. Ganabatirau, 40, R. Kenghadharan, 40, and former bank officer K. Vasantha Kumar, 36.They were held under the ISA on Dec 13 after being involved in street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 and issuing slanderous statements against the government.They took the case to the Federal Court after failing to get the High Court to release them.-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=367653

Bernama-Will The Govt Be Able To Lift Gloom Off Malaysian Indians?

By S. Retna

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- Last Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak visited Brickfields, an area inhabited mostly by Malaysians of Indian descent, to launch the Deepavali carnival organised by the Ministry of Federal Territories.The opening event attracted some 2,000 people and it seemed like a normal affair but Najib, who has been picked to succeed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March next year, seized the opportunity to assure the 1.9 million Malaysian Indians in the country that their woes would receive due attention from the government.

Najib also announced the setting up of a committee to look into the issue of the "paperless" segment of the community, who neither have a birth certificate nor a Malaysian identity card or MyKad.He also promised that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government would look into issues affecting the Indian community.

While his speech was greeted by loud applause from the crowd, an event of a different nature was unfolding in front of the Prime Minister's Office complex in Putrajaya, the federal administrative capital.Ten people, who had called themselves "Concerned Indians", were arrested when they wanted to hand over a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office seeking the release of five leaders from the so-called Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a loose coalition of people which has been declared an unlawful organisation. The 10 were arrested under Section 48 of the Societies Act for acting on behalf of an unlawful society.News of the arrest only reached most of the Indian community the next day through newspapers and the efforts of Najib to seek their backing of the BN the previous day seemed to have gone to waste although the mainstream media gave prominence to what he had promised in their front pages.

Over the last 18 months, the Indian community has been rather vociferous in asking for more action by the government in terms of improving its delivery system, more Indians to be recruited into the government service, more business opportunities, an increase in their equity participation so that Malaysian Indians can be on par with the other races in the country.

The community, including the Malaysian Indian Congress or MIC, which is the Indian communitys representative party in the BN, has also asked the government to release the five Hindraf leaders held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after the quintet had organised a massive rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 26 last year to demand the rights of minority Indians although some of their demands seemed outrageous.Although Hindraf had, since its inception, done little to assist Malaysian Indians in the real sense, one cannot deny the fact that its voicing out of the concerns of the Indian community proved to be the trigger for it to receive such huge support from like-minded Malaysian Indians.

This support played a pivotal role in diverting the majority of Indian votes, which had traditionally gone to the ruling coalition, to the Opposition in the March 8 general election.In the elections, the BN lost its two-third majority in Parliament besides losing four other states -- Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor -- to add to Kelantan which was already in the hands of the Opposition.The government finally banned Hindraf on Oct 15, just 12 days before Malaysian Hindus celebrated Deepavali.Home Minister

Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, in declaring the organisation illegal, said his ministry was satisfied with facts and evidence that showed that Hindraf had been and was being used for unlawful purposes and posed a threat to public order.Some see the move as the government's retaliation against some Hindraf hardliners, numbering about 200, who had gone to the Muslim Cabinet ministers Hari Raya open house at the Putra World Trade Centre on Oct 1 and created a ruckus there.But some also see the decision to ban the movement as counter-productive as banning such a movement would force the sympathisers to go underground and operate under the guise of other organisations.

Security experts have said that banning such movements would only increase the security threat, especially when the movement comprises many factions and one group might just take things a step further by linking with terrorist groups abroad.Against this backdrop, how is the government, especially Najib, going to entice the Indian community to support the BN? Many are watching with great interest.

Although MIC leaders had openly wanted the government to implement policies and set up funds to boost Malaysian Indians economically, there is a school of thought that any action will never take root unless the core issues of Hindrafs more practical demands are resolved.An MIC leader, who declined to be named, feels that any government action taken against Hindraf may be construed as "an action against the community".

"Whenever they (the government) take drastic action against this group, the more the community moves away from us (MIC). The government should adopt a more consultative approach instead of the confrontational stance. No matter what, we need Indians and they should not be sidelined," he said.So, where can the government start to prove to Indians that it has their interests and welfare at heart?

For starters, a top MIC leader said, it would be a good gesture on the part of the government to free the Hindraf Five -- P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan, V. Ganabatirau and T. Vasantha Kumar -- now languishing in the Kamunting Detention Camp in Perak.

There was speculation that they would be released before Deepavali, but that has not happened.However, it is still not too late for the government to make the aftermath of this years Festival of Lights even brighter for Malaysian Indians in this auspicious Hindu month of Kartika.-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=368226

More clips from Waytha Speech from London

Please watch Hindraf: Mr. Waythamoorthy's Speech video in Malay from Youtube.

Hindraf: Waythamoorthy Speech Pt. 1 (Malay)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUI67eK9BKg

Hindraf: Waythamoorthy Speech Pt. 2 (Malay)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqVaeavJ_Kk

Hindraf: Waythamoorthy Speech Pt. 3 (Malay)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlzvehqQ14U

Hindraf: Waythamoorthy Speech Pt. 4 (Malay)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUlc4fp-m08

Thank you.
Best regards.

Letter from FHROI to Malaysian King and PM on Hindraf ban

FEDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS OF INDIA
8, Todarmal Lane, Bengali Market,
New Delhi- 110 001
Phone: 65288241, 23718929
Fax-01123718929

26.10.2008

1) Duli Yang Maha Mulia
Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin
Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud
Al-Muktafi Billah Shah
Istana Negara
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

2) Y.A.B. DATO’
SERI ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI
Prime Minister of Malaysia

Subject:- IMPOSITION OF BAN ON “HINDRAF”

Your Highness,
The citizens and Human Rights organisations of India have taken a serious note of the ban
imposed on Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDFAF) by the Government of Malaysia. We are
equally concerned about the detention of five members of HINDRAF. We feel that the sole
reason for the imposition of ban on HINDRAF and the detention of five members of
HINDRAF, was for expressing concerns about the marginalization of ethnic South Asians
within Malaysian society and specifically for organizing rallies.

It is disheartening to know that all the detainees are being treated like criminals, but they
have never been charged much less convicted of a crime. We have been informed that at
least 65 people are being held at Kamunting Detention Centre under the administrative
detention provisions of the ISA. The Internal Security Act allows the police to arrest
individuals they believe have acted, or are "about to" or "likely to" act in a way that would
threaten Malaysian security, "essential services" or "economic life" (Article 73 (1)(b) and the
detainees can be held for up to 60 days for investigation by the police, after which time the
Home Minister can issue a two year detention order under the ISA. The two year detention
can be renewed indefinitely without the detainee ever being charged with a crime or tried in
a court of law.

As such the ISA is contrary to fundamental principles of international law, including the right
to liberty of the person, to freedom from arbitrary arrest, the presumption of innocence, and
the right to fair and open trial in a court of law.

We demand that the Government of Malaysia should start the process to abolish this
draconian legislation. We also demand that the ban imposed on HINDRAF should be revoked
immediately and the five members of HINDRAF should be released without any precondition.

Rajesh Gogna
Convener
(FHROI)

PS from UKHindu on Hindraf ban

Press Release

Malaysia Government Bans Minority Human Rights Organisation

The Hindu community has been suffering systemic persecution at the hand of the Muslim majority Malaysia. Laws have been passed to discriminate Hindus in jobs and other economic benefits which have been exclusively reserved for Muslims. Having silently suffered since independence for over 60 years, the community had decided to form a non political organisation in the name of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) in order to raise a united minority voice.

Over 80 Hindu temples including one over 100 years old MAHA MARIAMAN TEMPLE at Padang Jawa have been demolished under fake reasons. No alternative facilities were given to the community for their religious rights. The Hindu priests were beaten up and the statutes of Hindu deities were dishonoured.


Malaysian Home Minister bans a Hindu Minority Organisation
In November 2007 the community had decided to hold a demonstration in front of the British high Commission to hand over a petition demanding intervention of the British government acknowledging that it was the British who brought them to Malaysia under indentured labour policy.

The Malaysian government had then banned the demonstration and had fired tear gas and water cannons at over 20 thousands demonstrators who had gathered there. They had arrested many of them but owing to the intervention of international media they had decided to let them go except, however, more than 100 were charged with fake criminal offences. They also arrested the five leaders of the Hindraf and charged them under draconian ISA law, which is detention without trial for anti-state activities.

The Malaysian Government has also cancelled the passport of the chairman of Hindraf Mr. P Waytha Moorty who had come to the UK in order to draw attention for the plight of his community and have thus made Mr. Moorthy a stateless person without any passport. The atrocities of the Malaysian government are still continuing. Two weeks ago after banning HINDRAF, last week they arrested on remand eleven persons including a woman who had gone to convey Dewali greetings to the Prime Minister and to request him to release the arrested Hindus before Dewali festival.

Hindu Council UK severely condemns the actions of the Malaysian government and requests:

That the ban on Hindraf is lifted and the Hindu minority community should be accorded with legitimate human rights.
That the criminal cases against leaders of Hindraf should be withdrawn and the HINDRAF leaders released unconditionally.
That the UK government as head of the commonwealth should prevail upon the Malaysian government to adhere to the charter of universal human rights and safeguard the interests of the Hindu minority.

Suraj Sehgal
Director for Defence and Security
Hindu Council UK




Note : Hindu Council UK (HCUK) is the foremost and largest national network of the Hindu temple bodies and cultural organisations co-ordinating all different schools of Hindu theology within the UK. HCUK is the representative umbrella body for the British Hindu issues for which a UK wide mandate was received during a two year consultation with the British Hindu public culminating in its launch in November 1994.

HCUK Admin Office:Boardman House, 64 The Broadway, London E15 1NG.

T: 020 8432 0400

W: www.hinducounciluk.org

F: 020 8432 0393

More clips from courtroom with Uthaya

Hi all,

Pls view the motivating and never give up speech by Makkal Sakthi hero Mr P. Uthayakumar given on Monday 20th Oct 2008 at Jalan Duta courtroom.
This is an historical moments to hear his speech and view though he is been held under draconian law ISA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16aChl3cQxs&feature=user

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkZ46Hytf-c

Pls do post more links and photos of the event if you have captured them in your cameras or hp to admin.hindraf@gmail.com or waytha@hotmail.com.
Upload them to youtube with the name prefix starts with "Hindraf" for easy search.

Nandri.
Vaalge Makkal Sakthi

Letter from Supporter :The Hundraf of Umno's making

Monday, October 20, 2008

By Helen Ang

Syed Albar take only the doctor and lawyer statastics which all are not sponsored by government, its the parents who sold their property to finance them to do medicine , by the time they become doctor these parents are almost bankrupt, UMNO cheat lump up malay income into bumiputera sabah & sarawak and orang asli to hide Malay income to show it as indian are earning 1.2 times higher than the Malays , he is the biggest cheat and racist minister in nature.The UMNO government who represent 60% of Malays they determine so much to suppress and oppress and marginalise the 8 % Indian for what reason, what is their agenda, are they hate the Indian, we are just tiny minority who are deprieved of their citizen right for 5o years, why they are not generous in admiting to the truth, and treat the minority fairly as a reponsible government.

There is no typing error above; I did spell 'Hundraf' for Human Rights Action Force. Hundraf is the twin spirit of Makkal Sakthi, an expression translated as People Power, not Indian Power.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar is reported by Bernama as saying the Indians are not neglected in Malaysia. What he implied is that Indians have little cause for complaint and thus the complaining Hindraf have no basis for their struggle.

Syed Hamid in announcing the ban on Hindraf said the Indian community was quite well represented with 14 Members of Parliament, 21.4% in the legal fraternity, 18.4% in medicine and their income was 1.2 times higher than the Malays.Out of his count of 14 Indian MPs, only three are from MIC compared to six from DAP. There are three from PKR and one from PSM — Samy-slayer of Sg Siput, the redoubtable Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj. If Indians are 'well represented' , it is no thanks to BN. (I could only recognise 13 Indian names, maybe I missed someone or perhaps there is a Malay Dilemma-ed MP in the House.)
Regarding the statistics Syed Hamid cited, may I ask how many Indian lawyers and doctors got their degrees from Malaysian public universities? And secondly, how many had their education paid for by the state?This is what blog commentator Parameswara tells me about one of the Hindraf-5 lawyers:

To my knowledge. R. Kengadharan the eldest son of a postal worker and housewife, completed his law studies on the meagre proceeds of a single storey house that was hocked to a financial institution to procure a study loan. Having returned from his studies, he not only paid off the loan but educated his siblings through the same house and earning from his law practice."

And DAP's Tony Pua says of another Hindraf-5 lawyer V. Ganabathirau:
"Gana never manage to have the privilege of completing his education at one go. After finishing Form 5, he had to take up various odd jobs to help support himself and his family. That however, did not prevent him from investing his earnings and taking up part-time courses to pursue his ambition of becoming an officer of the court. His dream came true in his late twenties when he graduated with a law degree from the University of London external programme."

Those who hold external or foreign degrees are required to additionally have the Certificate of Legal Practice, a hard-to-pass Malaysian exam designed to block entry into the profession.

SPIN ON STATISTICS
Syed Hamid conveniently forgot other professional fields where Indians are under-represented. From the same table of statistics that he drew his figures, here's what the Minister omitted: Of architects, 45.3% are bumiputera, 1.4% are Indian. Of engineers, 46.0% are bumiputera, 5.4% are Indian.I have statistics as well: While Indians accounted for 9.8% of civil servants in the 1980s, they were 5.2% in 2003. Malays are fast increasing in numbers in the skilled professions and dominating government and GLC posts, while the Indians are regressing in proportionate numbers.And more statistics:
In the present Abdullah cabinet, there is one Indian out of 27 Ministers — 3.7%. The Indian share in 2004 of corporate wealth (ownership of capital at par value) is 1.2%.Now with regard to those living under the poverty line, Syed Hamid said Indians comprised 2.9%, Chinese 0.6% and Malays 8.3%.
Again, he has deliberately obscured the truth. He said 'Malays'. Wrong, it's bumiputera 8.3%. These figures come from the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The poorest, least helped among bumiputera are the Orang Asli of the peninsula and the indigenes of Sabah and Sarawak who are not Muslim.How did the statistics measure 'poor'?
Over 300,000 Indians have been displaced in the last two decades after they lost their jobs in the plantations. In 2005, it was reported that more than 30% of Indians did not own a house. Indians are squatters in urban centres or the periphery; Indian vagrants sleep in the street — you have seen them.The poverty line income used for 2004 in Peninsular Malaysia was RM663 per month for urban areas, and RM657 for rural areas.
The Department of Statistics, ior year 2000, reported that out of approximately 1.68 million Indians, some 80% were urban and the remaining 20% rural.If one lived in his own house in the kampung, he does not have to pay rent. If one planted vegetables on his land and reared chicken, he spends less on food.
The use of household income as a single yardstick (RM663-urban and RM657-rural; the RM6 differential fails to reflect the cost of living gap between the two regions) does not signal the true level of deprivation.While on paper mean household income may look more for Indians, it is an average jacked up by the earnings of Indian professionals, and Ananda Krishnan.
But the figures also indicate class differences within any one community. Just as the Tan Sri Chinese tycoons have absolutely no bearing on my daily life, how much does the monthly income of RM3,456 attributed to Indians reflect their salary overall?Yayasan Strategic Sosial in 2005 put 30% of Indians in the bottom strata of society, and 20% in the top strata. My analogy would be that for the one doctor and one lawyer Syed Hamid mentioned, you have three low-wage earners in the labourer, cleaner and production worker.
Drawing from the same statistical pool dipped by the Minister, while Indians made up 7.5% of Malaysia's population, they constituted 14.7% in the elementary occupations.
Next, Syed Hamid said the overall income of the Indian was 1.2 times higher than Malay. Heck, if I'm Indian and took home RM3,456 a month, why would I want to go out and demonstrate? So where does the Tamil underclass that is the backbone of Hindraf come from then?

TEMPLES IN A ROW
Are the Indians a community in distress? How about looking at this set of social indicators? There were 2,555 suicides nationwide [Health Ministry report cited by NST in Sept, 2005], and 21.1 suicides per 100,000 Indians, 2.6 per 100,000 Malays.
They are killing themselves in despair, it would seem.Syed Hamid further claimed that there is a ratio of one temple to 149 Hindus and one mosque to 2,300 Muslims in this country. Aaah, the good Minister must have gone around the country tallying the little Hindu shrines under trees and altars lodged in rock crevices.
I hope these 'temples' — one for every 149 Hindus — are marked on maps because tourists may like to visit them.He also equated action against Hindraf to action taken against Al-Arqam, Al-Ma'unah and Kumpulan Militan Malaysia in the past, saying "The government's priority is to protect the security of Malaysians".
As a Malaysian, I do not feel threatened by the Muslims of Al-Arqam as I know the Malays to be a race full of kindness and budi bahasa. And as for the KMM, Syed Hamid as Home Minister should sign the order for their immediate release from ISA; prove their militancy in open court. Otherwise, I could think that Syed Hamid has committed fitnah, a grave sin in Islam, to allege his fellow ummah are militants.Lastly, Syed Hamid said the government "cannot tolerate groups that propagate extremism and stir up racial and religious tension" and accused them of having "created fear among the people".
Yet it appears to me as if he is describing Umno factions. Is Umno going to be declared illegal soon too?

- Centre for Policy Initiatives


The Other Press

Photos at Duta Court during Uthaya trail on 20 Oct 2008

This is amazing !!

We had an historical moment with our great Makkal Sakthi ( People's Power) leader, Mr Uthayakumar today while he came to the trail in Jalan Duta Court at 9am.

The court diverted the case to another court room without any notification even to the defence counsel. The supporter whom came as earlier morning as 6am started to que in front of court room and later found that the trail is about to start in another room.

When the supporters and well wishers came to the actual court room they were again blocked by police claiming thr room is packed when there is only 6 people in court room.

Again another first time took place, where the police says that only those with number tag will be allowed and asked the supporter to get back to ground floor to register the names and collect the tags. The peace loving supporters walked all the way down to que up to register thru their IC and collected the "special" token number which limited to 58 only.

Surprisingly there were many other cases running in the same building but they were allowed to move in to their respective court room without "special tags nor registration". Another double standard !!

The court later adjourn to afternoon and the interval were used to see and greet Uthaya by all the suppporter whom came. Uthaya was very happy and motivated. He stressed that the struggle for the Malaysian Indians will not stops until the UMNO led govt fulfill the rightful rights of Malaysian indians.

More news to be written later.

Thx

Vaalge Makkal Sakthi