Malaysia bans Hindu Rights Action Force

Malaysia bans Hindu Rights Action Force
Press Trust of India
Thursday, October 16, 2008, (Kuala Lumpur)

The Malaysian government has banned the non-governmental Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), branding it as a threat to national security.

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Wednesday issued a statement declaring Hindraf, which has been advocating ethnic Indian rights since late last year for the minority community, an illegal organisation.

He said the government move followed the result of monitoring and investigations by the country's Registrar of Societies (RoS) since Hindraf was formed.

"As a result of the investigations, the Home Ministry, as per its authority under sections 3 and 5 of the Societies Act 1966, has declared Hindraf unlawful and detrimental to peace, public order, security and the moral values of Malaysia," he said in the statement.

Albar accused the Hindraf of exploiting "racial issues which caused an uprising against the government and created hatred between them and the Malays. I feel that if we don't rein in their activities, they will continue to jeopardize security and public order, our country's sovereignty, as well as upset the harmony among races."

Hindraf came into international focus after it organized a massive rally on November 25 last year to protest alleged marginalisation of the ethnic Indian minority in this country.

More than 20,000 people attended the rally, which was branded as illegal by the government. The large participation took the Abdullah Badawi government by shock. A large section of the ethnic Indians supported the Hindraf as they felt that the Malaysian Indian Congress, led by Samy Vellu, had done little to uplift the community over the past several decades.

Syed Hamid said the decision to ban the movement was not made based on only one or two misdemeanours committed by Hindraf, but covered the entire gamut of activities the group had been involved in since its inception.

"Hindraf submitted a registration application to the RoS on October 16 last year.The application had not been approved, but it went ahead and organised several public gatherings and demonstrations without a permit," he said.

"Considering all the facts and evidence we have, I am satisfied that Hindraf was and is being used in a manner detrimental to public order and national security," New Staraits Times quoted him as saying on Thursday.

An opposition MP has called the government's decision to ban Hindraf as ridiculous and uncalled for, adding that he would move an emergency motion asking for an open debate in Parliament on Thursday.

"This is against the interest and aspirations of the Indian community that is seeking a more tolerant and fair government," M Kulasegaran said, adding that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had agreed to hold a dialogue with Hindraf leaders but "nothing was done".

Hindraf national coordinator, R S Thanenthiran said the ban was unfair as they had not committed any crime or broken any laws, adding that Syed Hamid could have done this in retaliation to the police reports Hindraf supporters lodged against him.

Thanenthiran said Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy, who is in self-exile in Britain, had instructed coordinators to wait for a day before making further statements.

Coalition of Indian NGOs secretary-general Gunaraj George said that by banning Hindraf, Syed Hamid had rendered the Indian community voiceless, but said it would not dampen the spirit of its supporters.

"I know that their struggle will go on especially to free all those detained under the Internal Security Act," Star newspaper quoted him as saying.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080068936

Waytha slams Utusan, TV3 and UMNO linked NGO

Waythamoorthy slams Utusan, TV3 and UMNO linked NGO~malaysiakini

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy has taken Malay daily
Utusan Malaysia and television station TV3 to task over their 'biased and invalidated' reporting.In a statement today, he said: "This was a clear to invoke racial tension."He was responding to reports regarding Hindraf's visit to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's open house at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday."The visit has been demonised and given the impression that a criminal act was committed and Islam insulted. "It is indeed shocking that federal ministers, senior professors and government officials do not have the intelligence to differentiate between a memorandum and greeting card," he said.

Waytamoorthy, who is currently in self-exile in London, also noted that Hindraf's previous pleas for a dialogue with the prime minister have fallen on deaf ears."The open house is the only day in the year a commoner could make the acquaintance of the PM personally and Hindraf took the liberty to send a clear message- release all prisoners held unjustly without trial in spirit of forgiveness," he said.

Reveal photos and videos
The Hindraf chief also slammed Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar for interpreting the event as an insult to Islam. "We challenge Utusan (Malaysia) and TV3 to make public their photographs and video recordings to prove that Hindraf supporters behaved in an inappropriate manner."To the contrary we have evidence that the PM and his deputy were all smiles and accepted the greetings and card with an open heart," he added.

Last December, five Hindraf leaders were detained under the Internal Security Act several weeks after they had organised a mammoth street protest in Kuala Lumpur. They remain incarcerated without trial at the Kamunting Detention Centre.

Meanwhile, Waythamoorthy said the Umno-led government failed to realise that Malaysians were at a different wavelength now and could judge for themselves what truth, justice and equality means."Utusan Malaysia and TV3 can continue to act as an apparatus of the ruling government with their inept propaganda, but they fail to comprehend that most Malaysians are equipped with their own resources without any real need for their ultra bias commentary," he added.

Legal action
On Saturday, Hindraf coordinator RS Thanenthiran said the movement would initiate legal action against Utusan Malaysia over its reports. According to him, Hindraf was disturbed by the reports which he claimed were 'tainted by lies and distorted facts.'He said the Utusan Malaysia front page report under the headline – 'Hindraf Keterlaluan' (Extreme Hindraf) was unfair and communal, and seemed to suggest that the movement was made of extremists out to disrupt Muslim festivals and pour scorn on Islam.

Criticising another article - Baharom Mahusin's commentary in the same edition, Thanenthiran said the writer was unfair, attempted to incite racial hatred and instigate communal conflict.

Among others, Baharom had penned that 'kalau penyokong Hindraf melakukan penghinaan seumpama itu di kawasan-kawasan pendalaman yang menjadi kampung halaman orang Melayu, mereka sudah pun diajar tentang makna dan akibat berperangai kurang ajar.' (If Hindraf supporters poured such insults in the interior areas dominated by Malays, they would have been taught a lesson on the meaning and consequence of misbehaviour.)

source: malaysiakini

http://malaysianindian1.blogspot.com/2008/10/waythamoorthy-slams-utusan-tv3-and-umno.html