Hindraf moves non-Malay CM

Hindraf moves non-Malay Chief Minister

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE (Feb. 13, 2008): The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Tuesday sought the intervention of Malaysia’s only non-Malay Chief Minister to secure a “fair deal” for the ethnic Indian minority.

This move for new friends was also aimed at advancing Hindraf’s plan for a children-led march in Kuala Lumpur on February 16 to present roses to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a gesture of goodwill and demand “justice” for Malaysian Indians.

For the third time in recent weeks, Hindraf fielded a five-year-old child, Vaishnnavi Waytha Moorthy, to petition political and statutory authorities in this regard.

On Tuesday, Vaishnnavi (whose name is spelt as Vwaishhnavi), daughter of Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy, submitted a petition addressed to Chief Minister Koh Tsu Khoon in Penang. She was escorted to the office of the Chief Minister by Hindraf national coordinator Thenenthiran Ramankutty and others.

The letter, received by an official on behalf of Mr. Koh, was an appeal to him to use his good offices and persuade the Prime Minister to accept red and yellow roses from her and other children at the Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur on the day of the planned march.

Mr. Moorthy, camping in London, appealed for support from Malaysians for the planned march and said red roses would symbolise goodwill for the Prime Minister from the ethnic Indians and yellow roses would be a floral expression of the demand for “justice” for this minority community.

The Malaysian government denies that the ethnic Indians are being discriminated against.

Vaishnnavi had earlier delivered letters, written by her under the guidance of her mother, at the office of the Prime Minister in Putrajaya and that of Chairman of Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

In another development, the Internal Security Act Advisory Board on Tuesday adjourned the mandatory administrative hearings on the detention of five Hindraf leaders. Detained without formal charges and trial, the five — P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganapati Rao, M. Manoharan, R. Kengadharan and T. Vasanthakumar — were, however, accused of fomenting “racial hatred” and causing a “national security threat.” They, along with Mr. Moorthy, were the masterminds of the mass protest rally that Hindraf organised in Kuala Lumpur last November.

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