Ethnic Indian demonstrators (L) are hit by water cannons in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian riot police fire tear gas during a protest in Kuala Lumpur February 16, 2008. Malaysian police used water cannon and tear gas on Saturday to break up an anti-government protest by ethnic Indians carrying roses to symbolise a peaceful demand for justice.
REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim
February 16, 2008
Tear-gas and Chemical spray on children too ?- Al Jazerra latest 16-2-08 (2.48pm)
NEWS ASIA-PACIFIC
Hindu protest broken up in Malaysia
In the run up to elections any gathering of more than four people requires a police permit [Reuters]
Police in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur have used tear gas and chemical-laced water to break up an anti-government protest by ethnic Indians demanding racial equality.
On Saturday about 300 men, women and children were dispersed by about 100 policemen, including riot police with helmets and shields.
"Police were too rough" said S Manikavasagam, a spokesman for the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), the ethnic indian group that organised the protest.
"They used their power," he said.
Since Friday about 60 people, including two leaders of Hindraf who organised the protest, have been detained in a police crackdown, said N Surendran, a lawyer and Hindraf member.
Protesters were carrying roses to symbolise a peaceful demand for justice.
The Malaysian government is concerned about street protests in the run up to early general elections on March 8 and any gathering of more than four people requires a police permit.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian prime minister, is widely expected to retain power at the polls with his ruling party coalition, but with a reduced majority.
Many Indians accuse his multi-racial coalition, which is dominated by ethnic Malays, of racial discrimination.
Police crackdown
Hindraf first announced the protest in January to press the government to release five of its leaders who have been jailed under tough internal security laws.
The men were detained without trial after more 10,000 ethnic Indians marched in the capital last November to complain about a lack of job and education opportunities.
The protesters on Saturday planned to gather outside parliament to hand a protest note and roses to Abdullah, but they were halted by police a short distance away.
"I want the five to be released," Parvathy Raman, a 30-year-old accounts executive from Kuala Lumpur, said.
"I want the government to hear our problems. Everyone knows there is discrimination, but the government denies it."
Hindraf said the red roses symbolised love and peace, while the yellow roses symbolised the group's demand for justice and the release of the jailed men.
Protesters defied police orders to disperse, but scattered when sprayed with tear gas and water laced with chemicals.
Source: Agencies
http://shanghaistephen.blogspot.com/2008/02/al-jazerra-latest-16-2-08-248pm.html
Ethnic Indians Rally in Malaysia Demanding Rights, Defy Police
By Manirajan Ramasamy and Soraya Permatasari
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- About 200 Malaysian ethnic Indians defied a police order and rallied in the capital today demanding equal rights and the release of supporters held without trial as tensions rise three weeks before the country holds elections.
Carrying banners and roses, members of the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, gathered near the city hall in Kuala Lumpur at 9 a.m. local time. Fifteen minutes later police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the group and arrested dozens of participants.
Hindraf, which is holding its second rally in three months, is demanding an end to alleged racial discrimination in a country where the government gives the ethnic Malay majority preferential treatment for jobs and homes. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has struggled to contain racial tension in his first term, and is targeting a smaller parliamentary majority at the March 8 ballot.
Authorities on Dec. 12 arrested five members of the group under the Internal Security Act, a law that allows for indefinite detention without trial. The order was signed by Abdullah.
``While the yellow roses are a symbol of our cry for justice, we seek the immediate release of Hindraf's five leaders,'' the group said in a statement before today's rally. ``We are going to Parliament as it is a symbol of justice.''
Use of Force
Today's peaceful rally follows a demonstration by the group on Nov. 25 last year, when about 10,000 Malaysian ethnic Indians gathered to demand equal rights. Human Rights Watch has asked Malaysia to investigate the ``unwarranted'' use of force by police at public rallies.
``We just want to hand over the flowers to the prime minister,'' said R. Thusimala, who attended the rally. ``I don't understand why the police are looking at us as a threat.''
Indians account for less than 10 percent of Malaysia's population of 27 million people. Ethnic Chinese make up about 20 percent and ethnic Malays about 60 percent.
Public demonstrations by racial groups are rare in Malaysia, where Abdullah's ruling coalition includes Indian, Chinese and Malay parties. Still, the premier has faced protests since September last year, from lawyers demanding an independent judiciary to groups seeking free and fair elections.
To contact the reporters on this story: Manirajan Ramasamy in Kuala Lumpur at rmanirajan@bloomberg.net ; Soraya Permatasari in Kuala Lumpur at soraya@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 15, 2008 23:49 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBXTy5O7nVxs&refer=home
Tear gas scatters Malaysian 'flower power' protest
Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:15am IST
By Liau Y-Sing
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police used water cannon and tear gas on Saturday to break up an anti-government protest by ethnic Indians carrying roses to symbolise a peaceful demand for justice.
With the Malaysian government concerned about street protests in the run-up to early general elections on March 8, around 100 policemen, including riot police with helmets and shields, turned out to disperse a gathering of about 300 men, women and children.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's ruling coalition is widely expected to retain power at the polls, although with a reduced majority, but many Indians accuse his multi-racial coalition, dominated by ethnic Malays, of racial discrimination.
The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hinraf) first announced the protest in January as a way to press its demand for the release of five of its leaders jailed under tough internal security laws.
The Malaysian government detained the men without trial soon after more than 10,000 ethnic Indians marched in the capital last November to complain about a lack of job and education opportunities, in response to a call from the group.
"I want the five to be released," said Parvathy Raman, a 30-year-old accounts executive from Kuala Lumpur, who joined the protest. "I want the government to hear our problems. Everyone knows there is discrimination, but the government denies it."
Children as young as 10 were among the demonstrators at Saturday's protest, where some people carried yellow and red roses, while chanting slogans such as "We love Badawi". Others wore orange T-shirts printed with the slogan "People Power".
The protesters aimed to march to the Malaysian parliament to give the roses to Abdullah, but were halted by police a short distance away after being refused a permit to assemble in public.
The red roses symbolised love and peace, while the yellow roses symbolised the group's demand for justice and the release of the jailed men, Hindraf said.
"We want our rights and justice," said one demonstrator, Tamilarasu, 21, a casual labourer at a golf resort who rode a bus for several hours from his home on the northern island of Penang to attend the protest in the capital. "We're not happy with the government."
Police helicopters hovered overhead as protesters waved the Malaysian flag, portraits of the Malaysian king, and orange banners that read, "We want our rights, No to the Internal Security Act".
Protesters defied police orders to disperse, but scattered when sprayed with tear gas and water laced with chemicals.
"Police were too rough," said S. Manikavasagam, a spokesman for the ethnic Indian group that organised the protest. "They used their power."
He said police had arrested 20 protesters, but police officials at the site could not confirm the figure.
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-31980420080216
Ethnic Indians held for defy rally ban in Malaysia
Saturday, February 16, 2008 14:29 [IST]
Kualalampur: Defying a ban, over 200 ethnic Indian supporters of a Hindu rights group on Saturday held a rally near Malaysia's Parliament demanding more rights for the minority community, prompting police to fire tear gas and chemical-laced water to disperse the demonstrators.
The police said it detained at least 20 supporters of the non-governmental Hindu Rights Force (Hindraf), which organised the rally, days after announcing plans that its members would march to the Parliament house along with a group of children led by the organisation's chief Wayathamoorthy's five-year-old daughter Vvaishnnavi.
Hindraf member and lawyer N Surendran, however, claimed that at least 60 people, including two leaders of the organisation, have been detained in a police crackdown since late Friday night. The police had denied a permit to Hindraf to hold the rally outside Parliament and had set up barricades along main roads leading to the building.
Notwithstanding the ban, some 200 people managed to gather at a nearby building shouting 'Long Live Hindraf' and 'We want our rights.' Police sprayed chemical-laced water and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Vvaishnnavi wanted to present roses to Premier Abdullah Badawi and had last month written a letter to him, urging him to be present at the Parliament house to receive the Valentine flowers, from her and other children.
The letter also contained an appeal to release Vvaishnnavi's 'five uncles', members of Hindraf who were detained under the draconian Internal Security Act after they organised a massive rally of over 20,000 Indians, to protest the alleged marginalisation of the community on November 25 last year.
Hindraf hit headlines across the world after organising that rally. Today's rally came ahead of the general elections on March 8, a year ahead of schedule. The government has denied allegations of marginalisation of Indians. However, the November 25 rally took it by total surprise and since then the government leaders have been busy wooing ethnic Indians and promising to seriously look into their woes.
Ethnic Indians were brought to Malaysia by the British nearly 200 years ago as indentured labourers and many of them stayed back in this country even after India attained independence.
Indians form 7.8 per cent of the country's total population of 27 million and are mostly Hindus with origin from Tamil Nadu. The Muslim Malays form 60 per cent of the population while the Chinese, who account for 25 per cent, are Buddhists or Christians. Malaysia allows the practice of all regions.
Source : PTI
http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/02/16/0802161433_ethnic.html
Malaysian police break up ethnic Indian rally, detain more than 60 people
The Associated Press
Saturday, February 16, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up an illegal rally Saturday by ethnic Indians demanding racial equality ahead of general elections.
More than 60 people — including two leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, that organized the protest — have been detained in a police crackdown since late Friday, said lawyer N. Surendran, a Hindraf member.
The group planned to hand roses and a protest note to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but police banned the rally citing national security.
Barricades were set up along main roads leading to Parliament but more than 200 people managed to gather nearby Saturday shouting "Long Live Hindraf" and "We want our rights."
Police sprayed water and fired tear gas after the crowd ignored warnings to disperse. At least 20 people, including a Hindraf leader S. Manikavasagam, were detained Saturday, said a police official, who declined to be named citing protocol.
Surendran said at least 40 others were arrested since late Friday.
"This is ridiculous ... We just want to express our right to freely assemble," Surendran told The Associated Press. "This is a massive campaign of intimidation."
It was the first public gathering by the group since police used tear gas and water cannon to crush a Nov. 25 demonstration by at least 20,000 Indians in Kuala Lumpur.
The rally came ahead of general elections on March 8.
The November protest sparked fears of racial tension in this ethnic Malay Muslim-majority nation, and led to the arrest of five Hindraf leaders in December under the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite imprisonment without trial.
Many Indians allege they are deprived of employment and education opportunities and say their temples are being systematically destroyed.
The government says it does not discriminate against ethnic Indians, who form 8 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people and remain at the bottom of Malaysia's economic and political hierarchy.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/16/news/Malaysia-Indian-Unrest.php
Malaysia police fire teargas at flower protest: witnesses
3 hours ago
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysian police Saturday fired teargas and water cannons to disperse ethnic Indians clutching flowers and gathered in the capital, in the latest crackdown on public protests, witnesses said.
Some 300 people defied a police ban and attempted to gather in Independence Square in downtown Kuala Lumpur to protest alleged discrimination, before police moved in, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
"It is an embarrassing attack on the Indian community and on people who just wanted to hand over flowers to the prime minister," said R. Thanenthiran, one of the rally organisers.
The flower protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations in recent that have rocked the multicultural nation, which is now gearing up for general elections on March 8.
More than 20 people were detained, police said, after supporters of Indian rights group Hindraf turned up near Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square. Police had earlier refused a permit for the gathering.
Indian youths dressed in saffron coloured t-shirts with the Tamil words "Makkal Sakti", or People's Power, chanted slogans calling for justice and an end to alleged discrimination against ethnic Indians in the country.
More than 200 police approached the crowd before spraying them with water cannons and firing tear gas shells above their heads, the AFP correspondent witnessed.
"We wanted to have 200 children also peacefully give Abdullah flowers but we were tear-gassed and water-cannoned by police," Thanenthiran said, referring to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Thanenthiran said organisers decided it was unsafe for the children to take part in the protest and they were bused away from the scene.
"We came with a gesture of peace and love and the Malaysian government did not have the courage to accept the roses," Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy told AFP. Prime minister Abdullah had not indicated before the protest that he would accept the flowers.
The protest comes after the detention of five Hindraf leaders who enraged the government in November by leading a mass rally protesting alleged discrimination against minority Indians.
The protest highlighted the grievances of Malaysia's Indians -- descendents of labourers brought over by British colonial rulers in the 1800s -- who say they are marginalised in terms of education, wealth and opportunities.
Abdullah has said that street protests and anger within the Indian community could have an impact on how the government fares in the general elections.
Abdullah is head of the United Malays National Organisation-led coalition government of race-based parties that have ruled Malaysia since it gained its independence from British rule in 1957.
Although Abdullah's party is expected to win the March election, analysts say a slew of issues including rising prices, corruption and religious as well as racial tensions could cut the government's majority in parliament.
Ethnic Indians make up 7 percent of Malaysia's 27 million population with Malay Muslims forming 60 percent and ethnic Chinese at 26 percent.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6p-LafUHkP-0WPyixHqzfNerbWg
No comments:
Post a Comment