HINDRAF
| HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force) | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Lawyers: M. Manoharan P. Uthayakumar K.Ganghadaran P.Wathya Moorthy S. Ganapathi Rao |
| Active regions |  Malaysia |
HINDRAF or Hindu Rights Action Force is a coalition of 30 Hindu Non-Governmental organizations committed to the preservation of Hindu community rights and heritage in secular Malaysia. The group has led agitations against what they see as an "unofficial policy of temple demolition" and concerns about the steady encroachment of sharia-based law.[1][2]
In late 2007, several prominent members of the HINDRAF, all prominent lawyers, were arrested, some on charges of sedition; following an enormous rally organised by HINDRAF in November, the charges were dismissed by the courts. Five people have since been detained without trial under the Internal Security Act.[3]
Events
Arrests in October 2007
On 30th October, four HINDRAF Group leaders and human rights lawyers, namely M.Manoharan, P.Uthayakumar, P. Waytha Moorthy and S.Ganapathi Rao, were arrested and detained for taking part in the Demonstration against the demolishing of a Hindu Shrine in Kuala Lumpur.[4] However, they were acquitted due to a lack of evidence of incitement and sedition.
Human Rights Forum
A series of peaceful weekend forums were organized throughout Malaysia to increase the awareness of Hindu human rights by HINDRAF. A previous forum held near central Kuala Lumpur had been disrupted, according to HINDRAF with the collusion of the police.[5] Subsequently, HINDRAF appealed directly to the Inspector General of the Malaysian Police in an attempt to ensure that their fora went off peacefully.[6]
Arrests in November
On 23 November, 2007, three HINDRAF leaders, P. Uthayakumar, Waytha Moorthy, and V.S. Ganapathi Rao, were arrested and charged under the Sedition Act.[7][8] However, in a series of repeated arrests and releases, the courts could not prove that they had incited racial hatred. The only evidence against them were unreliable translations of their Tamil speeches into Bahasa Malaysia presented by the Attorney-General's Chambers, which the courts deemed as unverifiable. Eventually, they were all acquitted due to a shaky prosecution and the lack of evidence of any wrongdoing or crime.[9].
Petition and rally
On 30th August 2007, a class action on behalf of Malaysian Indians was filed at The Royal Courts of Justice in London to sue the UK Government for US$4 trillion (US$1 million for every Malaysian Indian) for bringing Indians as indentured laborers into Malaya, "exploiting them for 150 years" and thereafter failing to protect the minority Indians' rights in the Federal Constitution when independence was granted.[10] As the group, which represents mainly working-class Indo-Malaysians, could not afford the legal fees required, a petition was circulated with 100,000 signatures to be presented to Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom to appoint a Queen's counsel to argue the case[10].
HINDRAF organized a rally on Sunday, 25th November 2007 to submit the petition at the British High Commission. Malaysian police refused to grant a permit for the rally, and set up roadblocks in Klang Valley along roads leading up to the rally to screen motorists entering the city center and identify troublemakers. They also advised the public not to participate in the rally, and arrested three leaders of HINDRAF.
The police roadblocks started the week before the rally to create massive traffic jams across the city and the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur[1]. Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the DAP pointed out that this high-handed act by the police was unnecessary as it caused major inconvenience to everyone[2].
On the morning of the rally, an estimated twenty thousand people gathered near the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, carrying life-size portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Mahatma Gandhi, to indicate the nonviolent nature of their protest.[10] Five thousand members riot police dispatched to the scene used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. 136 people were arrested.[10][11]
Al-Jazeera's coverage of the event [3] showed police officers using tear gas to disperse the protesters. A few hundred protesters and three police officers were injured [4].
The protest at the Batu Caves resulted in minor property damages [5], although the Hindu temple itself was not damaged[6].
HINDRAF later claimed to have faxed the petition to the British High Commission staff. However, as of 28 November, the British Envoy had not yet received any petition from the HINDRAF, though they did say they had received some unspecified information by fax.[12]
Threat from the government
Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned that the government will invoke the Internal Security Act against the demonstrators if they needed. The prime minister further criticised the demonstrators, after he made a promise that he will listen to everyone even if they have unpleasant words to say, the government of Abdullah also attempted to link terrorism with the peaceful Hindraf rally via the media. [13]
As of 11th December 2007, the HINDRAF leaders were all acquitted by the judicial courts due to lack of evidence and a flimsy prosecution case against their allegations. In order to contain the movement while not being able to charge them according to valid evidence-based legal processes, on 12th December 2007 Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi personally signed the detention letters to imprison the HINDRAF leaders under the draconian ISA for two years, in which their detention terms are subject to infinite renewal. The invocation of the ISA to capture the HINDRAF leaders goes to show that the UMNO government is interested in furthering their race-based policies while throwing inter-race relations to the wind. Rather than engaging the group in a proper dialogue and hear out their grievances, they have decided to lock up the leaders without trial and without evidence of wrongdoing indefinitely. The UMNO government has also directly shown that they are not interested in improving inter-race relations and do not care about the grievances and concerns of the non-Muslims in Malaysia.
The UMNO government has threatened that the first five arrests are just the starting. More Hindus will be arrested and detained without trial in the coming weeks. Some fear that Badawi's government is creating another Operation Lalang. While the first Operation Lalang was targeted against the Chinese (with threats to massacre the Chinese community), the latest round of action against the Indians and HINDRAF is squarely targeted at the Malaysian Indians. The difference is that the Indians are not as passive as the Chinese, and thinking they've got nothing to lose, may retaliate against the racist government.
By making these moves, the UMNO government is sending out a clear signal to the non-Malays and non-Muslims in Malaysia that they are second-class citizens with no right to demand anything from the government and if they ever do, they will either be detained without trial or face the threat of massacre by UMNO's ultra-nationalist Youth Wing.
(The last two paragraphs of this section is very insulting and questions UMNO's way of handling things. The ISA was invoked to capture the HINDRAF leaders for further investigation. UMNO also never categorized non-Malays and non-Muslims as second-class citizens and will listen to any REQUESTS by any race & religion, provided it does not threaten national peace and security. Also, using the word "demand" is inappropriate as no one have the rights to demand anything from governments in this world. The HINDRAF leaders were detained because they held a rally illegally, which is not the legal proper way to get in talks with the governemnt thus detained under the ISA. The governement, UMNO and UMNO's Youth Wing never threatened anyone, and a General Election is expected soon as well so why would UMNO so blindly decrease it's own reputation and reliability now? This article is seriously questioning the government's policy, UMNO's leadership and the nation's peace and harmony.)
Response to the Detentions
Even as the Prime Minister started threatening to use the ISA against the HINDRAF leaders for bringing Malaysia's racist policies out into the open for all to see, foreign news outlets criticized Badawi's lack of initiative to tackle the root cause of the problem[7][8].
The detention without trial of the HINDRAF leaders drew negative comments in the foreign press about Badawi's administration and the poor way that they are handling the issue[9][10].
The Democratic Action Party, DAP, has vowed to challenge the detention of the HINDRAF leaders[11][12]. Despite the arrests, the Opposition and most of the Malaysian NGOs were unfazed and continued to challenge UMNO's deconstruction of democracy in Malaysia. The United States had also voiced their disapproval of this latest round of ISA arrests[13].
The official HINDRAF website at http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com has been allowed by Malaysian ISPs again, after a brief ban. In response to the ban, sites such as http://www.hindraf.org were spawned to maintain awareness of this movement, in addition to the many blogs available. The movement started in Malaysia, has grown global and no has following in UK, Australia, Canada and USA.
Online Petition
Shortly after the five HINDRAF lawyers were arrested under the ISA, an online petition was set up by Police Watch Malaysia.
See also
- P.Waytha Moorthy - Human Rights Lawyer and Chairperson of HINDRAF.
- Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia - Article 153 of the Constitution of Federal Malaysia.
- History of Malaysia - History of Malaysia before and after Independence.
- Hinduism in Malaysia - Status of Hinduism in Malaysia.
- Bumiputra - Bumiputera in Malaysia and its chronology.
- Reid Commission - An independent commission responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Federation Malaya.
- Law of Malaysia - Law of Malaysia.
- Malaysian Indian
- Tamil Malaysians
- Malaysian Indian Dilema captured in a 6 part YouTube clip
Clip Part 1 of 6
Clip Part 2 of 6
Clip Part 3 of 6
Clip Part 4 of 6
Clip Part 5 of 6
Clip Part 6 of 6
References
Notes
- Jawan, Jayum A. (2003). Malaysian Politics & Government, p. 43. Karisma Publications. ISBN 983-195-037-2
- Amnesty International (2005). Amnesty International Report 2006: The State of the World’s Human Rights. Amnesty International. ISBN 0-86210-369-X.
External links
- In pictures: Malaysia protests
- Malaysian police break up rally
- Malaysia's lingering ethnic divide
- Malaysia charges ethnic Indians
- Malaysia arrests ethnic Indians
- ^ Hindu group protests "temple cleansing" in Malaysia
- ^ Asia Times
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSKLR29657920071214
- ^ 4 HINDRAF Founding Lawyers Arrested
- ^ POLICE ATTEMPTS TO SABOTAGE HINDRAF FORUM IN SEMENYIH ON 6.10.2007
- ^ Hindraf seek IGP protection for nationwide forums / assemblies
- ^ "Police arrest Hindraf leaders (update 2)". Malaysia Star. 2007-11-23.
- ^ "Lawyers charged with sedition". Malaysia Star. 2007-11-24.
- ^ [14] Subscription Required
- ^ a b c d Time
- ^ Cops forced to use tear gas, water cannons
- ^ http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/28/nation/19597270&sec=nation British envoy: No petition received
- ^ The Straits Times: US defends peaceful protests in Malaysia