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Archive for November, 2007

Nov 30 2007

india concerned about malaysian indians

Posted by poobalan under Indian | View blog reactions



thanks to Nagarajan for highlighting this.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071130/43/6nwie.html

India to take up issue of ethnic Indians with Malaysia
 
By IANS
Friday November 30, 03:55 PM
New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) India Friday said it is concerned about the crackdown on peaceful protests by ethnic Indians in Malaysia and will take up the issue with the country's government.
'Whenever Indian citizens abroad or people of Indian origin are adversely affected, it's a cause of concern,' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters at a joint press conference with leaders of the European Union.
He was replying to a question on whether his government was planning to take up the issue of alleged victimisation of peaceful protesters with the Malaysian government.
'This is matter which does concern us,' he said.
The prime minister refused to comment any further as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was making a statement on the issue in parliament.
'I am in touch with the Malaysian government. We are going to take up the issue with them,' Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha in response to a question on the issue.
At least 80 ethnic Indians were charged in Malaysia early this week for taking part in a rally to demand equal rights in the Muslim-majority country. About 10,000 minority ethnic Indians took out a rally in Kuala Lumpur police last Sunday.
The police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters. Around 250 people were arrested and three organizers were charged with sedition.
Indians comprise eight percent of Malaysia's population of 27 million. They allege that an affirmative action policy favours Malays in government jobs.
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=523154
 
India taking up Tamil issue with Malaysia
 
NEW DELHI, NOV 30 (PTI)
With ethnic Tamils under attack in Malaysia, the Government today told the Rajya Sabha that New Delhi was taking up the issue with Kuala Lumpur.
 
"The matter is being taken up through diplomatic channel," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri told the House during Zero Hour.
 
He was responding to the concerns of members who took strong exception to a senior Malaysian minister asking Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M to "lay off" from the happenings in that country.
 
Terming as condemnable the ill-treatment being meted out to ethnic Tamils, Pachouri said that after the matter was taken up with the Malaysian authorities, the External Affairs Minister would make a statement in the House.
 
Raising the issue, R Shanmugasundaram (DMK) drew the attention of the Governnment to the statement of the Malaysian Minister on the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. "This is highly condemnable as the Malaysian Minister has no business to talk like this. The Governnment of India should take appropriate action," he said.
 
S S Ahluwalia (BJP) demanded that the Malaysian envoy to India should be called to explain.
 
B S Gnanadesikan (Cong) expressed serious anguish over the manner in which the Chief Minister was snubbed by the Malaysian minister. He was joined by his party colleague V Narayanaswamy.
 
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=20118
 
India lawmakers treatment of ethnic Indians in M'sia

NEW DELHI (Nov 30, 2007): Several India lawmakers expressed their concern in parliament yesterday over the treatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia , news reports said.

 
The issue came up both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, India's lower and upper house of parliament, PTI and IANS news agencies reported.
 
The legislators expressed concern over the police treatment at a rally by Malaysia's ethnic Indian minority in Kuala Lumpur, demanding equal rights to jobs and .
 
The protesting lawmakers were largely from India 's southern Tamil Nadu state and cut across party affiliation. Most of Malaysia's ethnic Indian people have origins in Tamil Nadu.
They demanded that the Indian government take up the issue with the Malaysian government and ensure protection of Indian ethnic minorities.
 
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee disapproved of the motions, and ordered some of the members' remarks expunged from the record.
 
"We are a very responsible democracy," he said. "We don't discuss any other country in such a manner."
 
But Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K.Rahman Khan said India 's external affairs minister would be informed of the sentiments of the lawmakers. - dpa

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Nov 30 2007

gcc handover complaint to suhakam

Posted by poobalan under BornInMalaysia, Indian | View blog reactions



Police slammed for 'racial stance'
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/75519
Andrew Ong
Nov 30, 07 4:49pm

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) should come out to condemn acts of racial profiling by the government and the authorities, said a lobby group. 

The Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), lodging a complaint about an incident in , Selayang, last Sunday, said these acts occurred when:

• Almost 100 people were charged in court in connection with the Hindu Rights Action Force () rally in Kuala Lumpur; and 

• Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz referred to rally participants as penyangak (crooks). 

GCC representative M Manohar told Suhakam commissioner Prof Khoo Kay Kim today that the police had been selective in their actions, by remanding and charging supporters but not those who attended the Bersih rally two weeks before.

Manohar said he believed this was racially motivated because the Bersih rally participants were mostly Malays, while the those at the were mainly Indians.

“Suhakam must find out why no one was remanded or charged over the Bersih rally… we believe there is some racial element involved,” he said.

More than 40,000 people took part in the Bersih (Coalition for Free and Fair Elections) rally on Nov 10. About 200 people were arrested but have not been charged to date.

During the rally in Kuala Lumpur, almost 400 people were arrested and 88 were charged for various offences on Wednesday. 

On Nazri’s penyangak remark, another GCC representative Charles Santiago told Khoo that such acts were unacceptable and unbecoming of a minister.

“Such sinister attempts at racial profiling of a disadvantaged minority community as ‘violent people’ speaks volumes of the failure of race-based politics in Malaysia,” he said.

He also urged Suhakam to issue a written condemnation of Nazri’s remark.

Photo evidence

GCC’s complaint letter was officially handed over to Khoo by several of those who said they were affected in the incident.

Their allegations encompassed alleged use of excessive force by the police to disperse the crowd that had gathered there on Sunday morning, several hours ahead of the rally in the city centre.

Santiago used a series of photographs to show Khoo how the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) had fired tear gas and used water cannon against those caught within the compound.

One photograph depicted several FRU members inside the compound - the site of one of the holiest Hindu shrines in Malaysia.

Santiago said the FRU had entered the compound and assaulted people, including those who were there to perform prayers in conjunction with the holy of Karthikai.

One victim, K Ramesh, said he and his family members had just finished performing their prayers, when the FRU struck.

“They came in and arrested me and my brother. One of them pushed my mother and she fell,” he claimed, adding that he was forced to surrender his identity card and it was not given back.

Another eyewitness, G Ashok Kumar ( photo), 47, told Khoo that he was with another group in intending to proceed to KLCC for the rally.

He said the police locked the main entrance to the compound at about 4.30am, forcing many in the crowd to sit near the gate.

Ashok said several of them were arrested as they tried to leave the compound, and that some angry people then hurled projectiles at the police.

“After that, they just kept on pumping tear gas inside… (the police said) there was no body contact. That was absolutely rubbish. There was lots of body contact (when people tried to flee),” he said.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan has steadfastly maintained that there was “no body contact” between the police and the crowd.

Approached for comments later, Khoo (photo) skirted a question on whether he felt there were human rights violations during the incident.

“From what that has been conveyed, there appears to be a question to be addressed with regard to the interpretation of the law,” said Khoo.

The upcoming commission meeting on Dec 10 will decide the next course of action based on complaints in hand.

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Nov 30 2007

hindraf did not approach unity panel says ongkili

Posted by poobalan under BornInMalaysia, Indian | View blog reactions



Ongkili: didn't approach unity advisory panel

source

PUTRAJAYA: Disgruntled group has never approached the National Unity Advisory Panel over its grouses. 

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said neither the panel, which was set up to hear grouses from Malaysians in the country, nor the Parliamentary Select Committee on National Unity and National Service that he chaired, had ever heard anything from . 

“We have had 250 groups from a diverse range of backgrounds approaching us and submitting some 600 memoranda and proposals on their grouses. 

has never tried to make an appointment to meet up with the panel or the committee. 

“We will welcome any proposal from them,” he told reporters after a dialogue with Federal CID director Datuk Christopher Wan and Malaysian Prevention Foundation members at his office here Friday. 

Dr Ongkili said groups should use only legal means to express their unhappiness. Resorting to illegal avenues such as rallies would only raise suspicions that they had other motives and intentions, he added. 

As the minister in charge of national unity and integration, Dr Ongkili also said he had also been informed that his officers had attended some of ’s functions. 

“They have gone to the grassroots to listen in during some of the meetings and they have reported to us that this group is intent on creating violence,” he said, urging all Malaysians to help preserve the country’s stability. 

“Our officers as well as the 3,600 Rukun Tetangga members are monitoring the situation,” he said.

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