Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email As revealed by Malaysiakini earlier, Kedah’s Bukit Selambau state assemblyman Arumugam (PKR) has resigned. There were some confusion earlier, with some claims that he resigned from his EXCO post only. Arumugam has gone missing but his resignation letter has been submitted. So, looks like sole Indian rep in Kedah is no more. Will PKR submit another Indian candidate?
Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak today announced that exco member V Arumugam has stepped down as the state assemblyperson for Bukit Selambau, necessitating in a by-election in next 60 days.
“With regret I would like to announce that Arumugam has resigned as the Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson with immediate effect,” he told reporters at his official residence in Alor Star.
Azizan said that he received Arumugam’s resignation letter dated Feb 8 at 5pm today.
He also said that a copy of the letter was also handed over to state assembly speaker Abd Isa Ismail, who will now have to declare the seat vacant and inform the Election Commission to call for a by-election.
This was Azizan’s second announcement in regards to Arumugam.
Earlier today, the menteri besar had said that Arumugam had relinquished his post as the exco member but will continue as Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson.
Arumugam was in charge of trade, consumer affairs, welfare of the estate workers and Indian community affairs.
He was an independent candidate who joined the PKR after the general election.
Meanwhile, there are allegations that he was the EXCO involved in a bigamy or adultery case as reported by Malaysian Insider. Buletin TV3 also reported on the public sending complaint to Kedah Sultan over their immoral act of their assemblyman, but no name was mentioned. The report said that the ADUN even bought his other woman to the Sultan’s function.
Azizan said that an aide of Arumugam told him that the Bukit Selambau assemblyman was relinquishing the post due to personal reasons and not because of Pas leadership.
Arumugam, 55, a retired Royal Malaysia Airforce mechanic, contested in the 12th general election last year as an Independent candidate.
He won the Bukit Selambau seat, defeating Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate S. Krishnan with a majority of 7,695 votes. He emerged at the last minute as the Independent candidate when the Returning Officer rejected the nomination papers of Saiful Izham Ramli of PKR on technical grounds.
Arumugam later joined the PKR and was appointed a state executive council member.
Recently, a group of people claiming to be representing 500 residents of Taman Ria in Sungai Petani submitted a petition to the Sultan of Kedah claiming that a state executive councillor was involved in an affair with a woman.
Arumugam earlier claimed he was under pressure to join BN with threats of kidnapping and bribery. However, my feeling is that no one quits due to pressure or threats. Admittedly, he was an independent candidate who joined PKR after winning, but I suspect the allegations against him may be the real reason. Its a crime to have two wives (if the allegations are true).
Whatever it is, we have a by-election in Kedah.
poobalan wrote:
Poobalan, you are ignorant in the law and thus put your foot into your mouth! Its *not* a crime to take two “wives” (aka mistresses) but it is a crime if you _register_ more than 1 civil marriage with the National Registration Department (NRD).
Consult a lawyer, such as Karpal Singh and he will tel you there is a BIG difference between registered wives and unregistered “wives”. I do not think the Kedah Indian assemblyman broke any law but social pressure by the Islamofascist PAS is why he resigned. Islamofascists hate non Muslims particularly Hindus to take more than one “wife” (aka mistresses).
I am a Mormon Christian lawyer and I have 3 “wives” (properly mistresses) and I never registered them with the government, and nobody dares to arrest me as I have not broken any laws. If anyone accuses me of bigamy, I will sue him for slander/libel, as bigamy is properly the act of _registering_ more than 1 marriage. Taking mistresses and calling these mistresses wives is by no way haram (illegal).
Hi,
Thank you for the correction. I agree with what you have mentioned. The second and subsequent “wives” are not recognized under civil marriage laws. That’s what i meant in my original post when I said “wives”. I apologize for the confusion.
Poobalan,
Even if the second and subsequent “wives” are not recognised under civil marriage laws, it is perfectly legal for any non Muslim to keep mistresses. This is because firstly the law states that there is no penalty such as khalwat and zina for non Muslims, and secondly, it is moral and ethical from an Indian cultural perspective (since ‘mistresses’ do not differ much from wives, and can be called ‘unregistered wives’).
Now, I suspect Arumugam was FORCED to resign by the evil Kedah MB Azizan because Islam considered his act as “immoral” under Sharia, and thus MB Azizan the way which forced him to resign is an act to impose Sharia values upon Indians. This is immoral as it means we must become Malay Muslims. The Indians believe taking mistresses is not immoral, nor unethnical, but permitted by their religion as a means for pro-creation and family life and even international human rights law.
Thus, I believe Indians in this state seat must protest against PAS by voting for Barisan Nasional. So, I will be going there next week to campaign for Barisan Nasional as we need a strong, Indian opposition leader in Kedah as presently most opposition are from UMNO. Do you want to join me?
obviously, the wives who are not registered legally have less rights, no? You also mention “Indian”, but this group consists of Hindus, Christians of various denominations, Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims, Baha’is and atheists. Thus each will have religious obligations which supersedes culture. So, even if one does not legally register his wife, he still have to fulfill his religion’s requirements. You said you are a Mormon and its perfectly alright to have more than one wives. But what about Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics etc? I’m Indian and I believe taking a mistress is immoral and ethical. Does that mean I’m not an Indian? In fact, I dare say many Indians abhor the idea of having mistresses. Perhaps we are all not proper Indians?Please refer to latest news from Malaysiakini on who threatened Arumugam: http://poobalan.com/blog/indian/2009/02/10/arumugam-threatened-by-makkal-sakthi