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30,000 Hindraf protesters rally in KL streets

November 25th, 2007
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30,000 Hindraf protesters rally in KL streets
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/75250
Nov 25, 07 10:22am

About 30,000 protesters demonstrated under the shadows of Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Twin Towers after their efforts to petition the British High Commission was thwarted by the police with tear gas and chemical-laced water cannon.

The protesters had attempted to gather outside the high commission early this morning but thousands were pushed back by the riot police to outside a two-kilometre radius of the venue.

Crowds quickly grew at various points in the city, and were blocked by police and Federal Reserve Unit officers.

At its height, there is an estimated 30,000 people scattered over a number of areas in the vicinty of the high commission.

An estimated 10,000 gathered along Jalan Ampang, near Hotel Maya, with a further 5,000 on Jalan P Ramlee just before Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).

Another 10,000 demonstraters were at the Jalan Tun Razak-Jalan Ampang interchange.

About 5,000 people were stopped at the Jalan Ampang and Middle-Ring-Road intersection.

The protesters – a mix of young and old Indian Malaysians – seemed to have come from all over the country.

At about 10am, the crowd along Jalan Ampang, near Hotel Maya, were addressed with loudhailers by Hindraf leaders, including P Uthayakumar. PKR information chief Tian Chua and DAP leader Ronnie Liu also addressed the rally.

, the Hindraf leaders ended their speeches. But thousands of protesters continue to mill around the KLCC areas playing a cat-and-mouse game with the police water cannon.

However at 11am, the crowd has moved from KLCC to edge closer to the British High Commission. Thousands faced off riot police at the key Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak intersection near Ampang Park. 

At 1pm, after negotiations with the police, Uthayakumar arrived to give a short speech and urged the crowd to disperse peacefully. The crowd was seen walking back down towards Jalan Sultan Ismail, away from the British High Commission. 

'This is outrageous'

Hindraf leader A Sivanesan condemned the police for turning Kuala Lumpur into a war zone.

"Things are getting out of hand. We blame the police. They have beaten women and children. This is outrageous," he told Malaysiakini.

Lawyer Haris Ibrahim, a member of the Bar Council monitoring team, was stunned by the heavy-handed police action against the protesters.

"I'm not happy with the way the police are handling the crowd,' he said. 

DAP member of parliament M Kulasegaran was also upset with the crackdown.

"Over the last 50 years Indian have been marginalised in this country. And we now want the same rights as enjoyed by other communities," he told AFP.

"They have no right to stop us from protesting today. This is the will of the people," he added.

Petition to Queen Elizabeth II

The planned protest is to support a US$4-trillion (RM14-trillion) lawsuit by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) against Malaysia's former colonial power for bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured labourers and exploiting them for 150 years.

Furthermore, the suit sought a declaration that the Reid Commission Report 1957 failed to incorporate the rights of the Indian community when independence was granted, resulting in discrimination and marginalisation to this day.

The quantum being sought is about US$2 million for every Indian currently residing in Malaysia.

Following the filing of the suit, Hindraf held nationwide roadshows explaining to grassroots about the case.

Coupled with their work to prevent rampant state-sanctioned demolition of Hindu temples, Hindraf won over a wave of support for their cause.

Today's memorandum was to petition Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen's counsel to argue the case on their behalf.

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A Gandhi-inspired mass civil disobedience

November 25th, 2007
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A Gandhi-inspired mass civil disobedience
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/75259
Andrew Ong
Nov 25, 07 5:38pm

Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar, has declared the movement’s rally today “a success” despite not being able to hand a petition to the British High Commission.

In addressing one of the last large group of Hindraf supporters to disperse from the rally, Uthayakumar, who is Hindraf’s most recognisable face, said the Indians had succeeded in sending their message regardless of the status of the petition.

“Despite the police attempts to torture us, we still manage to gather peacefully as united Indians. We have succeeded, the police have failed,” he told a crowd of nearly 2,000 supporters who clap and cheered whenever he finished a sentence.

Tear gas and chemical-laced water were fired on Hindraf supporters who defied police orders to disperse from the banned rally for nearly six hours.

Crowds comprising of Indians from all over the country have gathered today in support of a class-action suit against the British government for bringing the Indians here as indentured labourers.

Many observers have noted that the petition part of a new movement aimed at empowering the Indian community – the third largest yet among the poorest ethnic groups in Malaysia – in giving a voice to their discontent. 

Emulating Gandhi

Numerous Hindraf supporters wore saffron headband or T-shirts. Dozens more were wearing a portrait of Indian independence activist and pacifist, Mahatma Gandhi.

Like Gandhi, the Hindraf supporters were out to show mass civil disobedience and it was prominently shown by a crowd of almost 5,000 near the Hotel Maya at Jalan Ampang.

For at least five times, the crowd would run helter-skelter at each ‘water canon charge’, only to defiantly claim back their original positions, chanting “We want justice!” in both Tamil and English.

A Tamachelvy, from Klang, told Malaysiakini that she, along with her 60-year-old father, attended this rally after hearing about the spate of Hindu temple demolitions.

“We felt very hurt after watching VCDs about how the government would destroy our temples. We are Malaysians but our government treats us like foreigners,” she said.

Tamachelvy, like many other Hindraf supporters, said that the government ban on the rally was unjust, as they have limited means to collectively voice their grievances.

IGP: Police exercise restraint

Meanwhile, in some instances the police appeared to exercise their duties with obvious signs of restraint, when compared to the many past brutal crackdowns on public dissent.

At about 8am today, police issued repeated warnings to a group of roughly 2,000 Hindraf supporters who had gathered near Plaza Ampang along Jalan Tun Razak, a stone’s throw away from the British High Commission.

Each of these warnings went unheeded, resulting in the crowd being showered twice with water.

But when a third warning was ignored as well, the police fired streams of chemical-laced water at the protestors – many of them seated – before sending in plainclothes police personnel to arrest several dozen Hindraf supporters.

In addition, tear gas were liberally used by the police and often with prior warning given. 

However, inspector-general of police Musa Hassan told Al Jazeera in a live telephone interview that the police had exercise restraint in controlling the crowd.

“We were restraining ourselves not to use force. There was no body contact,” said Musa, who was heavily rumoured to have overseen police operations in a helicopter.

More than 400 detained

It is believed that the police – a Muslim-Malay majority outfit – had intentionally restrained themselves to avoid turning the event into a racial clash.

Unlike previous demonstrations, media personnel also expressed appreciation over the police’s directive specifically for the media to get out of harm’s way when they take action.

According to the Bar Council team of observers, police detained more than 400 people during the rally today.

Lawyer Edmund Bon told Malaysiakini that more than 400 people are being detained at the Jalan Semarak police academy (Pulapol) while at estimated 69 others are detained at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters.

“(At about 3.30pm) they finally allowed us in at Pulapol to see the detainees. The police have promised to feed the detainees and release all of them this evening,” he said.

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Hindraf says just give us an hour to hand petition

November 25th, 2007
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Hindraf: Just give us an hour to hand petition

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) will go ahead with its gathering today and has asked to be given “one hour maximum” to hand over its petition to the British High Commission. 

A. Sivanesan, one of the lawyers representing the three Hindraf members who were charged with sedition at the Klang Sessions Court on Friday, said the gathering would go ahead as planned. 

He noted that on Friday, a huge crowd had gathered in Klang outside the court and made its way to the Sri Rajeshwari temple a kilometre away and “not a single flower pot was damaged.” 

“The Government need not fear. It is an orderly crowd,” he said of today’s planned gathering. 

“It is away from the city and 60% of the shops in that area are closed on Sunday. We are not going to be a nuisance to the people,” he added.  

Sivanesan believes the police had overreacted by having roadblocks all over the city. 

“The duty of the police should be to control the traffic – nothing more than that. 

“Just give us a chance. It will be an hour maximum. We will hand over the petition to the British High Commission, speak to the crowd, and then we will go back,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the five lawyers who were served a restraining order on Friday morning barring them from organising or participating in the rally have asked for an immediate hearing to appeal against it. 

The five – P. Waythamoorthy, P. Uthayakumar, V. S. Ganapathi Rao, R. Kenghadran and M. Manoharan – faxed 10 copies of their notice to the Kuala Lumpur High Court. 

Waythamoorthy, Uthayakumar and Ganapathi Rao were charged with sedition later that day. 

The law firm, which applied for the notice of appeal, said the five were dissatisfied with the magistrate’s court decision to issue the court order against them. 

They asked the court for immediate decision in view of the fact that the planned gathering was today. The courts are closed on weekends.

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Shouting match in court at hindraf organisers case

November 24th, 2007
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Shouting match in court
By : Rita Jong

Federal Reserve Unit personnel keeping a crowd of about 2,000 people under control outside the court.

KLANG: Three lawyers, said to be key players in the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), were charged yesterday with inciting racial hatred.

P. Waytha Moorthy.
P. Uthayakumar (left) and V. Ganabatirau.

Hindraf is the organiser of a planned gathering in front of the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. Police have refused permission for the rally for fear of public disorder.

P. Uthayakumar, 46, his brother P. Waytha Moorthy, 41, and V. Ganabatirau, 34, claimed trial to inciting a crowd through speeches in Tamil at a restaurant in Batang Berjuntai on Nov 16.

The three were brought under heavy police escort to the court at 4.20pm with a large group of supporters in tow.

From the onset of the proceedings, there was controversy as the lawyers representing the three, M. Manoharan, A. Sivanesan and R. Kenghadaran, objected to the charge, claiming it was flawed.

Manoharan said the charge was incomplete as the original copy of the alleged seditious speech, which was in Tamil, was not attached to the translated copy.

Deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff told the judge that the translation had been certified by a police officer, but it had yet to be verified by an independent party.

At this juncture, Manoharan interjected, saying the charge was not clear and that prosecution was not ready to charge the three.

Judge Zunaidah Mohd Idris agreed that the original copy of the speech should have been attached to the translated text and said the prosecution should have also identified the words which were deemed seditious.

Manoharan then urged the court to discharge his clients based on the groundless charge.

He said under the Sedition Act, it was an offence to incite ill-feelings. In this case, he said the three accused were simply pointing out errors by the government.

Zunaidah: I do not want to go into the facts of the case. The charges are not purely groundless, let the prosecution do the necessary to the charge.

Manoharan: The court should not fix another date for the DPP to correct the charge. Grant them a discharge. The prosecution can bring them again on Monday with the proper charge. Why the hurry to charge the lawyers? They are not going to run anywhere.

Zunaidah agreed that the charge was general, adding that it would be difficult for the accused to answer. She then fixed Monday for mention.

When bail was proposed at RM10,000, Manoharan stood up again and said: "It is ridiculous enough that they are bringing an incomplete charge against my clients, now they are asking for RM10,000?

"There is no way they can post bail. Since Monday is fixed for mention, the court should fix then to submit on bail."

Manoharan also alleged that the clients were brought to court late on purpose so that they would not be able to raise bail and thus left in remand over the weekend.

"This was done in bad faith," he said.

It was then that a shouting match broke out.

Ishak stood up and told Manoharan to shut up and stop throwing accusations at the prosecution.

Kenghadaran lunged at Ishak and had to be restrained by the other lawyers.

"We are the ones struggling. How dare you, you shut up," he yelled at Ishak who then told him to stop pointing fingers.

Zunaidah had enough and told everyone to sit down. "We are here to carry out our duty. The prosecution is here following orders to charge your clients. I want this to be a fair trial. Do not put emotions into this."

But the court, she said, could not release the three accused without imposing bail.

"Since it's already 6pm, I will allow the three accused RM800 bail each. The bail is to be settled by cash to the court, who will hold the amount until Monday," she said.

Uthayakumar and Ganabatirau posted bail, but Waytha Moorthy refused as a mark of protest. He was sent to the Sungai Buloh prison where he has threatened to go on hunger strike.

The charge:

P. Waytha Moorthy, P. Uthayakumar and V. Ganabatirau were charged with uttering seditious words in Tamil during a speech at Restaurant Yun He, Lot 293, Sungai Rambai, Jalan Batang Berjuntai in Kuala Selangor between 8.30pm and 11.15pm on Nov 16.

They were charged under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 (Revised 1969), which states that anyone who utters any seditious words shall be liable to a maximum RM5,000 fine or three years’ jail.

The seditious tendency includes inciting racial hatred and bringing the Government and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong into contempt.

It applies to an act, speech, words, or publication. It includes any phrase, sentence, or combination of words, oral or written.

Timeline:

• 7.30am — Hindraf legal adviser P. Uthayakumar woken up at his home in Bangsar by a chief inspector and six plainclothes policemen with magistrate's court order not to attend the rally.

• 10.30am — Five police officers from Selangor police headquarters arrest Uthayakumar at his Menara Mutiara Bangsar office under the Sedition Act. He is taken to the headquarters in Shah Alam.

• 2.45pm — V. Ganabatirau is arrested when he goes to the Selangor police headquarters to see Uthayakumar.

• 3pm — P. Waytha Moorthy arrested at Shah Alam toll plaza and taken to Selangor police headquarters in Shah Alam.

• 4.45pm — Trio charged at the Klang Sessions court.

• 6pm — Bail of RM800 is objected to by Waytha Moorthy, who says he wants to remain in custody as a sign of protest. He insists on being handcuffed on the way out of court. Request granted.

• 6.30pm — Uthayakumar, Ganabatirau, A. Sivanesan and M. Manoharan left the court. They are carried on the shoulders by supporters. Procession starts at the foothill of court at Jalan Datuk Hamzah and snaked through Klang town. Traffic came to standstill.

• 6.30pm — Waytha Moorthy driven away to Sungai Buloh prison in Proton Waja.

• 6.45pm — Scuffle broke out between supporters and FRU near the junction of Jalan Datuk Hamzah, but order restored peacefully without any arrest.

• 7pm — Procession arrived at Padang Chetty which is behind the Klang district police headquarters, and 750 metres away from the court.

• 7-7.20pm — All four gave speeches and explained what happened in court.

• 7.20pm — A press conference was held outside the Sri Thandayathapani Hindu temple which is adjacent to Padang Chetty.

• 7.30pm — All four entered temple and prayed before leaving.

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No support for Hindraf rally from MIC and 25 NGOs

November 24th, 2007
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Cancel march, urge Indian groups

source

KUALA LUMPUR: Community leaders from 25 leading Indian associations have backed MIC’s call for tomorrow's Hindraf march to the British High Commission to be cancelled because there are too many political, economic and social concerns at stake. 

“Investors are watching us closely, and if they do not have good vibes about this country, they will shift their attention elsewhere. 

“The country and its people stand to lose tremendously. If the intention is sincere, just get a few men to hand over the memorandum to the High Commission,” said Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry public relations and publicity chairman K. Ramesh. 

Media statement: Saravanan speaking during the press conference at the MIC office in Kuala Lumpur Friday.

Ramesh was one of 25 community leaders present at a press conference yesterday at the MIC office called by party information chief Datuk M. Savaranan to protest the gathering. 

Saravanan said calling off the gathering was the best approach to prevent any untoward incident. 

Like Ramesh, Saravanan questioned the motive behind the gathering. 

“The High Commission is not even open on Sunday, so why plan the march on a rest day?” he asked. 

Malaysia Hindu Sangam national central council member C.M. Kopalan said the MIC and the Government had helped to fund, build, repair as well as settle relocation and land issues for temples nationwide. 

Malaysia Punjabi Chambers president Datuk Daljit Singh said the group would not support any gathering with a hidden agenda to foster ill will. 

The leaders said they would advise their 500,000-odd members to steer clear of the gathering. 

In Putrajaya, Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the “silent majority” should make itself heard and stand up to people with their own agenda. 

He said racial and religious sentiments made for a dangerous cocktail that could spell disaster. He also cautioned Umno Youth members to remain calm. 

In Kangar, Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail advised the people not to join any illegal assembly.

No support for Hindraf rally from MIC, 25 NGOs
By : K. Harinderan

Representatives from 25 Klang Valley Indian NGOs voicing their opposition to the Hindraf rally yesterday at a press conference convened by Federal Territory MIC chairman and national information chief Datuk M. Saravanan (front row, third from left).

KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty-five Indian non-governmental organisations here deny that they will support the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally tomorrow.

Federal Territory MIC chairman and national information chief Datuk M. Saravanan said: "Hindraf's claims are baseless and the Indians here will not support the gathering.

"As Malaysians, we have lived in peace and street protests are not a part of our culture.

"I urge the parties to discuss and resolve the matter. History has shown that demonstrations always end in violence."

Saravanan was speaking yesterday at a press conference convened by the MIC and the NGOs, which claim to represent 500,000 Indians in the Klang Valley.

Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry vice-president for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Ramesh Kodammal, said demonstrations would affect the business community and, on a greater scale, the image of the country.

Malaysian Punjabi Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Datuk Daljit Singh Dalliwal said: "Our message is clear, we support the Barisan Nasional government and do not support any element that goes against the peace and economic viability of the country."

The Hindraf rally outside the British High Commission is in support of a class-action suit against the British government for bringing Indians to Malaya as indentured workers, for exploiting them for 150 years, and for failing to protect their rights as a minority in the Federal Constitution when independence was granted.

The group is seeking STG4 trillion (RM27.7 trillion) in damages in a suit filed in Britain on Aug 30. They plan to petition Queen Elizabeth II for a Queen's Counsel to argue their case

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