{"id":2425,"date":"2008-10-07T13:09:05","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T05:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/others\/2008\/10\/07\/pm-badawi-comments-on-hindraf-open-house-visit\/"},"modified":"2008-10-07T13:14:34","modified_gmt":"2008-10-07T05:14:34","slug":"pm-badawi-comments-on-hindraf-open-house-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/indian\/2008\/10\/07\/pm-badawi-comments-on-hindraf-open-house-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Badawi comments on HINDRAF open house visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finally, PM Badawi tells his version of the HINDRAF Raya open house visit<\/a>. He was gracious enough to allow them in as he thought they wanted to wish him and the other ministers but was disappointed that their intention was not so. He said the group did not wish him “Selamat Hari Raya” except for one person. The others told him to release HINDRAF ISA detainees and repeal the ISA. According to the Star<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Relating the incident to reporters, he said the police and security personnel who initially denied the Hindraf group access, sought clearance from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI discussed it with (Deputy Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and the other ministers. In that spirit I told the security team to allow them in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came in and there was a lot of noise, I don\u2019t know why,\u201d said Abdullah, who was at the time welcoming visitors to the open house with his wife Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, Najib and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard very clearly \u2018Hapuskan ISA, Lepaskan Hindraf\u2019 (Repeal the ISA, Release the Hindraf detainees),\u201d he said, adding that he did not know if another group of 70 people who arrived later had wished anyone as he had left for prayers by then.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Earlier, the Star published this version<\/a> online (extracts only):<\/p>\n

Abdullah said the police and security personnel, who had initially denied the Hindraf group access, sought clearance from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI discussed it with (his deputy) Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and the other ministers. My view was that they wanted to come to the open house, which is open to all and we do not stop any group from coming to wish us and join other guests. \u201cWe even welcomed non-Malaysians who came in huge numbers. In that spirit I told the security people to ask them to come in. But they came in and there was a lot of noise, I don\u2019t know why,\u201d Abdullah said on Monday.<\/p>\n

Abdullah said those around him pointed out that none of the Hindraf supporters had wished him Selamat Hari Raya.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest I heard very clearly \u2013 \u2018Hapuskan ISA, Lepaskan Hindraf; Hapuskan ISA, Lepaskan Hindraf\u2019 (Repeal the ISA, Release the Hindraf detainees). That was all they wanted to say to me. They did not have the spirit of Hari Raya, to enjoy and join in the celebration,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this one has created a lot of unhappiness to many people,\u201d he said, adding he was told that when he went for prayers in between, another group of about 70 people were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not present, if they were some among the 70 who wished Selamat Hari Raya, I wouldn\u2019t know. But when I was there and this happened, nobody was interested to wish Selamat Hari Raya.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them even skipped my ministers. Even Datuk Seri Najib, some of them skipped also,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To a question he said no action was being planned against the group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The NST quoted him as being disappointed <\/a>with the HINDRAF members:<\/p>\n

The prime minister said except for one Hindraf member, none of them conveyed Hari Raya wishes to him or his cabinet colleagues.<\/p>\n

“No Raya wishes at all. Instead, they were saying things like ‘Hapuskan ISA (abolish ISA)’ and ‘Lepaskan Hindraf (release Hindraf detainees)’. I was very disappointed.”<\/p>\n

Abdullah said he had given clearance for the group to enter the hall at the Putra World Trade Centre in the spirit of Aidilfitri.<\/p>\n

“Our open house is for everyone and we do not stop anyone from attending.”<\/p>\n

He said except for the morning prayers, the festivities had become a national celebration.<\/p>\n

“We have thousands of guests and usually there are no problems. But this one has created a lot of unhappiness.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While yesterday online version quotes from NST<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly one of them said \u2019Selamat Hari Raya\u2019 (greetings) to me. The rest said \u2019Abolish ISA\u2019 (Internal Security Act) and \u2019Free the Hindraf Leaders\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was I who allowed them to attend, in the spirit of Hari Raya,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The prime minister said he believed that the open house was for everyone and that no one should be prohibited from attending it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should I prevent any Malaysian group from coming to the open house. Even non-Malaysians came in huge numbers,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

more quotes from Malaysiakini<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel disappointed, actually,\u201d he told a press conference after chairing a meeting with members of the International Advisory Panel to the Malaysia Biotechnology Corporation at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t prevent any group from coming to our open house, to wish Selamat Hari Raya, and to mix with other guests. This is the spirit of Hari Raya,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should I prevent Malaysians from coming to our open house? It\u2019s open for everybody, even tourists and non-Malaysians who came in big numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he said the activists\u2019 entry into the hall where the main reception was held was accompanied by \u201ca lot of noise\u201d, due in part to their sloganeering over the Internal Security Act (ISA) and demands for the release of their leaders currently being detained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I was told by someone who was observing … behind me, was \u2018Pak Lah, did you realise that only one of them said Selamat Hari Raya to you?\u2019,\u201d said Abdullah, adding that they had failed to shake hands even with other cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest (of their words), which I heard very clearly, was, \u2018Abolish the ISA! Free the Hindraf! Abolish the ISA! Free the Hindraf!\u2019 That\u2019s all they wanted to tell me. This is not the spirit of Hari Raya, where you wish (Selamat) Hari Raya, are happy and have fun and socialise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdullah said the Hindraf crowd created \u201ca lot of unhappiness to a lot of people who were around\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said, however, that \u201cthere is no report (to warrant) severe action\u201d against the activists for their conduct.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finally, PM Badawi tells his version of the HINDRAF Raya open house visit. He was gracious enough to allow them in as he thought they wanted to wish him and the other ministers but was disappointed that their intention was not so. He said the group did not wish him “Selamat Hari Raya” except for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[65,21,133,225,27],"class_list":["post-2425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-indian","tag-festival","tag-hindraf","tag-isa","tag-politicians","tag-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poobalan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}