Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy has taken Malay daily

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy has taken Malay daily MCPX Utusan Malaysia and television station TV3 to task over their 'biased and invalidated' reporting. In a statement today, he said: "This was a clear to invoke racial tension." He was responding to reports regarding Hindraf's visit to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's open house at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday. "The visit has been demonised and given the impression that a criminal act was committed and Islam insulted. "It is indeed shocking that federal ministers, senior professors and government officials do not have the intelligence to differentiate between a memorandum and greeting card," he said. Waytamoorthy, who is currently in self-exile in London, also noted that Hindraf's previous pleas for a dialogue with the prime minister have fallen on deaf ears. "The open house is the only day in the year a commoner could make the acquaintance of the PM personally and Hindraf took the liberty to send a clear message- release all prisoners held unjustly without trial in spirit of forgiveness," he said. Reveal photos and videos The Hindraf chief also slammed Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar for interpreting the event as an insult to Islam. "We challenge Utusan (Malaysia) and TV3 to make public their photographs and video recordings to prove that Hindraf supporters behaved in an inappropriate manner. "To the contrary we have evidence that the PM and his deputy were all smiles and accepted the greetings and card with an open heart," he added. Last December, five Hindraf leaders were detained under the Internal Security Act several weeks after they had organised a mammoth street protest in Kuala Lumpur. They remain incarcerated without trial at the Kamunting Detention Centre. Meanwhile, Waythamoorthy said the Umno-led government failed to realise that Malaysians were at a different wavelength now and could judge for themselves what truth, justice and equality means. "Utusan Malaysia and TV3 can continue to act as an apparatus of the ruling government with their inept propaganda, but they fail to comprehend that most Malaysians are equipped with their own resources without any real need for their ultra bias commentary," he added. Legal action On Saturday, Hindraf coordinator RS Thanenthiran said the movement would initiate legal action against Utusan Malaysia over its reports. According to him, Hindraf was disturbed by the reports which he claimed were 'tainted by lies and distorted facts.' He said the Utusan Malaysia front page report under the headline – 'Hindraf Keterlaluan' (Extreme Hindraf) was unfair and communal, and seemed to suggest that the movement was made of extremists out to disrupt Muslim festivals and pour scorn on Islam. Criticising another article - Baharom Mahusin's commentary in the same edition, Thanenthiran said the writer was unfair, attempted to incite racial hatred and instigate communal conflict. Among others, Baharom had penned that 'kalau penyokong Hindraf melakukan penghinaan seumpama itu di kawasan-kawasan pendalaman yang menjadi kampung halaman orang Melayu, mereka sudah pun diajar tentang makna dan akibat berperangai kurang ajar.' (If Hindraf supporters poured such insults in the interior areas dominated by Malays, they would have been taught a lesson on the meaning and consequence of misbehaviour.) Hindraf-bashing 'politically motivated'

Andrew Ong | Oct 8, 08 5:11pm

A Malay-language daily's continuing condemnation of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) is politically motivated, claimed coordinator RS Thanenthiran. Utusan Malaysia today front-paged calls for action against Hindraf supporters who were allegedly unruly at the ministerial Hari Raya 'open house' last Wednesday at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. The report entitled 'Tegas tangani Hindraf' (Deal firmly with Hindraf) quoted several individuals who called on the government to take action. Reacting to this, Thanenthiran said: "Umno elections are around the corner. Now, they are condemning Hindraf to get Malay support...(Utusan) is trying to please its political owners." He claimed that the daily did not present a true picture of what transpired at the event and did not contacted Hindraf representatives for clarification either. Information coordinator S Jayathas said photographs of the event would be sufficient to prove that the movement's supporters had not misbehaved. "They should go to our website and see the photos. These show very clearly that everything was done in a peaceful way. It is not our culture to create havoc in other people's house," he said. On suggestions in the Utusan report that Hindraf was being rude to the Malays and Islam, Jayathas said it was a non-issue because the movement merely used the opportunity to ask Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA). "How can they say that we are racist? In what way? We are just asking for the ISA to be abolished," he said. When they eventually met Abdullah on Oct 1, Hindraf activists presented him with a teddy bear and a Hari Raya card which contained their plea for abolition of the ISA. 'Absurd suggestion' Defending the activists, Hindraf legal advisor N Surendran, alleged that it was the police who had acted in an unruly manner that day. "They were intimidating and threatening to arrest people who came to participate in the 'open house'. They (initially) prevented the Hindraf supporters from entering the venue. "One even asked P Waythamoothy's (Hindraf chairperson-in-exile) wife to remove her t-shirt (which carried a Hindraf logo)," he said. Surendran said Hindraf has become the victim of a harsh campaign to incite hatred against the movement and Indian Malaysians. "They creating something out of absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing violent happen during 'open house' (at) an open venue. Nothing wrong with that in a democracy," he said. On Home Ministry secretary-general Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof's suggestion that Hindraf be 'banned', Surendran said that the statement was "absurd" and without justification. "(Hindraf) is not a terrorist or armed movement. It is a mass movement of citizens calling for social improvement - not just for Indians, but all marginalised communities," he added. Although Hindraf is not a registered body, Surendran argued that the movement exists by virtue of Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees the right to freedom of association. Hindraf Raya visit: 'Stop whining' Oct 8, 08 11:47am DAP parliamentarian Charles Santiago today called on political leaders to stop whining about Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders and supporters being present at the premier's Hari Raya open house last week. The opposition politician also found it amusing that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - who holds the top job in the country - is disappointed that a group of people approached him to request for the release of the Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees during the open house. "But when the prime minister laments that Hindraf supporters failed to shake hands and extend Hari Raya greetings to him and his cabinet colleagues, he sounds downright pathetic. "Abdullah needs to understand that the action of Hindraf activists is part of the democratic process. He must also be educated that the chanting of slogans by Hindraf supporters is all about the freedom of expression, which is in short supply in Malaysia," he said in a statement today. Santiago also took a swipe at MIC president S Samy Vellu who expressed concerned that the activists had undermined his efforts to secure the release of the ISA-detained Hindraf leaders. "Instead of being an apologist for Abdullah and his government, Samy Vellu should gather enough courage to demand for the repeal of the ISA which allows for indefinite detention without trial, following the examples of MCA, Gerakan and the PPP," he said. 'Not an Indian issue' Human Resources Minister and MIC secretary-general deputy minister Dr S Subramaniam had also irked the Klang MP by saying that the presence of Hindraf members at the open house went against Indian culture. "This is an absolutely ridiculous assertion, more so as it comes from a smart man like Subramaniam. Since when does fighting for basic rights and liberties violate any culture?" he asked. Santiago then turned his attention to independent MP Ibrahim Ali, who had threatened to protest over the Hindraf visit. "Maybe he does not realise that resorting to the ancient tactic of racial politics has no place in Malaysia anymore. "I urge Ibrahim to stop seeing the detention of Hindraf leaders as an Indian issue but a Malaysian one and request Muslim groups not to regard the attendance of Hindraf members at the open house as a sign of disrespect to Muslims," he said. "Let's not start twisting the real issues and fashion them to instigate racial problems in the country. The ISA is way off its expiry date and redundant in a modern democracy. "But the ruling government uses it as an easy tool to create a climate of fear and head off threats to its leadership," he added.