TAIPING, April 4 (Bernama) -- B. Vuvaneswary arrived at the Kamunting Detention Centre near here at 7.30am today, accompanied by her two daughters aged four and 2-1/2 years.
"The first thing I want to do is to take my husband for a meal," she said of V. Ganabatirau, one of two leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) the government has decided to release from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
A crowd has been gathering outside the ISA detention centre in Kamunting, Taiping, since Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak's announcement yesterday of the release of 13 detainees. - NST picture by HASAN ISMAIL
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in his maiden address over television last night as the new prime minister, had announced the immediate release of 13 ISA detainees, two of whom are Hindraf leaders. The other Hindraf leader to be released is R. Kenghadharan.
Vuvaneswary expressed her thanks to Najib for the government's decision to release her husband who has been in detention since December 2007.
She said she hoped that the government would also release three other Hindraf leaders - P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan and T. Vasanthakumar. The other ISA detainees to be freed are seven members of Darul Islam, three foreigners held for falsifying documents and one member of Jemaah Islamiah.
Vuvaneswary's other family members had also accompanied her to the detention centre in two other cars.
Ganabatirau's younger brother V. Papparaidu said the family was not informed of Ganabatirau's intended release.
However, the centre had contacted the family at about 5pm yesterday and asked them to visit Ganabatirau today, he said.
"We were a little apprehensive on getting the news because visiting day is Sunday," he added.
-- BERNAMA
********
Release Of Detainees Boost For BN - Samy Vellu
SUNGAI PETANI, April 4 (Bernama) -- MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu today welcomed the release of two Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), and said it would boost the chances for a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in the Bukit Selambau state by-election in Kedah.
"We are optimistic of winning," he said. The BN has fielded Datuk S. Ganesan of the MIC in the by-election, polling for which is on Tuesday.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in his maiden address over television last night as the new prime minister, had announced the immediate release of 13 ISA detainees, two of whom are Hindraf leaders V. Ganabatirau and R. Kenghadharan.
Samy Vellu said the MIC hoped that the government would consider releasing the three other Hindraf leaders held under the ISA as soon as possible as it would enable the BN regain the support of the Indian community. The trio are P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan and S. Vasanthakumar.
He said the release of the two Hindraf leaders reflected the sincerity of Najib.
"Najib is more open and willing to listen to the problems faced by the Indian community," he said, adding that the MIC had requested the government numerous times since last year to release the five Hindraf leaders.
He expressed the party's gratitude to the government for the release of the two detainees, saying it was timely.
MIC secretary-general and Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the release of the ISA detainees was a good indicator of the government's sincerity in addressing the problems of the Indian community.
"The release has been well received by the Indians here. I hope it will translate into votes for us (BN)," he added.
Ganesan of the BN is facing S. Manikumar of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and 13 independent candidates in the by-election, caused by the resignation of state assemblyman V. Arumugam of the PKR in February.
-- BERNAMA
No comments:
Post a Comment