Malaysia should be branded an Apartheid state, US lawmakers told

Written by  K Suresh, Malaysia Chronicle 

It was first Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who once stormed out of a Commonwealth meet in London in May 1960 after thundering that he would not be seated at the same table as the President of Apartheid South Africa.

Ironically, fifty-odd years later, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi the NGO is lobbying Washington to classify Malaysia as an Apartheid state no different from that which once existed in South Africa and which ultimately degenerated into an international pariah.

This is the plea that went out to the US Government in recent days through the Human Rights Foundation Malaysia (HuRiFoM), a United Kingdom-based NGO newly set up by Hindraf to outsource its broader Malaysian Agenda.

HuRiFoM, like Hindraf, is headed by Kelantan-born lawyer, P. Waythamoorthy, whose elder brother P. Uthayakumar, is the pro-tem secretary-general of the Human Rights Party Malaysia (HuRiPaMa).

Waythamoorthy was granted political asylum in London after the Malaysian Government cancelled his passport while he was abroad – “on the grounds of him having terrorist links with the Tamil Tigers” -- and demanded the document be returned to it by whichever country received him upon landing.

Tracing the source of racism

The thrust of Hindraf’s message in a prepared presentation, “Institutional Racism and Religious Freedom in Malaysia”, for Washington is that “Malaysia is not that bubbling, bustling melting pot of races. In reality, it is a country based on a subtle, pervasive and increasingly aggressive form of racism”.

Three US Government bodies -- the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the US State Department, and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission - accepted the Hindraf presentation delivered by HuRiFoM through Waythamoorthy in late Nov.
The conflict that lies just below the artificial calm is so well concealed, according to the presentation, “that someone with not more than a cursory knowledge of Malaysia will find it hard to believe that there exists anything significant otherwise”.

Delving into the source of racism in Malaysia, the presentation belabours the point that the Federal Constitution of Malaysia defines a Malay as a Muslim who habitually speaks the Malay language and practices Malay culture, customs and traditions.

“In reality, as long as a person is a Muslim, he can be Malay, even an illegal immigrant and a foreigner who is a Muslim can be Malay,” points out the presentation.

Syariah Courts take over

At one stroke of the pen, it appears to HuRiFoM, that the Federal Constitution has dispossessed the descendants of the original Malay settlers in Peninsular Malaysia who came after the Orang Asli.

The Malay definition, according to the HuRiFoM presentation, goes hand in hand with a 1988 amendment to Article 121 of the Federal Constitution to make provisions for the recognition of Islamic Syariah Court and/or Laws, and in consequence by deviations and distortions, to implement Syariah laws on non-Muslims whenever there’s a dispute between Muslims and non-Muslims.

HuRiFoM claims that the Judiciary, where the 60 per cent majority Muslims in the country makes up 90 per cent of those on the Bench, “has abdicated its powers to the inferior Syariah Courts”.

The various state policies, in essence, have been creatively crafted and carved into a jigsaw of a reinforcing racist system, continues the presentation. “The state system operates under the protection of official secrecy and a tight hold on the various apparatus of the state”.

There are those who dare to cross the line and when they do, the presentation noted, “they are detained without trial or suffer malicious prosecution”. Evidently, this renders racism in Malaysia opaque and gives the phenomenon a uniquely Malaysian flavour.

The presentation cites various examples of what happens to those who cross the line in Malaysia on religion. Three will suffice:

Rani, 56, was a 16-day old baby when her poverty-stricken Muslim parents gave her up for adoption to a Hindu couple.
When the authorities caught up with Rani several decades after her marriage, Her Hindu husband was forcibly taken away, circumcised and converted after being threatened with a jail sentence. Meanwhile, Rani’s children and grandchildren are all without birth certificates as they are practising Hindus and not Muslims as the authorities want.
S. Banggarma, a mother of two, was “unknowingly” converted to Islam, in contravention of Article 12 of the Federal Constitution, by state religious authorities at the age of 7 while she was housed at a Welfare Home in Penang.
The Civil Court refuses to hear her case and has referred the matter to the Syariah Court. Her marriage to a Hindu, Sockalingam, has not been registered by the authorities and her husband’s name has been excluded from the birth certificates issued to her children. The Syariah Court has yet to hear Banggarma’s case but the decision is expected to be a foregone conclusion against her.
Raimah Bibi is a practising Hindu adopted by Muslim parents.
Her Hindu husband was told 21 years after their marriage that his wife and his six children by her had to be separated from him and placed in a rehabilitation centre by order of the Syariah Court.

Explaining Article 153 and the NEP to Washington

Away from “the creeping Islamisation of Malaysia”, the bulk of HuRiFoM’s presentation is on Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and the New Economic Policy (1970-1990) which had a shelf-life of 15 years and 20 years respectively.
Both Article 153 and the NEP, according to the presentation, not only continue in a deviated and distorted form but cover every aspect of life in Malaysia. Hence, the parallel drawn by Hindraf and HuRiFoM with Apartheid South Africa.

Article 153, it was pointed out, reserves a reasonable proportion for the Orang Asli, the Natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the Malays in four areas only: intake into the civil service, intake into institutions of higher learning owned by the Government and training privileges; government scholarships; opportunities from the Government to do business.

The NEP, an offshoot of the “business opportunities” proviso, was meant among others to ensure that the target groups own, control and manage 30 per cent of the nation’s corporate wealth by 1990.

The reality, complains the presentation, has meant the denial of the legitimate aspirations of the non-Malay communities as pledged under the second prong of Article 153.

Elsewhere, the presentation raises the plight of the Christians in Malaysia, the domination of the civil service and Judiciary by Muslims, rigged elections, illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls, and the continuing disenfranchisement and marginalization of the people of Sabah and Sarawak and Indians.
Malaysia Chronicle

Corruption index: M’sia slides again

The downward trend has continued for three years, and corruption watchdog Transparency International says this is a cause for concern.

KUALA LUMPUR: For the third consecutive year, Malaysia has shown a decline in its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score. Its 2011 score of 4.3 is slightly lower than the 4.4 recorded in 2010, and significantly lower than the government’s benchmark of 4.9.

Malaysia’s country ranking also declined to 60 of the 183 countries surveyed from 56 in 2010.

Although the CPI decline for the last two years is marginal (0.1 for 2010 and 2011), Prof Mohammad Ali Hassan, deputy president of Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M), opined that the lack of improvement is a cause for concern

“Although there are many things being carried out by the government, we are yet to see the perception index improve. Even with things like Corporate Integrity Pledge launched recently and other initiatives, there still isn’t a marked difference. I wonder why.

“Someone said this might have something to do with perceptions taking longer to materialise. But this is definitely a cause for concern for everyone,” he said.

The index scores 183 countries and territories from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean) based on perceived levels of public sector corruption. It uses data from 17 surveys that look at factors such as enforcement of anti-corruption laws, access to information and conflicts of interest.

Two-thirds of ranked countries scored less than 5. New Zealand ranked first, followed by Finland and Denmark. Somalia and North Korea (included in the index for the first time) were last.

‘A big wake-up call for MACC, Umno’

TI-M secretary-general Josie Fernandez said the score is a big wake-up call to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Umno leadership.

“For the last three years, we have seen a decline despite the efforts made by the government to address growing corruption in the country. This survey results will have implications on our economic development as a nation and country should the levels continue to dip.

“If you look at the countries at the top, you will find that many of them practise the Freedom of Information Act. Are we sending out wrong messages and that is why we are being perceived this way? There was an Arab Spring rising, I think we should be concerned if there is a monsoon here.

“We should be disappointed because previously Malaysia was a 5.0+ (in 2003 Malaysia stood at 5.3). We are in the company of Hungary, Kuwait, Cuba, Turkey, South Africa, Jordan – the 4- something club,” she added.

In the Asean grouping, Malaysia stood at number three while Singapore took top spot with a 9.3 score. At last place is Myanmar with a 1.5 score.

To this Fernandez, said: “Indonesia is moving up fast and showing good improvement mostly because of the political will of the country to improve itself in this area.”

The results were revealed at TI-M’s press conference on the release of the organisations 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) Results and 2011 Corruption Barometer (CB) Results.

‘Haul in the big fish’

TIM executive council member Ngooi Chiu Ing explained that there is a difference between a CPI and

CB.

The CPI is an expert survey which gets the opinions of business experts and leaders. A CB, however, is survey of the public. The sampling process involved 1,000 people interviewed nationwide. All aspects of interviewees such as location (urban and rural), gender, and education level were taken into consideration. The survey was conducted between Sept 12 and Oct 8.

“The survey found that police and political parties were deemed the most corrupt and 1.2% of those surveyed said they paid bribes compared to the 9% surveyed in 2010. A total of 60% of those interviewed trusted governments leader to fight corruption.

“When we asked them about personal experience of bribery, several candidates said they paid bribes to land officers/registry and permit services for the service of registration of land transfers.”

In response to the survey results, TI-M mentioned its observations to include that penalties for corrupt practices were not severe enough.

“Companies are not held liable when their employees commit corrupt act and enforcement and prosecution of petty corruption cases are increasing. There is also limited access to information (existing Official Secrets Act and lack of a Freedom of information Act), which contributes to a culture of secrecy and lack of transparency,” said Fernandez.

“It’s time to bring the big fish to court and convict them. Doing this will send a very strong message that the country will not tolerate corruption. Stop going after just the ‘ikan bilis’ (anchovies).”

She added that TI-M wants a completely independent MACC.

“Sometimes it seems that they are turning one head and looking at Putrajaya,” she said, alluding to where the offices of the government are located.

“The MACC has to report to Parliament. An improvement should also be seen in the protective framework to encourage more whistleblowers to come forward,” she said.

Defiant committee to rebuild temple

The committee also points the finger at a particular MBSA councillor for last Thursday's demolition of the 25-year-old shrine.

SHAH ALAM: The defiant committee of a temple demolished in Glenmarie here vowed to rebuild the structure at the same site.

Speaking to reporters, committee secretary A Manamohan said: “We did not receive any instructions from the state government, so why would we want to move to a new location?”

Last Thursday, Shah Alm City Council (MBSA) enforcement officers had demolished the shrine which was built some 25 years ago when the area was still a rubber estate.

In 2009, MBSA had sent a notice to the committee and later demolished the temple but it was rebuilt after PKR’s Kapar MP S Manikavasagm brought the matter to the attention of Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

This is the second time MBSA demolished the temple despite the state government sending out a circular stating that local councils cannot act unilaterally on matters related to religion.

Manamohan said the state government should bear the cost of rebuilding the temple.

The committee secretariat also blamed MBSA councillor Izham Hashim as being the person responsible for the latest incident.

“We heard that Izham ordered to demolish the temple because he received complaint about the temple being used for prayers to seek four-digit numbers; this is not true,” he said.

“We want the councillor and the enforcement officers to apologise,” he added, urging the state government to take action against those involved.

Manamohan also took a swipe at executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar for defending MBSA, calling the PKR leader “useless”.

Jayakumar had blamed the temple committee for not checking the status of the land as the temple was sited on a road reserve area.

However, the committee claimed that the land was not for road reserve but designated for a landfill.

“It is a reserve land which is subject to MBSA’s usage. So the exco should check the land status before issuing any statement,” he added.

Earlier, PKR Subang MP R Sivarasa visited the site and promised to raise the matter during the next exco meeting.

“This is clear cut where MBSA is working against the state government’s policy,” he told reporters, calling the matter serious.

Sivarasa said the state government is waiting for MBSA’s report on the demolition.

Also present were Manikavasagam, PKR Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne and PKR Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

Bomb hoax delays journey of 1,200 passengers

Police found empty bottles wrapped in a mat buried close to a bridge.

TAPAH: A bomb hoax forced the closure of 76km of railway tracks between Tanjung Malim and Tapah Road for 12 hours today, halting several train services and delaying the journey of more than 1,200 passengers.

Police ordered Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) to shut down the stretch of tracks at 1.45am following a telephone call that a bomb had been placed at one of the bridges.

Tapah police chief Supt Roslan Bek Ahmad said a bomb disposal unit from the Perak police headquarters conducted a check on the 21 bridges along the stretch, its work hampered by the darkness.

The unit found something buried close to a bridge at Km259.25 near Slim River at about noon, but it turned out to be empty bottles wrapped in a mat, he told a news conference here.

The police then established that there was no bomb and the call was a hoax, he said, adding that police were tracing the caller whose identity they knew.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code pertaining to public mischief which provided for a jail term of up to two years or a fine or both upon conviction.

KTMB marketing manager Mohd Nordin Kimi, when contacted, said KTMB made available 11 buses and four taxis to shuttle stranded passengers between Tapah Road and Tanjung Malim.

In KUALA LUMPUR, KTMB issued a statement saying that more than 1,200 passengers of the Intercity and Electric Train Service (ETS) north of Kuala Lumpur were affected by the incident.

Shuttle buses

The statement said the Ekpres Sinaran Utara (No 10) from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth was cancelled.

It also said that the Ekspres Senandung Langkawi (No 21) and Ekspres Senandung Mutiara (No 23) from the north stopped at the Tapah road and Kampar stations, respectively, and the passengers were taken in buses to the KL Sentral station.

The ETS, involving the ET02, ET24, ET62 and ET26 trains, terminated the service at the Tanjung Malim station and the passengers were taken in shuttle buses to the Tapah Road station, the statement said.

The ET21, ET01 and ET25 trains terminated their service at the Tapah Road station and the passengers were ferried in shuttle buses to the Tanjung Malim station, it added.

The statement said train services were expected to resume fully at 2 pm.

The public can call 1-300-88-5862 for details.

Hindraf wants proof Tamil schools received money

The cash never trickled down to the Tamil schools, claims P Waythamoorthy.

GEORGE TOWN: Hindraf Makkal Sakti has rapped MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam for saying that the Putrajaya administration had dispersed RM235 million to Tamil schools since 2008.

London-based Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy demanded the Human Resources Minister substantiate his claims.

The Hindraf leader rubbished such routine annual announcements on piecemeal basis by MIC leaders as an attempt to enslave the largely Tamil-speaking Malaysian Indian community forever under Umno hegemony.

“This is an absolute lie. The cash never trickled down to the Tamil schools. I challenge Subramaniam to account how much went to which school,” Waythamoorthy said in a press statement.

Subramaniam revealed in an exclusive interview with FMT that the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government had distributed RM235 million to various Tamil schools in the past three years.

Waythamoorthy said BN government had never resolved issues affecting Tamil schools in 54 years since the country’s independence in 1957.

If BN government was sincere and honest to help Tamil schools, he said it should first dismantle the fully-aided and capital-aided school policy.

He called on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to classify all Tamil schools as fully-aided schools on par with all national schools to ensure equal flow of funding.

“We no longer live in the colonial era where a school needs to be classified as fully-aided or capital-aided.”

‘Furnish evidence’

Waythamoorthy has also called on Subramaniam to furnish evidence to back his claim that the government had created an estate housing scheme to assist plantation workers to purchase houses below RM60,000.

He claimed he could not locate any information on the scheme on any website, including MIC website.

Subramanian has also claimed that 9,000 have registered with the government MyDaftar programme to obtain birth certificates and identity cards.

However, Waythamoorthy remained unconvinced with the federal government efforts to eliminate the stateless status among Indians.

He alleged that some 300,000 Malaysian Indians, including fourth and fifth generations, were stateless.

He took Subramaniam to task for not finding out why only 9,000 had registered under MyDaftar drive.

He claimed that the home ministry’s registration system had made it more difficult for Indians to obtain their rightful status, compared to granting citizenships to Indonesians and Filipino Muslims.

He added they were also denied retirement benefits such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Socso.

He recalled former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo had admitted in 2007 that some 20,000 Indian children could not attend schools.

He pointed out that thousands of deserving ethnic Indian students have been denied public tertiary education and scholarships.

Indians, Indonesians Meet in the Art World

The Jogja Biennial

Jogja Biennale mixes art and religiosity
A blurry video in a darkened room, a small ficus bush and a partially obscured screen. Akiq Aw’s exploration of the shadowy world between faiths is both haunting and yet strangely banal as a nondescript and unremarkable man recounts his personal journey from Islam to Christianity. Later a woman describes her path in the opposite direction.

In another room, similarly darkened, the artist Krisnamurti has placed a hijab-wearing woman on the floor. A video is projected across her body. We look on as the ebb and flow of the tide appears to course over her silent, unmoving form. Meanwhile, the near-deafening soundtrack of water crashing on the shore is likewise mesmerizing.

In yet another room, the Indian artist N.S. Harsha has splattered paint on the raw concrete. It’s a diagonal gash that seems to represent both an artist at work (pace Jackson Pollock) as well as Creation itself, as the Big Bang unfurls across the cosmos.

Contemporary art biennales are often an exercise in confusion and dysfunctionality: strange installations, incoherent videos and ugly paintings, reveling in their manifest lack of artistry. But while the recently-opened Jogja Biennale, Yogyakarta’s 11th, has its fair share of non sequiturs, the event is held together by an unflinching curatorial focus, namely the decision to highlight only two countries — India and Indonesia — and one theme: religiosity.

The ensuing result is an exciting and eye-opening survey of art and contemporary concerns from two of Asia’s largest nations: one predominantly Hindu, the other Muslim, and both avowedly secular.

Interestingly, the art from both countries is resolutely centrist and plural. Fears of and concerns about extremism and bigotry are interspersed with pleas for tolerance and mutual understanding with a sideways glance at the gradual erosion and disappearance of the traditional, local myths and folklore. To my mind (but maybe I’m biased since I’ve long been one of the Biennale’s supporters) the ambition and sheer bravado of the venture are quite enthralling.

I like the way that artists, writers and curators from both countries have come together, dispensing with the accepted metropolitan centers of validation and supposed excellence. London, Paris and New York are forgotten as the art displayed creates its own intriguing linkages and juxtapositions between Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Mumbai, Mysore and Delhi.

According to the director of the Biennale Foundation running the operations, the next Biennale will focus on an Arab nation. As Egypt goes through the throes of its own reformasi, I only hope that it’ll be the chosen country, providing a fascinating counterpoint to Indonesia.

Of course, the bonds between India and Indonesia will be hard to equal. The ties between the two are profound and deep — deeper indeed than the bonds that link Indonesia with China. Moreover, on the south-facing plains of Central Java with Mount Merapi as a silent sentinel, the historical and cultural traces of the relationship — Prambanan and Borobudur — remain as haunting presences of an interaction that has spanned the millennia.

In more modern times, India and Indonesia supported each other’s independence movements. Furthermore, in the 1950s and ’60s, Sukarno and Jawaharlal Nehru were the twin pillars of the Non-Aligned Movement. Now, after decades of less intense relations, India and Indonesia are fast regaining interest in each other, as the Biennale demonstrates.

While I’m not sure if the artists themselves realize it, the Biennale suggests that India and Indonesia mean to also assert themselves both culturally and economically. This is going to be the beginning of a marked increase in engagement between the two Asian giants. Recognizing this trend, the Biennale’s organizers made a big point about stressing the documentary aspects of the collaboration and the need to increase Indonesian understanding of India.

Still, the real surprise was the enormous number of art lovers at the Biennale’s opening night. With literally thousands of people cramming into the Jogja National Museum (most of them young students) the city displayed its dynamism and openness to the arts. As the Indian co-curator Suman Gopinath told me, “The sheer number of people is amazing. Besides that, the Biennale shows what you can achieve with limited funds and infrastructure.”

The Jogja National Museum is not the Guggenheim or the Tate Modern. Nonetheless, it has both the art and the audience, an audience that believes in the centrality of human expression and creativity.

(Karim Raslan is a columnist who divides his time between Malaysia and Indonesia.)

Others are 100 times more racist, claims Muhyiddin

Defending an earlier speech which accused DAP of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin denied it was racist and hit back at his critics, describing them as being “100 times more racist”.

According to the deputy prime minister, what he had said was not something different from the historical facts, and instead it could “consolidate the new awareness” among the Malays about the party’s struggle.

“Only someone who is too racist (would think it is racist). When some quarters say something about their own race, he will say it is racist.

“They don’t realise that they are 100 times more racist than us,” he told the media, without mentioning any names, during a press conference today at the Umno annual general meeting (AGM).
During his opening address for the AGMs of Umno Wanita, Youth and Puteri on Tuesday, Muhyiddin accused DAP as an anti-Islam and anti-Malay party which attempted to turn Malaysia into a republic.

He called on members of the three wings to join the party’s struggle which is a jihad for the religion, race and country.

The next day, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang hit back, saying that Muhyiddin’s speech was the “mother of all lies, falsehoods and racism”.

During the press conference today, Muhyiddin echoed party president Najib Abdul Razak’s policy speech, in which the prime minister said Umno was not a racist party as it has been sharing power with other BN component parties.

“Although there was a time in history that Umno could form the government by itself in the first general election, we did not do so. We shared power.”

On the contrary, Najib had said, the opposition has shown no proof that its coalition parties can work together.

Umno Embracing New Mindset Of The People - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Umno has focus its struggle towards appreciating the new mindset and rising expectations of the people.

The prime minister said that for this purpose, Umno must get closer to young people and embrace the new media as it would determine victory or defeat in the election.

"Hence, to remain in power, Umno has to communicate according to the style and mode of expression of young people so that the party is understood," he said when delivering a policy speech entitled "Driving Transformation" at the opening of the Umno General Assembly 2011 here Thursday.

Najib said since its inception in 1946, Umno has played its role as a game-changer in leading change or transforming the national political landscape.

"If Umno does not understand the new realities of the national political landscape, how could Umno and BN succeed? Whether we like it or not, Umno must embrace the new media, because at this moment, it can determine victory or defeat (in the election).

"It is able to level the playing field or it can also make the battle lopsided. Umno members must know how to take advantage of the new media for the survival of the party," he said.

In his speech which lasted one hour and five minutes, Najib also recounted 10 events that had made Umno a game-changer in transforming the country.

To appreciate the new realities, he said as a dynamic political party, Umno should not just treasure its victories in previous battles but should also continue to be the winner in new battle fields.

He said Umno should also appreciate the new thinking among all segments of the electorate in order to woo their support and cannot afford to be arrogant.

"If not, the voters and the people will hate Umno and stay away from us," he said.

As a game-changer, Najib said Umno and the BN, as the ruling party, had launched the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to improve the public sector delivery system.

He said the Economic Transformation Programme and the New Economic Model became the roadmap in the final stage as the country strive to achieve the status of a high-income developed country.

While the Political Transformation Programme strikes a balance between national security and individual freedom, he said the Rural Transformation Programme would improve the quality of life of the people in rural and interior areas besides the Social Transformation Programme becoming the guiding philosophy 1Malaysia.

"We also continue with initiatives that will reduce the cost of living such as Klinik 1Malaysia, Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Menu and the 1Malaysia Public Housing or PR1MA," he said.

Najib said if Umno still failed to understand and appreciate the factors that made the party a game-changer and did not take steps to devise the game-plan, it would result in tragedy.

"The success IN developing the country has posed The biggest challenge to the survival of the party and Barisan Nasional.

"Whether we will remain as a trusted party and get the mandate to continue to govern the country will depend on our awareness, understanding and actions," he said.

Hence, Najib outlined five core strengths that would enable Umno to brace for storms lashing the party whether from within or outside.

He said Umno should have the capability to shoulder the responsibility by taking advantage of the new environment and adopting the practice of moderation in all fields, be it governance, power-sharing, economy, race-relations and even international relations.

He said Umno had always herald supremacy of ideas in the battle of the minds and competition of ideas and information besides putting the welfare of the people above everything else.

Girl's family doused with acid over marriage refusal

An Afghan family who refused to give their daughter in marriage to a man they considered irresponsible were attacked at home by gunmen who beat the father and then poured acid over both parents and three children, officials said on Wednesday.

Eighteen-year-old Mumtaz, the oldest daughter, had been pursued by a local gunman who the family considered a troublemaker and bully.

With her parents' support, she turned him down and instead got engaged to a relative.

A few weeks later, six or seven armed men burst into their home in the Bulk Awal area of the northern Kunduz city - the largest in the region - in the middle of the night.

"First they beat her father and then they attacked with acid," said Mumtaz's mother, who asked not to be identified.

All five are now receiving medical treatment, said Abdul Shokor Rahimi, head of the Kunduz regional hospital.

"The father and oldest daughter are in critical condition as they have been attacked all over the body," Dr Rahimi said.

"Their mother and two daughters who are 14 and 13 have some wounds only in hands and faces."

Ghulam Mohammad Farhad, the senior police detective for Kunduz, promised to track down the attackers, who he called immoral and irresponsible.

"We have started an investigation and those who have attacked them will be prosecuted," he told reporters.

Acid is used intermittently as a weapon in Afghanistan. In the conservative and Taliban-influenced south and east, it has been thrown at girls attending schools.

With foreign combat troops set to return home by the end of 2014, some activists inside and outside Afghanistan fear that women's rights may be sacrificed in the scramble to ensure the West leaves behind a relatively stable state.

FRU disrupts Anwar's ceramah

Malaysia’s corruption score falls again

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score has worsened for the third year running, slipping to 4.3 this year from 4.4 in 2010, according to a Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) report.
Malaysia’s country ranking also fell to 60 out of 183 countries from 56 out of 178 last year.
It remained the third-least corrupt nation in Asean after Singapore (9.2) and Brunei (5.2), with Thailand (3.4) and Indonesia (3.0) following in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Singapore also placed fifth in the overall country rankings and was the highest-ranked Asian nation this year.
“Singapore is way ahead and I would like to point out that Indonesia is improving very fast and may overtake us because Indonesia has shown some will,” said TI-M secretary-general Josie Fernandez (picture).
New Zealand (9.5), Denmark (9.4) and Finland (9.4) were ranked the least corrupt nations in the world, while Somalia (1.0), North Korea (1.0) and Myanmar (1.5) were the most corrupt.
Malaysia’s Corruption Barometer results were unchanged, with 40 per cent of the public saying graft levels have stayed the same over the past three years and would remain so for the next three.
The Corruption Barometer is a measure of the public perception of corruption.
Members of the public saw the police and political parties as the most corrupt institutions, with the police named as the most likely recipient of bribes in the past 12 months.
But the percentage of respondents who admitted to paying bribes in the past year has fallen to 1.2 per cent from nine per cent in 2010.
Forty-nine per cent also thought the government’s efforts to fight corruption were effective or very effective, up a touch from 48 per cent last year.
However, the number of respondents who felt Putrajaya’s battle against graft was ineffective or very ineffective rose five points to 25 per cent.
“This means the fence sitters have moved to see government’s efforts as ineffective,” said TI-M exco member Ngooi Chiu Ing.
Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) corruption NKRA director D. Ravindran, present at the launch of report, said it was “clearly not very good news” that Malaysia was now further from its 4.9 CPI benchmark.
However, he said it was more a mixed result if seen holistically, pointing out that almost half the public still saw the government’s fight against corruption as effective.
He added the Pemandu would continue its efforts to clamp down on “grand corruption” and increase the successful prosecution of corruption by the national anti-graft agency.
“Some of these other things we are pursuing, we’ve not let it go, and hopefully we’ll see some success going forward,” Ravindran said.

Najib hints 13th GE around the corner

The prime minister calls on all party members to close ranks to face the election.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has again hinted that the 13th general election (GE) will be held very soon.

Najib, who is also the Umno president, in his speech at the opening of the Umno general assembly 2011 here today, reminded all party members to close ranks to face the election.

He called on the Umno members to get down on the ground as it was almost time to go to the polls. The call was greeted with loud applause from the delegates.

Earlier, in his message on Nov 29, he wanted the party leadership at the divisional and grassroots levels to put in extraordinary efforts to face the 13th general election.

The prime minister also told the delegates not to take the 13th general election for granted because the challenge would certainly be extraordinary and the most difficult that the biggest political party in the country would face.

The Umno general assembly today was attended by 2,711 delegates.

- Bernama

A warning to stubborn old-school politicians

Gerakan’s Baljit Singh says some are falsely claiming they can win in the coming election.

GEORGE TOWN: A local Gerakan leader has alleged that some of his party colleagues are making false claims that they are winnable election candidates.
Baljit Singh, who heads Penang Gerakan’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau, said these hopefuls were claiming that their confidence was based on intelligence reports. He challenged them to provide the evidence.
He did not name them, but described them as “old school” politicians holding leadership positions in Penang Gerakan.
“Until today, none of them has published these intelligence reports to justify their winning credentials,” he said. “They should stop pretending.”
Baljit said “over-the-hill” politicians in all Barisan Nasional parties should take heed of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s call on Umno elected representatives to step aside for a new breed of candidates. He said the message applied to them as well.
He advised them to emulate Gerakan President Koh Tsu Koon, who recently announced that he would not contest in the coming election.
He said no one should assume that he is a winnable candidate just because he led a party branch or division.
He warned them that young voters were “sick and tired” of old-school politics and were demanding quick changes.
“Only candidates capable of matching the people’s rapidly changing aspirations should stand as BN candidates in the next election,” he said.
“Those who know they can’t should step aside gracefully.
“Sub-standard elected representatives should read the writing on the wall and come down from the stage while the audience is still cheering. They should not wait until the audience jeers them.”
He said they should learn from former MIC president S Samy Vellu’s failure to read the signs, resulting in his humiliation in the last election.

Mahathir-Najib made us debtors

The growing national debt has left oil rich Sabah and Sarawak liable to almost RM80 billion in combined owings.
COMMENT

Umno has seen good leaders and bad ones. How bad is bad leadership depends on what kind of characteristics and value system he picks up.

If he picks the extreme form of negative values then the nation is in deep trouble.

Umno, since Independence and until 1981, saw three late prime ministers who made positive contributions to the country.

They each proved to serve the national interests first which is the essence of good governance.

But things began to change in 1981 after the fourth premier – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – took over.

Under his reign good governance took a backseat and things went from bad to worse and now under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, we’re sinking from worse to the worst.

Over the past 30 years we have witnessed how Umno and Sarawak’s Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) have spewed their bad and evil traits without any feelings of remorse .

Abuses of power, corruption, plundering and looting of state and national wealth were done on a massive scale. The national debt keeps on growing at a rapid pace .

Drowning in debts

In 2009 when Najib took over the reign’s from ex-premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the national debt stood at more than RM362 billion. Now our national debts stands at RM437 billion.

In contrast our expected revenue for 2012 is only about RM186.9 billion!

If the debt is to be shared by all the 13 states of Malaysia, then each state will bear a debt of RM39.7 billion directly or indirectly.

Knowing this, is it worth supporting the Umno /Barisan Nasional government, anymore?

Instead of giving us returns for exploiting our wealth, Sarawakians and Sabahans are now burdened with RM39.7 billion debt each.

Global history has repeatedly shown us how a bad leader had acted alone.

We had (Germany’s Adolf) Hilter, (Iraq’s) Saddam (Hussein) and (Philippines’ Ferdinand) Marcos – all of them acted alone and individually to create havoc upon mankind and their people.

These are called dangerous leaders – which is of the worst kind.

Funds siphoned

In Malaysia we saw Mahathir – on a number of occasions – having acted on his own in the controlling of the judiciary, giving massive projects to cronies, practicing a policy of massive borrowings from banks and the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and spewing lies as a political tool.

Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud too has literally taken billions of ringgit of state funds.

And under Najib, we see and hear of massive abuse of public funds with little accountability.

And even as you read this commentary, funds from our EPF continue to be siphoned out at an alarming rate as disclosed in the Auditor-General’s 2010 report.

Knowing the characteristic of our leadership why then are we dependent on them? Such leaders must be rejected in totality.

Awang Abdillah is a political observer and a veteran writer in Sarawak. He is an FMT columnist.

‘Anjur Himpunan Bersih 3.0′

NGO WargaAMAN desak diadakan Bersih 3.0 bagi meneruskan momentum Bersih 2.0.

KUALA LUMPUR: Angkatan Warga Aman Malaysia (WargaAMAN) yang mewakili lebih 20 badan bukan kerajaan (NGO kaum India mendesak agar Himpunan Bersih 3.0 segera dianjurkan bagi meningkatkan peluang Pakatan Rakyat untuk mengambil alih Putrajaya.

Setiausahanya S Barathidasan berkata cadangan diadakan Bersih 3.0 ialah untuk meneruskan momentum Bersih 2.0 yang telah berlangsung pada 9 Julai lalu bagi menuntut penambahbaikan sistem pilihan raya bagi mewujudkan sebuah sistem yang lebih bersih dan adil.

Beliau berkata terdapat perubahaan senario politik hasil rentetan daripada kejayaan Bersih 2.0 dan pihaknya merasa terpanggil supaya Himpunan Bersih 3.0 diadakan.

“Beberapa tindakan pihak kerajaan khususnya Perdana Menteri dilihat begitu terdesak untuk melaksanakan perubahan demi menjaga survival pemerintahan Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Perkembangan positif ini perlu digunakan sebaik mungkin bagi membolehkan lebih banyak perubahan dilakukan oleh kerajaan,” tegasnya.

Oleh itu katanya, WargaAMAN percaya sekiranya gerakan menuntut pilihan raya bersih dan adil diteruskan dengan pembawaan yang konsisten, peluang untuk lapan tuntutan Bersih 2.0 dilaksanakan sangat besar.

Beliau mengecam peranan Jawatankuasa Terpilih Parlimen (PSC) berhubung penambahbaikan proses pilihan raya yang telah diluluskan oleh Dewan Rakyat pada 3 Oktober lalu.

Bagi beliau, PSC merupakan alat untuk meredakan tuntutan Bersih dan mengalihkan rakyat daripada memberi fokus terhadap tuntutan
pilihan raya bersih dan adil.

Menurut Barathidasan, WargaAMAN bertindak sebagai pendesak terhadap kerajaan agar melaksanakan kesemua lapan tuntutan sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke 13 diadakan.

“WargaAMAN juga bertindak memberi kesedaran dan pelajaran kepada rakyat mengenai sistem pilihan raya di Malaysia di samping mendedahkan isu-isu yang berkaitan,” ujar beliau.

Govt to consider higher road accident compensation

The Star

THE Government is considering amending the Civil Law Act 1956 to increase the amount of compensation awarded for injury and death caused by road accidents, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim.

He said there were grounds to consider a review of the Act in respect of the RM10,000 compensation for the grief suffered by a victim’s bereaved family.

“The Government is aware of this and it has been brought up for discussion at several meetings,” he said when answering a question raised by M. Manogaran (DAP-Telok Intan).

Manogaran had sought a clarification on whether the present laws would be amended to increase compensation awarded to families of those who had lost their lives in fatal road accidents.

Manogaran had sought a clarification on whether the present laws would be amended to increase compensation awarded to families of those who had lost their lives in fatal road accidents.

He said that although no amount of money could compensate the loss of a loved one, the current payment of RM10,000 was very low.

Manogaran said the compensation should be raised to RM100,000.

He also noted that disability compensation, which was calculated up to 55 years of age under the Act, should be reviewed to reflect the changes in the compulsory retirement age of 60 for the public sector and 65 for judges.

Lim said he welcomed any feedback on the issue from relevant parties such as the Bar Council and insurance industry to allow the Government to make the necessary move.

To a question by Datuk Wira Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin), Lim said the Government had introduced a programme to streamline premium payments for third party insurance from January.

India police detain six men over bomb blasts

Delhi security forces arrest six suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives in connection with series of fatal bombings.
In the German Bakery blast in 2010, attackers left a bomb under a table that exploded, killing 17 people [File: AFP]

Indian police have arrested six men said to be members of a homegrown armed group in connection with a series of fatal bombings.

The men, including one Pakistani, are believed to belong to the Indian Mujahideen, a group with suspected links to fighters in Pakistan, police said in a statement on Wednesday.

The men are alleged to have targeted the German Bakery restaurant in Pune, the Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in the southern software hub of Bangalore and the Jama Masjid, the nation's biggest mosque, in New Delhi.

'Investigation under way'

P Chidambaram, India's minister of home affairs, confirmed the arrests at a news conference, adding that an "investigation is still under way" into the actions of the six men.


In the blast at the German Bakery in February last year, attackers left a bomb under a table that exploded, killing 17 people.

Ten people were injured when two bombs went off outside the Bangalore cricket stadium in April 2010.
In the mosque attack in September 2010, two Taiwanese visitors who were part of a film crew were wounded when two men on a motorbike opened fire and a small car exploded.

Police said they recovered guns, cartridges, detonators, doctored documents, fake Indian currency and explosives during their probe.

The Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for numerous bomb attacks in Indian cities in recent years, most recently for a blast outside the Delhi High Court in September which left 15 dead.

The US state department has designated the group a "terrorist" organisation, noting its "close ties" with Pakistan-based armed groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

Girl gets a year in jail, 100 lashes for adultery

JEDDAH – A 23-year-old unmarried woman was awarded one-year prison term and 100 lashes for committing adultery and trying to abort the resultant fetus.
The District Court in Jeddah pronounced the verdict on Saturday after the girl confessed that she had a forced sexual intercourse with a man who had offered her a ride. The man, the girl confessed, took her to a rest house, east of Jeddah, where he and four of friends assaulted her all night long.
The girl claimed that she became pregnant soon after and went to King Fahd Hospital for Armed Forces in an attempt to carry out an abortion. She was eight weeks’ pregnant then, the hospital confirmed.
According to the ruling, the woman will be sent to a jail outside Jeddah to spend her time and will be lashed after delivery of her baby who will take the mother’s last name. – Okaz/SG __

Himpunan Aman: Jangan salah guna kuasa majoriti

Perkasa, Mamak group bring traffic to a standstill

Protesters accuse CM's political secretary Ng Wei Aik of humiliating Bangladeshi married to a local and call for his sacking.

GEORGE TOWN: About 300 protesters from Perkasa and Suara Anak Anak Mamak Pulau Pinang caused a massive congestion when they marched against the flow of traffic at noon today.
Their target: Komtar assemblyman and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik who has been accused of humiliating a Bangladeshi married to a local woman.
The protesters demanded that Ng quit immediately as Komtar assemblyman and also called on Lim to sack Ng as his political secretary.
Police detained 11 people including the protest leader, Perkasa’s north-east district chief Mohd Rizuad Mohd Azudin, for the commotion.
All were released after having their statements recorded at the city police headquarters.
Anak-Anak Mamak leader Mohamed Ghani Abdul Jiman, who was his usual boisterous uncouth self, however, was not detained.
The protesters gathered outside Continental Hotel in upper Penang Road at 12 noon before marching  against the flow of traffic in the direction of Komtar, a kilometer away.
Once they reached the Komtar in Lebuh Teck Soon, the protesters, with some sitting on the road, chanted anti-Pakatan Rakyat, anti-Ng and anti-Lim slogans for over an hour.
Ng denies allegation

About 100 police personnel, including two Light Strike Force (LSF) units, were at the scene. The demonstration caused massive traffic congestion all over the city at peak lunch hour.
Sarimah Packeer Mohamed, 43, lodged a police report last week alleging Ng humiliated her husband, a Bangladeshi national, in public during Ng’s visit to a fire site in Jalan Gurdwara.
The fire razed three shophouses on Nov 22. Ng allegedly accused Sarimah and her husband of masterminding the fire which originated from a nearby unit owned by a senior citizen.
Ng denied Sarimah’s allegations, claiming that he only demanded Sarimah and her husband to close their illegal goods recycling business.
Police recorded a statement from Ng to assist in the case investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code. This was not the first time Ng had been a target.
Earlier this year, Ng was accused of telling off a Nasi Kandar restaurant operator to “go back to India.”
After the protest today, Rizuad, accompanied by colleagues, handed over a memorandum to Chief Minister’s official representative Zuliana Aziz.

HRP wants temple demolishers heads to roll

The Indian councillors in MBSA also want the menteri besar to act against the enforcement officers.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Party (HRP) has urged the Selangor state government to sack the enforcement officers involved in the demolition of a Hindu temple in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, if they are found to have abused their powers.

According to a witness, some 30 policemen and 10 enforcement officers from the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) smashed the shrine, including the statues of six Hindu deities last Thursday without issuing any prior notice.

However, state exco Dr Xavier Jayakumar defended MBSA, saying that several notices had been sent to the temple management.

He blamed the temple management for not checking the status of the land as the temple was sited on a road reserve area.

Councillors see red as well

Speaking to FMT, HRP central council member S Thiagarajan criticised the exco and the state government for not keeping their promise.

According to Thiagarajan, after Pakatan Rakyat took over the state in 2008, Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim sent a circular to all local councils barring them from demolishing any temple without the exco’s knowledge.

“What happened to the letter? Is that letter invalid or did Jayakumar himself give permission to MBSA to carry out the demolition?” he asked.

He pointed out that this was the fifth temple demolished by the Pakatan state government since coming into power.

He said the state government always blamed the local councils for not informing them about the demolishment.

As for the latest incident, Thiagarajan said if the MBSA officers had abused their powers then they must be sacked.

“We will see what action will be taken against the enforcement officers who brutally smashed the statues into pieces,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said HRP would also send a letter to the attorney-general regarding this matter.

“According to the Penal Code, defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or fine or both,” he added.

Terming it as a “serious case”, Thiagarajan said HRP would urge the AG to take stern action against MBSA.

Contaced later, MBSA councillor V Vembarasan said that all five Indian councillors in the city council would also urge the menteri besar to take action against the enforcement officers.

“We held a meeting this morning and reached an agreement on this,” he added.

China In India's Missile Range

India's ICBM

New Delhi risks upsetting Asia’s delicate weapons balance
Sometime over the next three months,perhaps as early as December, Indian defense officials are scheduled to test the country‘s first truly intercontinental ballistic missile, the Agni-V, which theoretically brings India’s weapons program within range of most of China.

Officials insist that India has a no-strike-first policy and that the weapons are no threat to any other country in the region. Said VK Saraswat, the chief of the Defense Research & Development Organization, the federal body that oversees the country’s indigenous arms development: “We are not looking at how many missiles China or Pakistan has. With a 'no first-use' nuclear weapons policy, we only want a sufficient number of missiles to defend the country in the event of a crisis. Ours is a defensive-mode strategy, even if others have offensive postures.”

However, as governments have pondered during the missile age, how much is a sufficient number? Tthe implications for the balance of power in the region are obvious. India’s two-decades-old missile program has mostly been aimed at nullifying nullify the threat from its immediate and unremittingly hostile neighbor, Pakistan. That appears to be changing. While shorter versions of the Agni missile series cover Pakistan, Agni III and beyond are part of India’s efforts to guard against China.

The ICBM, named for the Hindu god Agni, the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices, is referred to by Indian officials and scientists as the “China killer,” hardly a peaceable phrase, due to its ability to target cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and reach the northernmost tips of the country.

Yet with only a handful of missiles and believed to possess only 70 nuclear weapons, India has a long way before it couldmatch up to China’s arsenal, with its missiles capable of delivering payloads up to 14,000 km, covering much of the globe. China is believed to possess at least 410 nuclear weapons.  This is probably a race the world does not need, as the western powers proved from the 1960s on.  The United States and Russia have slowly and reluctantly been reducing their missile capacity for almost a generation, although both retain a vast suf ficiency enough to wipe out the planet several times over.

Nonetheless, Agni-V allows India to join a select group of nations including the US, China, the UK and Russia, which possess ICBMs with the capability to strike targets at least 5,500 km away. India’s program director, Avinash Chander, said that Agni-V would be ready for incorporation into the armed forces by 2014.

Agni V’s predecessor, Agni IV, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads with a range of 3,500 km, was tested two weeks ago, almost a year after a previous test was unsuccessful. New Delhi called the test a “stupendous success” and suggesting the test puts India’s missile capability a notch higher than Pakistan’s.

Although India’s record in developing indigenous weapons --tanks or fighter jets -- is abysmal, such as not been the case with its ballistic missile program. Some of this is due to progress in launching and installation of broadcast and remote sensing satellites in space under the aegis of the Indian Space Research Organization.

This is despite sanctions US sanctions imposed on India’s dual-use technologies. The advances in missile technology have occurred concomitantly with strides in space research as the motors used in the launch vehicles of satellites have been incorporated into missiles.

The Defense Research & Development Organization, which has an otherwise spotty record of weapons development, claims Agni-V is built almost fully with indigenous technology, although Indian scientists are known to copy readily available blueprints from Russia.

Agni-V must undergo two to four more “repeatable” tests before the weapon goes operational, Avinash Chander said. “Our aim is to take just two to three years from the first test to the induction phase.”

In June, the now-retired Air Chief Marshal PV Naik said India's rising global stature demands developing the ICBM and long-range attack capability possessed by elite nations.

“India should pursue an ICBM program to acquire ranges of 10,000 km or even more,” Naik said. “Breaking out of the regional context is important as the country's sphere of influence grows. We have no territorial designs on any country, but India needs the capability to match its sphere of influence.”

India’s deepening interest in ICBM’s has occurred even as the US has opened its defense armaments market, including dual-use technology, for Indian use, definitely moving away from a sanctions-ridden policy paradigm that harkened back to the Cold War era when India was aligned with the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Events such as the Kargil war of 1999, during which the country nearly went to war with Pakistan and the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks orchestrated by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists have only heightened India’s insecurities and led to efforts to refine its ability to attack and protect itself.

Since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, India has also accelerated its ballistic missile defense program with help from its newly friendly defense partner America, to protect against a sudden missile attack, possibly nuclear tipped, particularly from rogue elements in Pakistan.

The defense expertise can also be extended to space to protect India’s remote and communication satellites, especially after China conducted an anti-satellite test in 2007, in what is seen as a potential “Star Wars” arms race between the two Asian nations, with America strategically siding with India.

Given the closed nature of China’s polity, nobody is quite sure what kind of investments and developments are happening in China’s defense sphere. Some analysts believe that China’s military capabilities today could be superior to America’s although US defense expenditure dwarfs that of the rest of the world combined.

Pakistan is no patsy either, with a missile program that is actively promoted by China, and with the country having developed its own nuclear capability. Several of its attack ballistic missiles with the potential to destroy Indian cities are a copy of those in possession of China.

The country has test-fired the Shaheen-2, a 2000-km range missile. Pakistan, meanwhile, continues to receive military largesse from America as a partner in the global war against terror, though India has long held that such stockkpiling of weapons only adds to instability in the region.

New Delhi feels that US-supplied armaments to Pakistan are more potent against a conventional enemy rather than the amorphous terror networks that also spread over Afghanistan and need effective intelligence and pinpointed operations, such as the one that killed Osama Bin Laden, to neutralize.

India has thus been implementing a massive defense modernization effort over the past few years. Given the country’s incipient domestic inability to manufacture military hardware, most arms are imported despite the fact that the missile program remains an indigenous effort that breeds off the successes in India’s space program.

In its latest report, Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, has said that India has become the biggest arms importer in the world and in the process overtaken China, though Indian observers say that a major portion of Beijing’s arms budget continues to be hidden, secret and unknown to the world.

(Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist. He can be reached at sidsri@yahoo.com.)

Speech by Lim Chee Wee, President, Malaysian Bar – Sri Lanka, Human Rights and the Commonwealth of Nations: National Reconciliation on the Basis of Justice and Accountability

Speech delivered at the International Conference on Human Rights and the Commonwealth of Nations, organised by the Global Tamil Forum (Sydney, Australia; 20 Oct 2011)

The President of the Global Tamil Forum, Reverend Dr S J Emmanuel; the President of the Australian Tamil Congress, Professor Rajeswaran; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I thank the organisers and am honoured to have been invited to address this conference.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr famously pointed out in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail that “an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere”. 

We have all seen from the Channel 4 “Killing Fields” documentary, and from the Report by the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka¹, the evidence of the “credible allegations” of heinous war crimes having been committed in Sri Lanka.

Yet, despite the end of the war more than 2 years ago, there is still no credible international investigation into the situation in Sri Lanka. Rather, we appear to see a situation of international complacency and a tendency to brush these allegations under the carpet ostensibly with a view to “national reconciliation”.

But the United Nations (“UN”) Panel of Experts found that tens of thousands of civilians, who took refuge in government-demarcated no fire zones, were targeted and killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Taking into account the monumental proportions of the killing, injury and damage to property, I am compelled to infer that it must have been carried out with the cognisance, support and possibly or even probably under directions from high authority.

The Report also states that the Sri Lankan armed forces were almost entirely made of ethnic Singhalese. It also states that the civilians were ethnic Tamils.

In the premises, applying the definition of genocide in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide 1948, what happened in Sri Lanka could well have been genocide.  Under that definition, killing or destroying even a part of an ethnic group, amounts to genocide, if there was an intention to kill or to destroy them.

The fact that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (“LTTE”) was using the civilians as a shield, even if it were true, or that they used child soldiers, is no excuse for the targeting and killing of civilians.

There seems to be an international dimension to this war. 

In the last stages of the war, western nations had requested a cessation or a softening of the attacks in the Tamil areas by the Sri Lankan armed forces. 

India’s leading Hindu newspaper pointed out that based on confidential US Embassy cables accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks, “India played a key role in warding off international pressure on Sri Lanka to halt military operations and hold talks with the LTTE in the dramatic final days and weeks of the war in 2009”.² 

The individuals in the top hierarchy of authority in India, who supported with these terrible crimes, if they did so, must own up and resign to save their entire nation from ignominy.

Recently, I am informed that India refused the Reverend Dr S J Emmanuel, the President of the Global Tamil Forum, entry into India despite him having a visa. 

India also previously refused a visa to enter India to a Malaysian Member of Parliament, Dr. Ramasamy, who is also the second Deputy Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Penang. 

It is hard to imagine, but India (and sadly also Malaysia) also voted in the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2009 not to carry out any investigations into possible war crimes in Sri Lanka³.

This active interest of India in Sri Lanka, in connection with these war crimes, gives this problem an international complexion. 

It may also be timely to investigate India’s role in the war crimes and the continuing allegations of human rights infringements in Sri Lanka. 

The fact that a country is a regional superpower, does not give them any license to support such heinous crimes.

The plight of the many Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka who still continue to flee the country (many of whom are now in Malaysia seeking relocation through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR) is a cause for legitimate concern for the entire Commonwealth.

In these circumstances the United Nations will not be held in high regard unless it intervenes under Chapters 6 and/or 7 of the United Nations Charter to investigate these heinous war crimes. 

There exists an international institution which is gaining more and more credibility as the place for achieving justice for the most heinous of these war crimes. The International Criminal Court is able to take jurisdiction over cases even where the State involved is not a party through a resolution of the UN Security Council. This was done for the situation in Darfur, Sudan⁴.  I therefore propose that this Conference support a call to ask that the Commonwealth Heads of Government, who will be meeting in Perth next week, insist that the United Nations Security Council refer the situation in Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court.  This will be the only way the UN will credibly show that it seeks to act on the recommendations of the Secretary General’s Panel of Experts.

I intend to give a copy of this speech to the Malaysian government, and ask them to seriously review their own policies of continuing with major investments and friendly relations with a country alleged to have carried out such heinous war crimes.

The grave allegations against the Sri Lankan government and its current leaders, and the continuing refusal by them to allow a credible and independent international inquiry in these allegations, suggests also that Sri Lanka should be suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations.

I urge the Global Tamil Forum, the Australian Tamil Congress and other Eelam Tamil organisations throughout the world to continue their tireless advocacy for a complete international investigation on what happened in the last days of the war in Sri Lanka as the only way to achieve justice. 

Only when justice is done, and seen to be done credibly and effectively, can there be genuine reconciliation in that island nation. 

Lim Chee Wee

President

Malaysian Bar

Pengedaran 25,000 risalah Cincin dan Pemborosan Imelda Rosmah selesai

Kenyataan Terbuka
Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM)

30 Nov 2011

25,000 booklet penerangan isu Cincin dan Pemborosan Imelda Rosmah selesai diedarkan terus ke rumah pengundi di kawasan tumpuan Melayu

Sejak kali pertama membuat pendedahan mengenai isu Cincin RM24 juta pada 8 Julai lalu, pemuja wanita yang menyamar sebagai Wanita No.1 negara telah bertungkus lumus untuk mengelirukan fakta-fakta bagi menyelamatkan imejnya.

Pada peringkat awal pemuja beliau telah membuat penafian dangkal segera seperti menyatakan yang tidak wujud cincin semahal itu malah ada yang mengatakan che'GuBard membuat penipuan kerana tidak mungkin masuk akal ada cincin semahal itu.

Kemudian ada pula seorang yang merupakan bekas setiausaha Anwar Ibrahim yang diberi ruang dalam masa perdana siaran TV3 menjawab dengan mengakui pula cincin itu masuk tetapi digambarkan hanya sebagai hadia bila disebut nama besan najib yang membawa masuk cincin tersebut.

Maka beraburlah dan makin panik kerana orang makin keliru. Mula kata tak masuk, tak wujud dan tak masuk akal. Kini kata masuk dan wujud pula tetapi hadiah. Ketika inilah Harakah telah menyiarkan keratan dokumen Kastam yang membuktikan cincin ini masuk.

Maka dalam panik pemuja pun menjawab cincin itu masuk untuk satu pameran. Makin ramai tertawa, semua ingat bagaimana perempuan itu diakitkan dengan pameran busana Muslimah yang terdedah dan pelik. Acara peragaan busana Muslimah tersebut didesak perbagai media membuat liputan. Mustahil cincin RM24.45 j dibuat pameran di tempat yang sulit, pada masa yang sulit dengan tetamu yang sulit tanpa ada yang tahu.

6 orang ahli Parlimen telah masukkan soalan mengenai cincin RM24.45 juta. Menteri berkenaan pun menjawab dengan menjawab dengan mengakui cincin itu memang wujud dan masuk ke Malaysia. makin celaru lagi maknanya penafian yang mengatakan cincin itu tak wujud dan tidak masuk ialah usaha terdesak semata-mata.

Persoalan kini muncul kenapa cincin itu masuk ? bagaimana nama perempuan itu boleh ada dalam borang Kastam cincin itu masuk.... dia bukan agen kargo atau pegawai kastam... dan kenapa cincin itu keluar semula dan mana borang Kastam cincin itu keluar.

Sebenarnya ikut jadual propagandis pemuja perempuan itu sepatutnya beberapa hari selepas jawapan menteri di Parlimen, media perdana akan siarkan borang kastam cincin itu keluar dari Malaysia. Cuma mereka tidak boleh berbuat demikian kerana SAMM telah memperolehi borang yang dikatakan cincin itu keluar dan menyiarkan dengan mengenengahkan beberapa kekeliruan yang wujud dalam borang tersebut.

Regim sebenarnya panik dengan imej wanita yang menyamar sebagai wanita pertama negara ini yang semakin merudum hingga memberikan kesan kepada populariti regim itu sendiri. Mereka menjawab isu cincin ini dengan perbagai cara termasuklah dengan membuat video dan seumpamanya. mereka menuduh kami menipu.

Kami bukan dengki perempuan itu nak pakai apa, persoalanya ialah mana dia mendapat duit sebanyak itu. kami bukan bercakap kosong maka pada 15 Oktober yang lalu telah dilancarkan satu booklet 16 mukasurat yang mengandungi penjelasan isu cincin tersebut dan menyenaraikan pemborosan Imelda Rosmah yang antaranya disahkan dalam parlimen Malaysia.

Sebanyak 25,000 dicetak. Ingin ditegaskan pencetakan risalah ini tidak mendapat bantuan mana - mana pihak. Ada Umno yang tanya che'Gubard sendiri jika ada sesiapa yang dalam Umno yang taja che'GuBard atau SAMM dalam menyerang Rosmah. Jawapanya tidak ada. Kami tidak menerima mana - mana khususnya dalam projek risalah ini. Tidak dari Umno dan juga mana - mana pihak dari pakatan rakyat.

SAMM bergerak dan risalah ini dicetak dari hasil jualan buku yang che'GuBard gerakkan ke seluruh negara. kalau nak kata ada penaja maka rakyat yang bantu beli buku kamilah penaja kami.

SAMM diuruskan melalui akaun Bank Islam bernombor 050120010074930. Akaun inilah yang kami iklankan dalam risalah ini dengan harapan dapat membantu kami menanggung kos yang masih terhutang. Namun jujurnya cuma RM1560 sahaja wang yang masuk ke akaun tersebut dan penyumbang terus yang bertemu di tempat ceramah pula berjumlah RM650. Manakala Cabang PKR Seremban membantu kami dengan mendapatkan beberapa 'bundle' booklet untuk mereka edarkan dengan mereka membayar kos percetakan yang kami bayar pada pencetak. Walaupun masih berhutang lagi sedikit namun kami masih merancang untuk mencetak lagi kerana kesan risalah tersebut amat kuat khususnya di kawasan pendalaman majoriti Melayu.

Selama ini mereka ingat bila 'pembangkang' membuat pendedahan cuma cakap kosong tetapi bila membaca booklet ini mereka terpegun kerana ini contoh pendedahan dengan bukti sekali. cuma kami sedang mencari dan mengumpulkan sedikit-sedikit dana yang kami ada untuk meneruskan usaha ini.

Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) dengan ini mengumumkan kami telah selesai mengedarkan 25,000 booklet tersebut. 15,000 diedarkan terus ke rumah - rumah kawasan majoriti Melayu oleh jentera SAMM termasuk Pekan Pahang. 3,000 diedar di tempat ceramah melibatkan SAMM atau che'GuBard dan 2 ribu lagi diberikan terus kepada individu atau organisasi tertentu yang membantu edaran.

Cetakan edisi kedua akan pasti menyusul dan booklet pendedahan terbaru akan tetap diusahakan. Pengedaran bahan seperti vcd, risalah dan seumpanya yang diedar terus ke dalam rumah pengundi antara usaha pemangkin kesedaran SAMM. Kami percaya dan yakin ini antara usaha penting dalam memberikan kesedaran bagi melawan propaganda media perdana yang diperkuda regim. Cuma kami harap jika ada pihak yang sudi tampil sama membantu kami meringankan beban dalam kos menghasilkan bahan - bahan seperti ini.

Sekian dan terima kasih

che'Gubard

Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM)

nak gambar lagi terang, rujuk SINI

sumber : IAR

terima kasih SAMM!

imej risalah ini diperolehi dari http://semutmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/11/risalah-penjelasan-isu-cincin-imelda.html terima kasih .