In Hyderabad, Hindus are denied to make festival shed at Bhagyalakshmi temple in front of Charminar..

In Muslim areas like Hyderabad in India, Hindus are not allowed to make even temporary sheds for the use of festivals.
Temporary Shed for festival removed from Bhagyalaxmi Temple in front of Charminar at Hyderabad.
‘Expansion’ row adds to tension in Old City of Hyderabad.

Express News Service – Hyderabad | 02nd November 2012 :: Tension continued in the Old City of Hyderabad on Thursday after the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) objected to the management of Bhagyalakshmi temple at the Charminar setting up a small shed in front of its premises late Wednesday night.

Police took as many as 20 persons into preventive custody after a mild clash took place between the two groups.

“At around 10 am on Thursday, devotees and Bajrang Dal activists reached the temple and staged a dharna alleging that a section of people deliberately opposed decoration works at the place of worship. Police rushed to the spot and took 20 persons into preventive custody,” deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Akun Sabharwal said, adding that the arrested persons were shifted to Kanchanbagh and Bahadurapura police stations.

According to police, the management was trying to build a temporary shed in front of the temple for the festival, when some MIM party activists, led by Charminar MLA Syed Ahmed Pasha Qadri, rushed to the spot and objected to the construction, alleging that the space near the Charminar was being encroached upon.

Heated argument ensued between the two groups after which police rushed to the spot and dispersed the mob.

Heavy security was deployed in and around the Charminar to prevent untoward incidents as communal clashes have been taking place in the Old City for a few days. Section 144 is still clamped in the Old City

Bajrang Dal Alleges Political Hand

Bajrang Dal city convener Bharath Vamsi alleged that the police deliberately arrested their activists and devotees under the influence of some political parties in the Old city. “Devotees celebrate Bhagyalaxmi festival every year.

As the festival is round the corner, the temple committee started decorating and constructing a small shed temporarily in front of its premises. What’s the wrong in it?” Vamsi questioned. He demanded that the police release the arrested devotees and Bajrang Dal activists. [Courtesy: New Indian Express]

“ONE VENTILATOR OF CHARMINAR HAS BEEN DAMAGED INADVERTENTLY BY ONE OF THE WORKER OF MAKE SHIFT (ABSOLUTELY TEMPORARY) SHEDS AT BHAGYALAKSHMI TEMPLE. THEN WHAT ABOUT THOUSAND TEMPLE DESTRUCTED BY MUSLIM RULERS ALL OVER BHARAT. OH HINDUS! DON’T ALLOW ANY MOSQUE IN ANY HINDU AREA OR NEAR VICINITY. IT WILL SNATCH YOUR RELIGIOUS RIGHTS OF TEMPLE AT LAST” - Upananda Brahmachari.

Hindu Existence Updates :: 1st Nov, 2012*******Raja Bhai Arrested******* Yesterday midnight around 2-3 o’clock MIM MLAs with their 1000 of their supporters gathered at Charminar Bhagyalakshmi Mata Temple and did a dharna (sitting demonstration demanding removal of shed…They shouted slogan “Bharat Mata Hai Hai”, and pelted stones. We ask what was police doing then when so many Muslims gathered within 144 declared areas violating peace and orders?

Raja Bhai Singh Thakur ( A councillor of TDP and a Hindu leader) was detained by police when he tried to go the Charminar Bhagyalaxmi Mata temple including the priest of the temple and several other BJP leaders… Is Bharat going to be a Muslim State?

2nd Nov, 2012 :: Today some miscreants tried to create trouble after Friday prayers at Charminar. Some miscreants went ahead and set ablaze ACP’s vehicle on fire (even police is not safe from their terror). But thanks to CRPF and RAF, a heavy damage was avoided by the security contingent. As everyone expected of Islamic nuisance after Friday prayers, they withstood the expectations. It is a request to all Hindus to be safe and don’t spread rumours unless confirmed. Be safe and be ready.

Responding this sms: “ Nov 02, 2012 Charminar, Bhagyalaxmi Mata Mandir me theek 12 baje ki Maha aarthi me sabi hindu kaisa be attend kare. Jai Bhagyalaxmi Mata Mandir. Jai Sree Ram, Jai Gou Mata.’- by Sri Ram Yuba Sena of Thakur Raja Singh, thousands of devotees gathered to perform Maha Arti at Bagyalaksmi Temple amidst heavy rainfall at Hyderabad.

3rd Nov, 2012 :: “JAI SHRIRAM” Today On Day Of Saturday 03-11-2012, City Police Commissioner Called V.H.P BAJRANGDAL Delegation Team For ”CHALO BHAGYALAKSHMI MANDIR” Program fixed on 4th Nov, 2012. After The Two Hours Serious Meeting With Commissioner, And Promised that he will stand at the spot to finish the pending work of the shed. He also informed that a permanent solution will be tried. So, Vishwa Hindu Parishad State President Sri M.Rama Raju Ji, Sri T.Yaman Singh, State Joint Secretary and State Bajrangdal State Incharge decided to postpone the program of 4th Nov and time has been given to police to restore the situation. [updates from the Sri Ram Channel's Face Book Page].

British tourists targeted in 'massacre plot' at Egypt beach resort - but police swoop on al-Qaeda terror suspects just in time

Five terrorists have been caught apparently plotting an attack on British tourists in an Egyptian resort in the lead-up to Christmas.
The suspected jihadists were arrested by Egyptian counter terror police as they collected rocket-propelled grenades, rifles and pistols in an attempt believed to be similar to the Mumbai attacks in India which killed 166 people in November 2008.#
Authorities claimed that the gang planned to attack the ‘softer target of British tourists’ holidaying at the idyllic beachside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea.

Terrorist target: Beachside resort Sharm el-Sheikh (pictured) is thought to have been the target of five Muslim terrorists who were arrested by Egyptian counter terror police

The arrests come after al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri called for a new wave of violence, appealing to jihadists around the world to attack and kidnap westerners.
The Daily Mirror quoted a security source saying: ‘There are increasing fears that Zawahiri is demanding more attacks on civilian areas with a focus on Americans and Brits.
‘British security is pretty good these days so al-Qaeda is turning its attention to the softer target of British tourists who are holidaying abroad.’

The suspects were held near the border with Gaza as the weapons were taken to a safe house in Egypt.
In a separate incident, security forces arrested two men allegedly linked to 83 bombs found by security forces in a car on a highway outside Cairo, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Appeal for violence: al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri has appealed to jihadists around the world to attack and kidnap westerners

Police also raided an apartment in Cairo and seized 1.1lbs of ball bearings, which are often used in bombs to cause greater damage and injury, and a bomb-making manual.
Two other men were detained by police recently with electrical circuit boards that could have been used in bomb-making.
The attack in Mumbai in 2008 occurred at 10 sites across the city with most of the 166 victims killed at the Indian city’s main train station.
Attacks in Egypt have been on the rise since Salafi Islam fundamentalist groups linked to al-Qaeda have grown in Egypt’s Sinai region.
Attacks have been made on UN peacekeepers, Egyptian forces, Israel and a gas pipe to Israel and Jordan.

Mumbai-style: The foiled terror plot was thought to be similar to the Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people including people at the Taj Mahal hotel (pictured) in 2008

Most victims: A gunman walks through Mumbai's main train station where most of the victims were killed during the 2008 attack

Tourists have been targeted before by extremists in Egypt during a wave of violence in the 1990s.
Some 62 tourists were massacred by six men disguised as security force staff with knives and automatic guns at an archaeological site across the Nile from Luxor in 1997.
At the time, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak blamed the British government partly for the attack after the Egyptian terror chiefs responsible were given asylum in the UK.
The Sharm el-Sheikh resort has been targeted before in 2005 when two car bombs went off at the centre of the resort and another in the city’s Old Market while restaurants, cafes and bars were packed, killing 88 people and wounded 150.
Just last year an estimated 30,000 Britons were trapped in Egypt, the Middle East’s most populous country, split between Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and Sharm el-Sheikh as violence broke out around the country while Egyptians protested.

Caves temple committee actions unbecoming

By S.Param
I refer to the recent protest by the Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar temple committee members with regard to the 29-storey condominium building project close to its premises.
Like many others I am equally puzzled as to how on earth the temple committee had kept quiet all these years, and suddenly are now beating their chests in protest over the planned condo project.

I had an opportunity to speak to several Hindu devotees recently about the matter and practically all of them could not stomach what the temple president has been claiming - that he is not aware of the planned condo.

Those who hold key positions in temple committees should avoid being seen to confuse and create unnecessary tension among the public especially among the devotees with their  actions. The temple committee should have ideally approached the state authorities and worked out an amicable solution to the matter instead of creating a drama.

It is unbecoming to stage a loud protest on the temple grounds as it is supposed to be a place of worship. Protest involving hundreds of people are events that arouse negative vibes in the temple grounds and this is definitely not in line with the Vedic teachings.

The sanctity of the temple grounds should be respected at all times and circumstances. It is sad to note that the temple committee in its overzealousness in highlighting the condo project has breached the sacred code of conduct.

The Thaipusam festival is around the corner and I hope the temple committee does not aggravate the situation further to the point of creating unnecessary anxiety and stress among the public especially the Hindu devotees.

Since the state government has already formed a special committee to look into the condo project issue, let’s hope and pray everything turns out well. It is unwise for anyone to politicise this issue further.

The Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar temple is renowned the world over for the hundreds of colourful kavadi bearers during Thaipusam. Please don’t turn it into a ground for protesters and placard holders.

PI Bala threatens to bare all if MACC keeps mum

(Malaysiakini) Private investigator P Balasubramaniam has threatened to expose more details of attempts to bribe him in relation to his 2008 statutory declaration (SD) linking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

In a letter to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) that Malaysiakini has sighted, Balasubramaniam who is in hiding in India said the information he possesses is already in the hands of foreign journalists and would be released if the commission continues to do nothing.

"My lawyer is holding everything for me. Also foreign journalists have everything. (They are) just waiting for my instructions and then (they) will release everything.

"By then (it would be) too late. As I said, please inform me or my lawyer within seven days, otherwise I am not responsible for what happens," he wrote.

In the letter dated Nov 2, Balasubramaniam expressed frustration at MACC's inaction.

"Why is the MACC not doing anything about my case since 2008? Is it because it involves the prime minister?

"My case is very clear, you don't have to investigate much. I have already given you all the evidence you need," he wrote.

He noted that the MACC had initially asked for an interview with him in London, but had not turned up at the last minute.

Subsequently, Balasubramaniam said he had answered all of MACC's questions which were couriered to him.

"You will recall that I assisted you by answering all your questions and had my affidavit affirmed and sworn before a notary in London as you requested.

"My lawyers then personally delivered this affidavit to your office in Putrajaya in August 2010," wrote the PI.

‘Bribed to implicate PKR’

Balasubramaniam claims that some people had bribed him to get him to implicate PKR leaders, including party de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, of paying him to commit perjury in his 2008 SD linking Najib with the murdered translator.

He said he was approached by the same people - businessman Deepak Jaikishan and a police officer by the name of Suresh - who had threatened and subsequently paid him a substantial amount, to sign a second SD to say that his first sworn statement was made “under duress’.

A key figure in the Altantuya murder controversy, Balasubramaniam fled to India with his family after signing the second SD.

Balasubramaniam later said that since then, Deepak and Suresh again approached him in April last year to bribe him to implicate PKR leaders.

In his letter to MACC, he complained, "I have given you enough time (to act), so far nothing has happened, zero.

"I am sitting here in Indian and cannot come back to Malaysia as I am afraid for my safety. I have got no job. How long do you think I can survive?" he wrote.

Youth arrested over Facebook posts on Johor Sultan

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — A 27-year-old quantity surveyor was arrested here last night and hauled to face the Johor police for allegedly writing seditious remarks against the Johor royal house.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Ahmad Abd Jalil was picked up by a group of plainclothes policemen at his office in Cheras at around 8pm yesterday before he was taken, along with his hard drive and office computer, to the Wangsa Maju police station for questioning.

According to Ahmad’s lawyer Mohd Zakwan Adenan, the youth was at first not informed of his offence, except that he was allegedly being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948.

“He was questioned there until around 11.30pm before the police brought him to his house.

“They said they wanted to charge him under the Sedition Act for remarks he made on Facebook but when we asked the police which statement they were referring to, they could not answer.

“The police only said they’d received a number of reports on the issue from the Johor Baru district police... and that is why the cops from Johor had come along,” he said.

Section 4(1) stipulates that any person who utters, prints or publishes any seditious words, on conviction, would be liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

At the house of Ahmad’s parents in Damansara Damai, the police conducted a thorough search and checked all computers and laptops before taking the youth with them to Johor.

Ahmad’s brother, Abas, told The Malaysian Insider that there were at least 10 plainclothes policemen who arrived in four unmarked cars at the house for the raid.

He said not a single officer offered to show their identification cards or produced an arrest or search warrant.

“We couldn’t even be sure if they were palace bodyguards or policemen. Later, they took my brother with them to Johor and told us we did not need to follow them as we should let them do their jobs,” Abas said when contacted.

At 3pm today, Ahmad was taken before a Johor magistrate by police to obtain a three-day remand order.

According to Abas, the youth is currently held at the Johor Baru district police headquarters but is prohibited from seeing his family members.

“My parents and Ahmad’s wife are there now. But they’ve not been allowed in,” he said.

Abas expressed fear for his brother’s safety in the hands of the Johor police, whom he described as “very obedient to the palace”.

He admitted that his brother has always been known to be vocal and critical of both local and global politics, but said the matter should be handled fairly and delicately.

“He is well-versed with politics, that is true. And from what I know, he made a few comments on his Facebook that could have courted trouble. But I do not know what it is... I cannot access it.

“But what we fear is this. By law, the accused cannot be extracted from the police and sent to the palace but because the cops are so obedient to the palace, this rule could be broken.

“At the palace, our hands are tied and nobody would be in control of what happens to my brother,” Abas said.

In July this year, supernatural researcher Syed Abdullah Hussein Al-Attas or “Uncleseekers” was also picked up by the Johor police over remarks against the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, which were alleged to be defamatory.

The Najib government has announced plans to repeal the controversial preventive law but despite this, the authorities have continued to invoke the law numerous times to clamp down on anti-government proponents.

Light at the end of the tunnel for Kpg Railway?

Despite being evicted from the land they had occupied for decades, residents of Kampung Railway in Sentul may still get their medium cost houses at the price of a low cost house.

PETALING JAYA: Early this week, the Kuala Lumpur High Court declared property developer Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the YTL group, as the lawful owner of Kampung Railway, a residential area in Sentul.

The decision dismayed current residents of the area and their lawyers vowed to appeal against the decision soon.

“The developer is the owner of the land, and by that virtue, they emerge the absolute owners irrespective of how and why they came to be the owners,” Justice Zabariah Yusof said in her verdict, paving way for the developer to start construction in the area.

Sentul Raya, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation, initiated the case last year seeking a court order to evict Kampung Railway’s 153 residents, claiming they were trespassers.

The residents however countered saying that they have the right to remain there by virtue of their being descendants of former Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) employees who began settling there in 1885.

They had also called on the government to turn the land into an Indian heritage site.

The Kampung Railway saga is not something new. It has been on-going for decades. The government in its privatisation drive in the 1990s sold off the land to the private developer, thinking that development would spur economic activities.

Although Sentul Raya did not start developing the area immediately, the company had plans to turn Sentul into a modern-living township. In its endevour the firm had to cross swords with the residents of Kampung Railway.

Sentul Raya had originally planned a low and medium cost housing project for the people of Kampung Railway. In August last year the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) approved the development plan of the housing project.

The plan was for the construction of 150 units of low-cost houses for Kampung Railway squatters, 576 units for KTMB lower-income staff and 200 units of medium-cost houses.

Ministry’s letter ready but…

The Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Ministry was ready to issue a letter of guarantee for the construction of houses for pioneer residents of Kampung Railway and KTMB staff.

The letter of guarantee was supposed to put to rest Kampung Railway residents’ worries that the low-cost housing scheme for them would not materialise.

In fact, the residents were offered a RM200,000 medium cost house each at the price of a low-cost unit, which is RM45,000.

Then came the problem.

The authorities and Sentul Raya needed the exact number of residents living in Kampung Railway. Sentul Raya’s survey showed that the area had only 26 families while the DBKL survey showed 53 families.

The City Hall had also put another 57 houses under “investigation” as they were either vacant or had foreign workers renting them.

Another joint survey conducted by Sentul Raya, DBKL and Federal Territories and Urban well-being deputy minister M Saravanan showed 64 families.

While there was a contradiction in the numbers, several residents formed a group earlier this year and demanded that the whole Kampung Railway area be gazetted as a Indian heritage site.

This was however, difficult as the government had already sold the land to a private entity and would have to fork out hundreds of millions of ringgit to buy back the land and turn it into a Indian Heritage site.

But with the High Court decision this week, what is in store for the legitimate owners of houses in Kampung Railway?

‘Stop politicians from exploiting issue’

Legal eagles tell FMT that Sentul Raya now holds the trump card.

“For one, the developer can clear the land without any hassle. Secondly they can revive the low-cost, medium cost housing project and sell the units to the residents of Kampung Railway at the actual cost.

“This will mean the residents lose the subsidy. They would have to pay a full RM200,000 for a house compared to RM45,000 price offered to them earlier. Thirdly, the developer can choose to sell the houses in the open market,” said a lawyer familiar with the case.

He said while the residents can appeal against the High Court’s ruling, it is very unlikely to change anything.

The residents are now at the mercy of the developer.

However, all is not lost. Saravanan when contacted by FMT, confirmed that Sentul Raya had issued the letter of offer to some residents of Kampung Railway, who had accepted the earlier offer to purchase a medium cost unit for RM45,000.

“But they must come clean on the numbers. How many are actually staying there? How many really need these houses? Some of the residents desperate to save their houses launched this Indian heritage site campaign.

“After so long, they make this new proposal. I can only say that the future for them looks bleak after the court ruling. But we can still negotiate with the developer. I really want them to get at least a medium cost house at RM45,000.

“But until we come up with the actual number of houses needed this issue cannot be resolved. They have to stop politicians from exploiting the issue. Politicians will be here today and gone tomorrow.

“The residents are the ones who would suffer in the future. Be careful in making decisions. If they come clean, I believe we can still negotiate with Sentul Raya and reach an amicable solution to the issue,” said Saravanan, who is also MIC vice-president.

While the court had announced its decision, it is hoped all parties concerned would take into account the plight of the people in finding a solution to the problem.

Manikavasagam to be dropped?

Grapevine in the party claims that the Kapar MP would be offered a state seat instead.

PETALING JAYA: Kapar MP, S Manikavasagam may be dropped as the opposition candidate of the country’s largest parliamentary constituency and instead offered a state seat by PKR for the upcoming general election, party sources revealed.

Sources said the first term Kapar MP has been offered a choice of two state seats – Sri Andalas and Bukit Melawati – in exchange for the Kapar parliamentary constituency.

In 2008, Manikavasagam beat S Komala Devi, the MIC Wanita chief, with a thumping 12,297 vote majority. As off March, 2008, the seat had 112,224 voters out of which 51% were Malays, 35% Chinese and 13 % Indians.

The Kapar parliamentary seat has four state seats – Meru, Sementa, Sungai Pinang and Selat Klang.

Sources close to Manikavasagam claim that the first term parliamentarian was keen to contest in Sri Andalas or Batu Caves and not Bukit Melawati.

Incumbent Sri Andalas state assemblyman is Xavier Jayakumar, who is also a Selangor exco member. Amiruddin Shari and MP Muthiah are Batu Caves and Bukit Melawati state reps respectively.

Party sources say Manikavasagam, fondly known as Mike in party circles, and Jayakumar could be involved in a seat swap.

“Xavier (Jayakumar) would go to Kapar parliamentary seat while Mike would take over at Sri Andalas. Mike will strenghen the state Pakatan while Xavier (Jayakumar) would move up to national politics,” a party source claimed.

Jayakumar, however, is not the sole option for the party in Kapar. There are talks that PKR may field “an outsider” in Kapar.

Lawyer and social activist K Saraswathy, who is yet to join any of the three main opposition parties, is another possible opposition candidate for Kapar.

The Barisan Nasional also appears to have two candidates for Kapar. The seat is allocated to the MIC under BN’s seat sharing system.

The largest Indian based political party in the country wants to field its Puchong division chief, A Sakthivel, a chemical engineer-turned-businessman. Sakthivel is also the party’s central working committee member.

But the local Umno division, it is learnt, is not in favour of Sakthivel and want an outsider as Kapar parliamentary candidate.

A local leader pointed out that D Ravindran, a director in the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) in charge of anti-corruption, would make a better BN candidate.

Both Sakthivel and Ravindran have been frequent visitors to the constituency since 2008.

All the four candidates from both side of the divide are actively engaging with the voters in Kapar and only time will tell who the next Kapar MP would be.

‘Cop’ handcuffs and sexually assaults boy

A 14-year-old boy was allegedly forced to receive oral sex from the man in batik shirt who claimed to be a police officer.

PETALING JAYA: A 14 year-old boy was allegedly handcuffed and forced to receive oral sex from a man claiming to a police officer on Wednesday.

The boy was said to be playing with a friend near a low cost apartment in Cheras when the suspect, who was described as dark-skinned and wearing a Batik shirt, walked up to the two.

“According to the victim, the man identified himself as a policeman and told the boys that he was a narcotics investigator,” said a police source familiar with the investigations.

The man had then asked the boys to show him where the drug hot spots were in their area, to which the unsuspecting boys volunteered to help and complied.

“The man had then molested both the boys before telling one of them to go home. He then too the victim on a motorcycle to another secluded corner,” said the source.

Away from any witnesses, the man suddenly handcuffed the boy and grabbed the latter’s private part. The suspect then forcefully performed oral sex on the boy.

“After the act took place, the man took off the handcuff and sent the victim to a nearby taman, told him to run and don’t look back,” said the source.

Following the incident, the boy went home and informed his family. A report was then lodged at the Pudu Ulu police station.

FMT understands that investigators are looking the case under Section 377B of the Penal Code for “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”.

“We haven’t got much leads yet. We’re trying to identify the suspect and find out if he is really a police officer,” said another source who admitted that the police have never encountered such a case as this before.

A photofit of the suspect is in the process of being drawn up.

Facebook rumours

Meanwhile, various sources confirmed that a Facebook status by one “Alicia Ling Horsley” which has been circulating on the issue to be inaccurate.

“My cousin saw and (bravely) interrupted a man sporting police trousers, shoes and badge receiving a BJ from 9 year old child (handcuffed and crying). A police report has been made but they are advising him to stay quiet. As a mother, I am incensed,” wrote the Facebook user.

However, when FMT contacted the “cousin”, he said that he merely heard the story from a friend, who was related to the victim, when he himself was lodging a police report.

Asked to respond to the Facebook message, a senior police officer denied that the police have told the victims to hush up about the incident.

“Stop spreading stories because it’s not helping at all. We’re not denying that there is such a case and we do not condone such acts, whether it is from a policeman or anyone at all. We’re doing the best we can and I give you my word that we will nail him.”

‘Police hid son’s arrest from me’

Testifying in her RM100 million suit against the government, Indra says she only learnt of Kugan's arrest after he had died in police custody.

KUALA LUMPUR: The police did not inform A Kugan’s mother that he was arrested despite her repeated queries on his whereabouts, the Kuala Lumpur High Court was told today.

Testifying in her RM100 million suit against the deputy IGP and four others, N Indra said she only learnt of her son’s arrest when he died in police custody, six days later.

“My family and I searched for him at several police stations, including the Puchong police station,” she told the court during cross examination.

“When I contacted the police, they lied to me and said that he had not been arrested,” said Indra.

In her written statement, she also said that a day after her son’s arrest, two police officers had turned up at her brother’s house to question them about Kugan.

“But they did not inform us that Kugan had been arrested. I only knew my son was arrested on Jan 20, 2009 after the police informed the news of my son’s death to my brother and sister-in-law, Renuga,” she said.

Indra said the last time she had seen her son was on the Jan 13, 2009, a day before he was arrested. The next time she saw him, he was dead and lying in the Serdang Hospital mortuary, his body riddled with serious injuries and wounds.

Even then, she said, she was not immediately allowed to view her son’s body and was forced to wait outside the mortuary for about three hours.

“I believe the police ordered [the hospital] to stop us from seeing my son’s body,” she said in her written statement.

“Only after waiting several hours and after my lawyer N Surendran as well as several other opposition politicians made many requests, was my family and I allowed to see Kugan at around 1am on Jan 21, 2009.”

Shocked by police’s statement

Indra said that the condition of her son’s body, which had “signs of beating and serious injuries” shocked her and her family.

“The whole family cried loudly because we could not hold back our sadness. Kugan was my eldest son,” she added.

Indra said due to the extent of Kugan’s injuries, she did not suspect the police would eventually deny having beaten her son to death.

But she said she learnt that the first defendant, the then Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, had ruled out foul play while she was on her way to Kugan’s burial.

“At that time, while we were at the funeral, we learned that the first defendant had said on the radio that Kugan had died due to water in his lungs.

“We were shocked that the police would not confess that they had beaten Kugan to death,” said Indra.

The court was also told that Khalid had made the statement prior to the release of the first autopsy report by Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin.

This spurred Indra and her family to postpone the burial to request for a second autopsy, which later revealed that Kugan had suffered terrible beatings leading to his cells breaking down and damaging his kidneys.

Attempt to cover-up cause of death

Indra was testifying in her suit against the deputy IGP Khalid Abu Bakar, police officer V Navindran, former Subang Jaya police chief Zainal Rashid, the then IGP as well as the government for negligence and breach of statutory duty.

The plaintiff’s lawyers are A Sivarasa, RL Bani Prakash and Latheefa Koya.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the defendants are Tuan Haji Arshad Md Arshad, Nur Aqilah Ishak, and R Ramesh Sivakumar.

Presiding over the case is Justice VT Singham.

In the statement of claim, Indra said Kugan was arrested by the police on Jan 14, 2009. On Jan 20, at about 9pm, a police officer informed her that her son had died while in police custody.

Indra claimed that on Jan 21, Khalid had issued a false explanation to the media on the cause of death, alleging that Kugan had asked for a glass of water and then collapsed and died.

She also claimed that the defendants made attempts to cover-up the real cause of death and issued statements calculated to exonerate the police from blame or liability.

In a separate trial in June this year, Navindran was found guilty on two counts of causing hurt to Kugan. Shah Alam Sessions Court judge Aslam Zainuddin sentenced him to three years’ jail on each count, to be served concurrently.

Hindraf-PKR entente: A stitch in time - Malaysiakini

COMMENT At last the twain has met. Hindraf and PKR have gotten together, almost.
Realism has seemingly won out over quasi-separatism, the spirit of collaboration based on common objectives over a self-defeating go-it-alone attitude driven by quixotic impulses.

The news that Hindraf's P Wathyamoorthy did meet up with PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim earlier this week and had a "fruitful" discussion, ought to come as a relief to those who from day one were anxious that the quasi-separatism of aspects of the Hindraf agenda would see them marooned on the banks of the river of national political reform rather than swimming in its currents.

The push for reform, galvanised by the reformasi movement of 14 years ago which sprung from the travails of Anwar, was accelerated by the impressive Hindraf demonstration of Nov 25, 2007 in the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar shrewdly harnessed the energy generated by that signal event to propel the opposition coalition he led to a historic denial of a two-thirds majority to the ruling BN and the stripping of its aura of invincibility at the 12th general election.

However, since that political landscape changing achievement of March 2008 and following the release from ISA custody of five of the movement's more famous activists, discordant aims and dissonant pathways prevented Hindraf from making common cause with PKR, the party that is the logical vehicle for the attainment of Indian Malaysian aspirations.

The biggest obstacle to Hindraf's making common cause with PKR was the quasi-separatism of aspects of the former's socio-economic agenda.

This quasi-separatism stemmed from Hindraf's claim that the plight of Indian Malaysians required a race-specific programme of upliftment.

PKR disagreed. They argued that the Malaysian nation has to get away from race-specific and move to need-based programmes of poverty eradication.

Indian poverty - like Malay, Chinese, Dayak and Kadazandusun penury - would be better alleviated, contended PKR, by need-based programmes of upliftment rather than race-specific ones.

Thus the nub of the socioeconomic agenda propounded by PKR militated against the approach espoused by Hindraf.

Acrimonious exchanges

In the past four years, this has been the focal point of the gulf between Hindraf and PKR, exacerbated, on occasion, by the acerbity of the verbal exchanges between the Hindu rights movement's principal interlocutor, P Uthayakumar, and assorted exponents of the cause of poor Indians - in PKR, DAP and, even, in Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

At times, these exchanges were so acrimonious, the hope that common cause could be made between Hindraf and the rest of the Malaysian opposition appeared reedy and forlorn.

Things got worse when Uthayakumar began espousing the need for Indians to move their voter registrations to constituencies where their numbers would then be significant enough to influence victory.

He deduced that with this migration, something like 17 parliamentary and 35 state seats, enabled by Indian bloc votes, would produce results that would garner for the race electoral power.

This was a harebrained scheme but it enjoyed what the German historian of ideas GF Hegel called "negative activity" - a fanaticism of the abstract that assaults the actual without having in mind any practical plans for improving the actual.

In politics, Hegel argued, such "negative activity", whatever its motivation, always ends up serving a practical political purpose.

It's hard to see where the practical political purpose in Uthayakumar's plan for Indian electoral empowerment lay, but when Ambiga Sreneevasan emerged, in the past two years, as a principal leader of Bersih, the electoral reform advocacy group that's been pushing in the last five years for a clean-up of the electoral rolls, the psychological dynamics of Indian electoral empowerment changed.

Ambiga came out of left field and surged, in a non-politically partisan way, to top the ratings in public advocacy of a just cause through reasoned argument and dignified deportment.

This was a tour de force that subtly cut the ground from under Hindraf's feet in way that must have been perplexing to them but was not to ‘middle' Indian Malaysians.

They want to be part of the national mainstream, not quasi-separate from it, as envisaged by the thrust of the Hindraf agenda.

The carriage and content of Ambiga's career is the prototype that Indians want for their children to emulate which was why, after her emergence, Hindraf and their agenda of quasi-separatism rapidly waned.

Their energetic information chief S Jayathas was the quickest to recognise this and enlisted with PKR last month.

With his joining PKR, the avoidable estrangement of the last four years between Hindraf and PKR will rapidly thaw and now with the more tractable Waythamoorthy meeting up with Anwar, a collaboration between natural allies can re-begin.

This is an entente that will be salvific for Indians and save them from futile digression.

---

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them. It is the ideal occupation for a temperament that finds power fascinating and its exercise abhorrent.

Nurul: There should be no compulsion in choosing faith

(Malaysiakini) People should not be compelled to adopt a particular religion and this should also apply to Malays, says Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.

"When you ask me, there is no compulsion in religion... how can anyone say sorry, this (religious freedom) only applies to non-Malays, it has to apply equally." she said.

She was speaking at a forum on "Islamic State: Which version; Who's responsibility?" in Subang Jaya this morning.

The Lembah Pantai MP was responding to a question from the floor on whether Malays should have religious freedom like non-Malays.

"Malay" is defined under Section 160(2) of the federal constitution as a person who professes Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language and conforms to Malay customs.

Ultimately, she said, what should be sought is "quality" where Muslims' faith is strong.

"Even me, being schooled in Assunta (secondary school) with a huge cross in the hall and an active singing Catholic society did not influence me," she said.

However, Nurul Izzah stopped short of saying that Malays should be legally granted religious freedom, saying: "I am, of course, tied to the prevailing views."
To a question on the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual (LGBT) community, Nurul Izzah conceded that as Muslims and even for Catholics, there were limitations.
However, she stressed that the principle for Pakatan Rakyat was that the community should not be victimised.

'Muslims' freedom ignored'

Human rights lawyer, Malik Imtiaz, on his part, noted that there had been a "back door attempt" to revise the country into an Islamic state with a single interpretation with Muslims being the biggest victims from this insidious move.

"We talk about how non-Muslims are affected by the so-called dominance but tend to forget that the biggest victims of this discussion are the Muslims because everyone recognises the freedom of non-Muslims but people don't seem to talk about the freedom of Muslims.

"The point is diversity is as important for Muslims as it is for everyone else.
"No one stops (a Catholic) from going to a Catholic or Protestant church but for the state, there is only one version of Islam... if you don't believe this kind of Islam, you are a deviationist," he said.

As such, Malik said what had been creating was a monolithic Islam that was being manipulated for political purpose and turned into tool to either woo or intimidate voters.

Kohilan cannot exonerate himself, says MPS councillor

(Malaysiakini) An incumbent councillor with the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) has refuted Deputy Foreign Minister A Kohilan Pillay's claim that he had played no role in approving the controversial 29-storey condominium near the iconic Batu Caves temple.

According to Kohilan (right), when he was serving as a local councillor in Selayang, he was not part of MPS' One Stop Centre (OSC) which gave the green light to the project.

However, MPS councillor Lee Khai Loon said that all approvals from the OSC must be endorsed by the council before the projects can be executed.

Lee said the role of the OSC in the local council was to facilitate the application process for development projects and cut down on red tape.

"Usually, there are three to four councillors in the OSC. Representatives of other government agencies also sit in it."

However, Lee stressed that all approvals by the OSC must be endorsed by the full board meeting of the MPS, consisting of all the councillors, before the projects can be implemented.

"Applications approved by the OSC are not final without the endorsement of the full board meeting. They will not be valid and cannot be executed," he told Malaysiakini when contacted yesterday.

Kohilan told Malaysiakini on Tuesday that he had nothing to do with the approval of the Dolomite condominium project because he did not sit on the OSC during his tenure as MPS councillor.

"I was only a councillor. It was not me who gave the approval. It was the OSC in the council that gave the approval. I was not involved," Kohilan  had said.

Lee (right) pointed out that even if Kohilan did not sit in the OSC, there were other BN councillors in it, representing the ruling coalition at that time.

"Did the other BN councillors in the OSC raise questions then?

"The full board meeting might have overlooked the project and approved it as there could have been too many project approvals to be endorsed. But why didn't they raise the issue after that?

"The shophouses, which are part of the development project, have already been completed, but we did not see them protesting before last week," Lee said.

Kohilan, who is a Gerakan leader, was an MPS councillor for 11 years, serving from 1997 to 2008.

Police reports lodged

The plan for the massive condominium project near the iconic Sri Subramaniar Temple in Batu Caves grabbed the spotlight after the temple committee, backed by MIC top guns including former president S Samy Vellu, led a protest against the Selangor government last Friday.

However, Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu subsequently revealed documents to show the BN government had in 2007 approved the condominium project - considered by many to be an eyesore to the locality - when it controlled Selangor.

Liu was reported as saying that Kohilan and Hulu Selangor MP P Kamalanathan were among those responsible for approving the condominium project.

However, both Kohilan and Kamalanathan have denied the accusation and lodged police reports on the matter.

ACT 1: "I want to live like this until I die"

Belgian Muslim State? Islamists vow campaign after election win

Berlin: Muslim Cuts Off Girlfriend's Nose and Breasts Because She Wanted to Leave Him

As usual, we get a bowdlerised, politically correct account from The Local.

Berlin police are hunting the boyfriend of a woman who was found tied to a chair in the family home with serious mutilations to her face and chest.

A man walking down the street in the Schöneberg district of the city on Tuesday afternoon heard cries for help, Berlin’s state prosecutor told The Local.

“She had managed to drag herself to the window and was calling for help despite being tied to a chair, gagged and having suffered terrible mutilating injuries,” said Martin Steltner, the prosecutor’s spokesman.

Her ten-year-old daughter had also been tied to a chair and gagged but was physically unharmed.

“It would seem we are dealing with a crime of jealousy. It’s horrific.”

Steltner said the 36-year-old woman was a refugee from Iran. “It’s a terrible situation, terrible,” he said. Her boyfriend had Dutch citizenship but was originally from Iraq, he said.

“He is on the run,” he added, confirming the 45-year-old was the main suspect in the case. The woman's husband, who does not live in Berlin, is not a suspect.

She was taken to hospital, and is said to be out of danger. Her daughter suffered severe shock and was placed in the care of city authorities.

One neighbour is said to have heard a woman screaming.

“I saw how medics carried a woman covered in blood into an ambulance,” she told the Tagesspiegel. The woman and her daughter were said to have only recently moved into the building.

Source: The Local

We have to turn to the Berlin Kurier to find out that the perp was called Omid M. and that he tortured the woman, his girlfriend, because she wanted to leave him.

For hours her lover, in an ice cold manner, is said to have abused her with a knife. Her face and hands were slashed, nose and breasts cut off, her abdomen brutally mutilated.

Labels: asylum seekers, Berlin, Germany

Vernacular schools cannot just rely on the government, Najib says

Najib says the government has to work closely with stakeholders in guaranteeing a bright future for all streams of schools. — File pic

AMPANG, Nov 1 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today said vernacular schools cannot depend too much on allocations from the government, saying that the time has come for Putrajaya to approach the private sector to contribute to the development of these schools.

“Although the government has allocated a lot of money for vernacular schools, but it is still not enough.

“The era where government knows best is over, this means the government has to work closely with stakeholders in guaranteeing a bright future for all streams of schools in Malaysia,” Najib said during a ceremony to present funds to the SJK (C) On Pong school here.

The prime minister also claimed that Putrajaya has never neglected vernacular schools as accused by the federal opposition, citing the large sum of funds allocated for education during the recent tabling of the Budget 2013 as proof.

“The government is always sincere in helping vernacular schools, especially in terms of giving allocations and facilities.

“Even the education allocation for vernacular schools this year is the biggest in history, with a RM100 million each to Chinese national-type schools, Tamil and mission (schools),” Najib said.

At the same ceremony, RM38.3 million in donations was distributed by “The Community Chest” body to 196 schools all over the country.

The country’s former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tun Mohamed Hanif Omar, was also present at the ceremony.

“Today’s donation-giving is the implementation of the third phase with RM38.3 million contributed to 196 Chinese and Tamil schools.

“Through joint contribution (sumbangan usaha sama) with The Community Chest, this clearly fulfills the government’s promise to contribute RM100.2 million in this one-year period,” Najib said.

Najib said that the funds distributed to vernacular schools would be used to ensure that they enjoy facilities and development equal to that of national schools.

In last year’s Budget 2012, the government gave a special supplementary allocation of RM100 million for the maintainence of SJK (C) and the building of new SJK (C) schools.

Despite Putrajaya’s various moves and initiatives, some Malaysians remain dissatisfied with the government’s role in helping vernacular schools.

Those who are unhappy include the United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong), which had last September presented an eight-point memorandum to the government, demanding that it solve problems faced by SJK (C) schools.

Dong Zong has also raised the issue of teachers’ shortage in Chinese primary schools, criticising the Education Ministry for sending teachers with no Chinese language qualifications to teach in SJK (C).

The Chinese education movement had also claimed that the country’s education policy is unfair.

‘My son was no criminal’

A distraught VP Rajah says despite two Indonesians being sent to the gallows for murdering his son, R Karthic, the authorities are portraying him as a burglar.

PETALING JAYA: Upset with media reports and authorities labelling his murdered son as a burglar, VP Rajah, has come forward to defend his son, R Karthic’s honour.

“I’m licensed money changer, own a plantation business and run a mini market. My son helps me in my trade and I pay him about RM10,000 in monthly salary and commissions.

“I’m also a former treasurer of the Negeri Sembilan PPP and Karthic was a youth member of the party. Tell me, is there any reason for my son to become a burglar?” asked Rajah, 51.

On Dec 3,2010, Karthic was found murdered at a shophouse in Taman Sri Sunga Pelek, Sepang. Eyewitnesses claimed he tried to enter a shoplot unit through an opening in the ceiling.

However, two Indonesian brothers guarding the shop were said to have spotted Karthic and killed him before fleeing the scene.

Frans Hiu and Dharry Frully Hiu were sentenced to death on Oct 19 by Shah Alam High Court judge, Nurchaya Arshad.

Relating his ordeal, Rajah said that Karthic went to the shop at about 9am on that day to collect RM5,000 he loaned to his friend, Leong Wai Yiaw, who was working at the shop.

“He was supposed to leave for India on that day but decided to get his money first,” said Rajah.

He added that Karthic and his girlfriend Juliet Rani Nadarajah were waiting downstairs of the shoplot before being dragged upstairs by four men.

“The day market was operating then and many can vouch for this. Even my brother in law, R Murugan, was there shopping and saw Karthic being taken upstairs,” he said.

Rajah claimed that he received a frantic call from his wife at about 11am saying that Murugan had heard a commotion at the shoplot.

Rajah said that when he arrived at the scene, he was stopped by a police officer from entering the crime scene.

“The officer, named Corporal Asrul even refused to tell us what happened. Only after three hours, did he break the news to us.

“He even accused my son of breaking into the shop while the investigations were going on. He just dismissed me,” said Rajah.

Two still at large


Rajah accused investigating officer, ASP Zaiharul, and the deputy public prosecutor Yusof Rahman of working in cahoots with the shop operator to pin the blame on his son.

“But it was God’s grace that Justice Nurchaya sensed something was amiss and decided to visit to the crime scene,” said Rajah.

“She realised that my son could not have came down from the ceiling as the opening was too small. She also spotted many errors in the statements made by the police and the accused.”

Rajah added that Hindraf secretary-general P Uthayakumar also assisted him by holding a watching brief during the trial.

Raja’s brother in law, Murugan, said that two more people responsible for Karthic’s death are still at large.

“I saw my nephew being taken up by four men. I panicked when I heard Karthic screaming from upstairs and I rushed back to inform my sister,” said Murugan.

He also said that Juliet Rani had fled the scene by then, and later lodged a police report.

Murugan added that he was never called to give a statement by the police despite being a witness to the incident.

“I even went to Bukit Aman to inform them that I could help in their investigations but they ignored me,” said Murugan.

Rajah urged the public to read the case facts first before making a conclusion about Karthic. He also said that his son was good man and is even a registered organ donor.

“My son’s heart was harvested and is to be given to a man with heart ailment on Nov 18,” he said.

Assaulted by guard, man lives in fear

No action has been taken against a security guard who allegedly beat an apartment owner, leaving the latter with a fractured hand and nose.

PETALING JAYA: After being hit by his own security guard, traumatised apartment owner G Sumendran is now wondering why his assailant still walks free around his housing area.

Last Monday, a security guard allegedly assaulted Sumendran with an iron rod as he was entering the apartment premise, leaving the latter with a fractured hand and nose.

“On Oct 22, at around 3pm, I was with my father about to go into my [apartment premise], but the security guard refused to let us enter,” he related the incident at Hindraf’s headquarters here.

“And my father gave the security guard his IC, [but] he refused to take my father’s IC, and he asked for his licence instead,” he said, adding that the security guard did this often to irritate his family.

“I went out of the car to talk to him. He thought I was going to threaten him or something; he took the iron rod and hit me,” he claimed.

Sumendran has been given a medical leave for an entire month following the painful beating, and still wears a cast around his left hand.

According to the medical certificate issued by Hospital Putrajaya, he suffered a “closed fracture of left ulna styloid.”

To make matters worse, Sumendran claimed that the police have not taken action following the report he lodged on that same day over the assault.

As a result, on top of the injuries he suffers, he still encounters his assailant on a daily basis – who, aside from still guarding the area, is also a resident of the apartment.

“My whole family is very traumatised by the experience, we are not able to concentrate on our work,” said Sumendran.

“My son asked me, what if the same incident happened to him, or even my wife?” he said, adding that his assailant recognised his family members.

“My wife calls me every day to ask me where I am, what I am doing, how the children are doing. We are all frightened and traumatised.”

Asked why the security guard targeted his family, Sumendran said he believed it was because his family had refused to pay the “dubious” security company its monthly fees since April this year due to their unsatisfactory services.

He also said the security company, which had been hired by the residents’ association, could not be terminated as its employers mostly comprised apartment residents who would otherwise be unemployed.

And because the security company was not hired by the apartment management, the latter was unwilling to take responsibility over the issue.

“This case doesn’t just involve me; it involves the safety of my family as well as the other residents,” he stressed. “How long can we live in fear?”

Police must take action

Meanwhile, Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar slammed the police for their alleged inaction since the report was lodged over a week ago.

“There has been no action, no prosecution, no arrest. Why? They can’t go around hitting people like this and just get away with it,” he said.

Uthayakumar said he had been receiving many complaints recently over high-handed security guards, and urged the government to take action over it.

“The Home Ministry and the police force should provide compulsory one-week training for security guards outlining what they can and cannot do.

“Houseowners pay a substantial amount to have security guards, yet these guards are usually not even formally trained,” he pointed out.

PSM minta Ketua Polis NS ambil alih kes

Memorandum tersebut diterima oleh Pegawai Hal Ehwal India, ASP Alagaesan pada jam 12.30 tengahari tadi bagi pihak Ketua Polis Negeri Sembilan.

SEREMBAN: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) menyerahkan memorandum kepada Ketua Polis Negeri Sembilan, Datuk Osman Salleh meminta beliau dan Ibu Pejabat Kontinjen (IPK) Polis Negeri Sembilan mengambil alih satu kes yang dikendalikan Ibu Pejabat Daerah (IPD) Rembau.

Bagaimanapun memorandum tersebut diterima oleh Pegawai Hal Ehwal India, ASP Alagaesan, pada jam 12.30 tengahari tadi bagi pihak Ketua Polis Negeri Sembilan.

Menurut Setiausaha Agung PSM, S Arutchelvan, tindakan segera oleh Osman amat diperlukan kerana beberapa perkara atau insiden yang berlaku di IPD Rembau baru-baru ini.

Perkara tesebut berlaku rentetan daripada satu insiden pergaduhan di antara 12 lelaki daripada keluarga yang sama dengan empat orang lelaki yang tidak dikenali di hadapan rumah keluarga tersebut pada 20 Oktober lalu.

“Kami mendapati bahawa segelintir anggota polis Rembau telah menjalankan tugasnya dengan sikap yang tidak profesional dan beretika serta menjalankan tugasnya dengan menanam sikap dengki dan membalas dendam terhadap Setiausaha PSM Cawangan Seremban, S Tinagaran.

“Berdasarkan kenyataan-kenyataan yang diberikan oleh beberapa anggota keluarga yang ditahan dan beberapa anggota polis, bahawa memang ada unsur untuk menfitnah dan memangsakan Tinagaran.

“Kami juga mendapati siasatan yang dijalankan adalah hasil dari perasaan yang kurang memuaskan dan dengki serta membuat kesimpulan bahawa semua tahanan (12 ahli keluarga) ada kaitan dengan kumpulan gangster.

“Kami mahu Ketua Polis menyiasat kerana kesemua 12 ahli keluarga yang ditahan tidak ada rekod jenayah atau didakwa di mana-mana mahkamah.

“Kami menyeru kepada Ketua Polis supaya membentuk satu pasukan baru di bawah beliau kerana kami telah hilang keyakinan kepada IPD Rembau. Mereka (12 ahli keluarga) ini merupakan mangsa kepada provokasi tujuh lelaki yang tidak dikenali itu,” kata Arutchelvan.

Arutchelvan berkata Tinagaran merupakan salah seorang yang mempunyai kaitan kekeluargaan dengan 12 lelaki yang ditahan dan beliau pergi ke IPD Rembau untuk mengetahui status tahanan mereka.

Arutchelvan turut mengutarakan insiden salah guna kuasa polis dan penyiasatan yang tidak profesional apabila membuat penahanan semula (tukar gari) ke atas M Sharvin Raj dan K Jakan, di mana polis Tampin juga mengatakan bahawa mereka berdua tidak ada kes.

Layanan buruk terhadap tahanan

“Penahanan itu sengaja dibuat dan ini mencabul Hak Perlembagaan Perkara 5. Malah ada tahanan tidak diberi rawatan perubatan apabila tahanan mengadu sakit dan ada tahanan dipukul apabila batuk.

“Menampar dan menendang seorang tahanan bawah umur S Mathuraiweeran, 17 tahun dan menggari bersama tahanan lain hanya untuk memaksanya mengaku terlibat dengan kumpulan gangster.

“Ada juga ahli keluarga yang sekadar pergi ke balai polis untuk mengetahui perkembangan kes turut ditahan”, katanya.

Sebelum itu seramai tujuh ahli keluarga daripada 12 ahli keluarga tersebut membuat laporan polis dan kandungan laporan polis itu menjelaskan kronologi insiden pergaduhan yang berlaku pada 20 Oktober di Taman Koperasi, Pedas, Rembau.

“Pada hari Sabtu 20 Oktober lalu, keluarga kami membuat kenduri untuk bayi yang baru lahir mengikut tradisi dan adat agama Hindu.

“Lebih kurang jam 12.30 pagi, dua remaja lelaki menaiki sebuah motorsikal membunyikan enjin motorsikal dengan kuat. Abang saya menegur mereka kerana ada empat bayi sedang tidur di dalam rumah.

“Tidak lama selepas itu dua lelaki itu datang dengan beberapa lelaki lain dan berlaku pergaduhan di antara mereka dan ahli keluarga kami.

“Tidak beberapa lama kemudian polis tiba dan menahan empat lelaki yang menjadi punca pergaduhan. Kami (12 ahli keluarga) turut mengikuti polis ke IPD Rembau tetapi kami juga ditahan.

Justeru itu Arutchelvam berharap Ketua Polis Negeri Sembilan membuat penilaian semula kes terhadap 12 ahli keluarga yang ditahan selama tiga hari atas satu kesalahan yang tidak masuk akal dan tanpa bukti yang kukuh dan munasabah.

Police seek duo over computer thefts

Wanted: Police are looking for Kiranan (left) and Siva.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police are on the lookout for two young men suspected of being involved in a string of computer thefts amounting to more than RM1.2mil here and in Petaling Jaya.

The men, both aged 20, are believed to only target graphic design companies that use high performance desktop computers and laptops.

City CID deputy chief (Investigation and Legislation) Asst Comm Ab Aziz Zakaria said a graphic design company had lodged a police report over the theft of laptops and desktop computers worth RM200,000 at Wangsa Maju on June 18.

“We later found that two other graphic design companies in Puchong and Kelana Jaya were similarly robbed on Aug 6 and Sept 22,” he told a press conference at the City police headquarters yesterday.

He said both companies reported thefts of MacBook Pro and MacDesk Pro high-performance computers worth around RM1mil.

ACP Ab Aziz said police had retrieved and analysed CCTV footage from the three companies.
“We believe two men are behind the string of burglaries,” he said, adding that police are looking for Kiranan Surendran and Siva Kalaiselvan to facilitate investigations.

He said their last known addresses were 1-1-4, Jalan 10/42A, Taman Sejahtra, Segambut, and B-5-8, PPR Raya Permai, Jalan Landai Permai, Sungai Besi, respectively.

He urged those with information on the whereabouts of the two men to contact the police hotline at 03-2052 9999 or visit the nearest police station.

Is Malaysia a secular or Islamic state? It depends

An Islamic state can be defined as a type of government in which the primary basis for government is the Syariah, or Islamic law. Here, the Islamic law reigns supreme, as it is derived from the Quran, the Muslim holy scripture, and the Hadith, a record of the Prophet's deeds and words. At the centre of the Islamic state concept is the implementation of the hudud.

Salim Othman, The Straits Times (Singapore)

One fundamental question gripping Malaysians today is whether Malaysia is a secular or Islamic state.

The issue came to the fore when de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz remarked in Parliament last month that "Malaysia has never been determined or declared as a secular state", and that the word "secular" was not even present in the Federal Constitution.

The minister stopped short of saying Malaysia is an Islamic state, in his reply to a question by a Member of Parliament from the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP).

His remarks were made in the context of ongoing polemic between the DAP and its rival, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), on the question of hudud - the Islamic penal code - and the goal of the DAP's coalition partner, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), to establish an Islamic state.

This has emerged because the Chinese party is warning voters that a vote for the DAP equals a vote for the PAS, which means a vote for an Islamic state and hudud. This is to scare non-Muslims away from voting for the DAP, because of the implication that the PAS would turn Malaysia into an Islamic state and introduce hudud if the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition - which includes the PAS and the DAP - forms the government after the general election due by April next year.

The MCA is capitalising on the fear of hudud's harsh punishments. It is also reminding voters of the danger that non-Muslims, who form 40 per cent of the population of 28 million, would be relegated to being second-class citizens if Malaysia becomes an Islamic state.

But the reality is quite different. There is only a remote chance that hudud will ever be implemented by the PAS if the PR were to take over the government, as the Islamic penal code and the concept of the Islamic state are not in the agenda of the coalition.

It is also unlikely to happen in a country where only 60 per cent of the population are Muslim. This is because hudud law can take place only if a constitutional amendment is made to provide for the strict Islamic penal code. That would need an endorsement by a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

While this secular-Islamic state debate may be purely a smokescreen in the tussle for votes between the opposition and the ruling party, the issue has rekindled interest in the identity of the country some half a century after its independence.

Did Malaysia's founding fathers envisage the country to be what it is today?

There is no consensus as to what kind of state Malaysia has become since its independence in August 1957 - whether secular or Islamic.

One definition of a secular state is that it upholds the concept of secularism whereby a state or country is neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. It treats all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and avoids preferential treatment for a citizen from a particular religion over another. More importantly, a secular state does not have a state religion or equivalent.

An Islamic state can be defined as a type of government in which the primary basis for government is the Syariah, or Islamic law. Here, the Islamic law reigns supreme, as it is derived from the Quran, the Muslim holy scripture, and the Hadith, a record of the Prophet's deeds and words. At the centre of the Islamic state concept is the implementation of the hudud.

Both Malaysia's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and third prime minister Tun Hussein Onn had said Malaysia is a secular state, contradicting Datuk Seri Nazri's remarks in Parliament that the country had no secularist roots.

Tunku Abdul Rahman had referred to Malaysia as a secular state, and not an Islamic one, on a number of occasions, including one when he told the Parliament on May 1, 1958: "I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood; we merely provided that Islam shall be the official religion of the State."

But after 55 years of independence, Malaysia does not quite fit the standard definition of a secular state because Islam is declared the religion of the federation.

At the same time, the Constitution guarantees non-Muslims the freedom to practise the religions of their choice - but they cannot preach these to Muslims.

The state is therefore not neutral to religion as it gives preference to Islam. Malaysia's secular Constitution, as the supreme law of the land, allows certain aspects of Islamic laws to be implemented in the country, hence blurring its status as a secular state.

Is Malaysia then an Islamic state as declared by the country's fourth prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in September 2001?

Dr Mahathir, who had previously described Malaysia as an Islamic country, declared Malaysia to be an Islamic state to ward off attacks from the PAS, which had accused Umno (which has a Muslim membership base) of not fulfilling its religious obligation to set up an Islamic state.

Dr Mahathir argued that Malaysia could be an Islamic state even without the implementation of Islamic law. But this goes against most theories of the Islamic state which hold that the Syariah, in which the hudud is a significant component, lies at its heart.

But the former prime minister, who was against hudud as propounded by the PAS, maintained that Malaysia was an Islamic state as shown by its acceptance as a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The grouping includes countries which do not implement the hudud.

Dr Mahathir's concept of an Islamic Malaysia is the result of his Islamisation programme during his two decades of premiership. The expansion of religious bureaucracy is abundantly evident; so are the controls exerted on citizens' rights in the name of Islam, such as a prohibition against the use of the word "Allah" for God by Christians, a restriction on Malay bibles and a ban on proselytisation of Muslims.

Indeed, Malaysia has become so Islamic that even civil courts have ceded their jurisdiction to the Syariah courts in disputes involving Muslims under the country's dual legal system.

The secular-or-Islamic debate will emerge from time to time as the issue will be raised by the ruling party or opposition to score political points with voters.

And this is not a matter only between the Malay parties Umno and PAS. Increasingly, non-Malay parties are also caught up with the issue as their constituents remain wary of the Islamic-state concept and the implications of the country becoming more Islamic.

What Everyone Should Know About Operasi Lalang

By Kee Thuan Chye - Malaysian Digest

Last week, we marked the 25th anniversary of Operasi Lalang, that black day in our history that changed our country for the worst.

Like May 13, 1969, it was a Malaysian tragedy. And after all these years, we have yet to fully recover from it.

The beneficiaries of that notorious official move on Oct 27, 1987, to detain 106 Malaysians under the Internal Security Act (ISA) were – as journalist uppercaise has rightly pointed out in his blog – the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and Umno.

Or, to be precise, Mahathir’s Umno Baru, which came about after the original Umno was declared illegal by the High Court in February 1988.

The year before, Mahathir was under siege as president of the party. The party was split – into Team A and Team B. And in April, he was challenged for the presidency by Tengku Razaleigh.

Members had come to dispute Mahathir’s leadership style. Team B, led by Razaleigh, criticised Mahathir for not consulting other Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders before making decisions.

As prime minister, he put his own people in charge of key operations. His privatisation schemes were given to his cronies. Team B pointed out that the New Economic Policy had failed to benefit poor Malays. Now, in hindsight, it’s even clearer to us why that was so.

Team B made an impact, and Mahathir won the election by polling 761 votes against Razaleigh’s 718, scraping through by a mere 43 votes.

Many people actually expected Razaleigh to win, so the suspicion of election-fixing arose. But Razaleigh accepted defeat and promised to support Mahathir if the latter did not embark on a witchhunt.

Of course, now that we know from hindsight the kind of man Mahathir is, it comes as no surprise that he embarked on a witchhunt anyway. He removed all Team B supporters from his Cabinet, and did the same at state and local government levels.

In June, a group of Umno members who came to be known as “the Umno 11” filed a suit to have the Umno elections declared illegal because they had found invalid voters among the delegates. These delegates were allegedly from Umno branches that had not been approved by the Registrar of Societies.

The court asked both sides to settle the issue themselves, but an amicable solution was not reached. So on Oct 19, the Umno 11 said it would press on with its legal action.

At the time, the tensions within Umno were being compounded by racial tensions outside. Chinese educationists had been upset by the Education Ministry’s appointing of non-Chinese-educated principals and senior assistants for Chinese schools. The custodians of Chinese education, Dong Jiao Zong – abetted by political parties like the MCA, Gerakan and the DAP – staged a protest against the move.

It immediately provoked a counter-rally by Umno Youth at which about 10,000 people turned up. This was the event at which Najib Razak, then the Umno Youth chief, famously unsheathed a keris and reportedly vowed that it would be bathed in Chinese blood.

The authorities seized on this potentially explosive situation – and the somewhat random act of an army private running amok in Chow Kit shooting his M16 at people – as a pretext to swoop down on “troublemakers”.

Operasi Lalang resulted in conveniently shutting away a good number of Opposition politicians and civil society activists who had been critical of the Government.

I use the words “pretext” and “conveniently” because most of those detained were not at all involved in the Dong Jiao Zong protest or the Umno Youth counter-rally.

Among them were members of Christian groups, environmentalists and anti-logging natives of Sarawak, and a Malay Christian convert. Why were they taken in?

Forty of the 106 even had their detentions extended by Mahathir for two years. They included DAP deputy chairman Karpal Singh, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and his son Guan Eng, some PAS members and numerous NGO activists.

On the other hand, the leaders of the Umno Youth rally who were brandishing banners that called for Chinese blood and proclaimed “May 13 has begun” were untouched. Why were they not taken in?

The Government also conveniently shut down three newspapers that had been critical of it. The Star, Watan and Sin Chew Jit Poh had their publishing permits suspended.

Purwaiz Alam, who was a journalist at The Star during its suspension, recalls in uppercaise’s blog the months of uncertainty he experienced, surviving on one-third pay and waiting anxiously for the newspaper to be forgiven. At one point, he and his wife had to sell their video cassette recorder just to get some extra cash.

“But on the first day that The Star re-opened,” he writes, “most of us knew things would never be the same any more. The journalism that we had learnt and knew well would wither away soon enough. As the months went by, it became obvious that my job (and those of hundreds of others) had been saved at a price, a very hefty price.”

His grim conclusion: “All of us are still paying for it 25 years later.”

Effectively, Operasi Lalang heralded the culture of fear that strangulated Malaysians for at least two decades.

It also provided the environment for Mahathir to rule in an even more authoritarian manner. He had scared off his opponents and silenced his critics, so now he was free to do what he wished.

He amended the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to keep newspapers under tighter control.

He amended the Police Act to restrict our right to free assembly, making a police permit mandatory for public gatherings.

According to the book Malaysian Maverick by Barry Wain, Mahathir said his amendments were aimed at those who abused the Government’s “liberal attitude”.

“Being liberal to them is like offering a flower to a monkey,” Mahathir said, disdainfully. “The monkeys would rather tear the flower apart than appreciate its beauty.”

In 1988, as a result of his unhappiness over a few court judgements that favoured natural justice over his administration’s convenience, he amended the Federal Constitution to remove the independence of the judiciary.

There is much more to say about how Mahathir tampered with our sacred institutions in the years after Operasi Lalang, but it would take a book to cover it all.

Some people think another tragedy like Operasi Lalang could happen again – and not too far in the future. Especially when, as journalist Charles Chan who lived through the dark days of The Star’s suspension puts it, “desperate politicians face loss of power that opens the doors to prosecution for their abuses of power, corruption, etc”.

To prepare ourselves for such a contingency, we need to ask ourselves how we would respond if it should happen. Should we be docile like we were in 1987 or should we stand up for our rights?

What’s paramount is that we should find ways of preventing such tragedies in future.

First, we should not allow a despot to rise again. At the first sign of such a creature emerging, we should vote him out instead of supporting him for more than two decades.

Concomitant with that, we should not allow any ruling party the luxury of a two-thirds majority in Parliament so that they can amend the Constitution anyhow they like.

We should also be vigilant in not allowing any of the despot’s proxies to climb to the top.

Second, we must ensure that checks and balances are firmly in place, like a strong civil society – and, certainly, the reinstatement of the separation of powers among the executive, the legislative and the judiciary engraved in our Constitution. This means independence must be returned to the judiciary.

Third, we must repeal all laws that are against the spirit of democracy, like the PPPA, the Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act (soon to be called the sweet-sounding National Harmony Act) and the Universities and University Colleges Act.

There is no ISA now but in its place is the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012. This has to go. We have enough laws to take care of terrorist threats.

Fourth, we must get rid of our feudal mentality. This perpetuates a culture of blind subservience to the leader and a culture of sycophancy, both of which empower the leader even more. Furthermore, ascent to leadership should be based on merit, not on an individual’s ability to suck up to the boss.

Fifth, Operasi Lalang is a tragedy that needs to be told and re-told so that those who don’t know about its ramifications may understand why Malaysia is in the mess it’s in. Those who have lived through that terrible day and its aftermath need to tell their children and grandchildren the real story about what happened and condemn the abuse of power and dictatorial rule.

Our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, gave us a lead when he said right after Operasi Lalang: “It’s not a question of the Chinese against the Government but of his own party, Umno, who are against him.”

The real story of Operasi Lalang is not about a potential racial war erupting. It is about a despot who wanted to hang on to power, shut out all opposition, and run the country to his own advantage.

That’s what everyone should know.


* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, available in bookstores together with its Malay translation, Jangan Kelentong Lagi, Kita Semua Orang Malaysia.

Nazri’s “Blow Job” in Parliament

by Martin Jalleh

The Prime Minister has often preached about new winds of change and transformation blowing through Umno and into the country. There would be reform to deal corruption a deadly blow.

He has a very dependable Minister in his department who makes up for his frequent absence in Parliament, one who is very adept at blowing in the wind in the august House, i.e., providing answers that are as intangible (in meaning) as the wind – Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Nazri Aziz is also reputed for blowing a fuse and spewing caustic invective when he finds himself in an intellectual and logical void and when all sense and sensibility deserts him in parliament.

He blows his cool when challenged and when his trademark nonsense is made bare. Similarly, when his theatrics, temper tantrums, threats and taunts fail, he blows off steam, accompanied by low blows.

Occasionally, Parliament hears Nazri’s own blown up importance, the latest being his loud declaration and reminder to the Opposition that he is the “number one” minister of law – and of course, he knows everything about the law.

When the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal made it into the pages of the Auditor-General’s 2010 Report for failing to meet production targets, the Government and Umno must have thought that it would soon blow over. The people will forget.

But PKR’s strategic director Rafizi Ramli refused to allow it to blow itself out! He called on the government to act swiftly and sternly but the powers that be together with the enforcement agencies, preferred to blow hot and cold!

Najib’s initial response in Parliament over the scandal was that “production will soon increase”. The Agriculture Minister Noh bin Omar even called the project a “success”! Khairy Jamaluddin and Muhyiddin Yassin came up with justifications for the scandal that blew one’s mind!

Rafizi Ramli realized that the Government chose to blow cold on the scandal. Bolehland would have to wait till the cows come home before any serious action was taken! He released the very details of NFC’s offences and criminal improprieties – bit by bit, blow by blow!

The NFC scandal blew up in the Government’s face. It must have wished if only it could blow to smithereens the glaring and embarrassing evidence, like some people did to a poor lady six years ago!

NCF had blown a great part of the RM250 million of taxpayer’s money by using soft government loans meant to develop the cattle project to buy luxury apartments, expensive overseas trips and a Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class.

It was very evident that Najib and his Government blew it! It had dealt itself a severe blow to its credibility and integrity, But in a move that blew everyone’s mind, instead of acting swiftly and severely against the culprits in NFC, the Government chose to exact revenge on Rafizi Ramli.

In its continued justification of such a shameless act, the self-proclaimed “number one” minister of law was in Parliament recently blowing smoke with a lecture on the difference between “whistleblowers and “trumpet-blowers”.

Whilst blowing his own trumpet, Nazri implied that Rafizi was a “trumpet-blower” and was not accorded protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) 2010. In other words, if you blow the whistle to parties outside of (Government) enforcement agencies you will be not be given protection!

Nazri also warned opposition MPs, whom he said “were fond of exposing sensitive information”, to read the Officials Secrets Act (OSA) and the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) carefully so that they would not take a wrong step and be charged in court for it. Alas, why have a WPA when the Government, its cronies and cohorts, are “protected” by the OSA and the BAFIA?

Little did Nazri realize that he was indirectly highlighting the common and open secret – that the Government has all along been blowing a lot of hot air with its WPA, passed in December 2010 which the Government claimed was meant to encourage more to expose corrupt activities!

Upon closer scrutiny, the WPA is just one of those false (and faulty) progressive laws promoted by the PM (and Nazri). The political persecution of Rafizi Ramli who played a sterling role in blowing the lid on the litany of gross abuses by Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family marks a serious blow to the purported anti-corruption campaign launched by the PM.

Nazri may smirk all he wants in Parliament but he is helping to “blow” this government away, come the next General Election!

(1 Nov. 2012)

Death penalty not effective deterrent, says EU rep

The Sun
by Michelle Chun and Dorothy Cheng

PETALING JAYA (Oct 31, 2012): The severity of punishment is not as effective a deterrent to crime as the certainty of punishment being carried out, said a political affairs expert from the European Union.

EU delegation to Malaysia political affairs representative Ivo Apostolov said a person would be more likely to commit a crime as long as he believed he would not be caught even if the punishment is death.

"But if one knows he will definitely be caught, he would be less willing to commit a crime even if the punishment is less severe," Apostolov said at the Taylor's University Law Awareness Day 2012 today.

He said crime is still on the rise even with the death penalty, and there is no proof it prevents crime effectively.

"In Malaysia the number of drug traffickers caught at airports keeps rising, which is why the government is considering a review of the death penalty for this offence," he said.

He also said the death penalty is contrary to the values of a nation that upholds every person's right to life.

"Before the concept of justice there was only the vendetta of vengeance, but what we want to show is that we are a humane society that respects and values every life.

"If we expect equal punishment for every crime, the cycle would never end as an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Malaysia is one of 58 countries which still retains the death penalty for murder, drug trafficking, treason and waging war against the King. More than 900 people are presently on death row.

Many Malaysians reportedly favour the death penalty as an appropriate way of deterring crime and punishing offenders.

Meanwhile, the EU, Malaysian Bar Council and the National Human Rights Commission have organised a pleadings competition among universities to raise awareness on the death sentence as mandatory punishment in Malaysia.

Government Committed To Helping All Schools - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- The government is sincere in helping all types of school in the country and channels allocations fairly, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today.

He said the allocation for the education sector provided by the government all these while showed its commitment to turn out an educated society.

He said this was because the education sector was among the most critical catalysts in transforming Malaysia towards a high income nation.

"We are proud that the government always places priority on education especially in the context of funding. And from the allocations the government can set aside every year, education receives the highest amount," he said.

He said this before handing over a replica cheque of RM38.3 million for 80 of 196 selected national-type and missionary schools nationwide, at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) On Pong, here.

The cheque was contributed by the Community Chest, an independent, apolitical and non-ideological charitable organisation.

Najib said since 2009, the government had allocated more than RM1.2 billion for the infrastructural development of Chinese, Tamil and Missionary government- aided schools.

He added that this included an allocation of RM100 million each to the government-aided schools in question, through Budget 2012 and 2013.

The Prime Minister said the government was aware more needed to be done to strengthen the education sector in terms of schools' physical and infrastructural development and boosting the quality of teaching and learning.

Najib said it was hoped that the cooperation between the government and non-governmental organisations in assisting school would be a continuous effort towards developing the education sector.

"I am proud of the dedication demonstrated by Community Chest in working with the government to channel funds to schools nationwide," said Najib.

The Prime Minister said cooperation between the Community Chest and the government clearly fulfilled promises through contributions of RM100.2 million since the welfare fund was launched in September last year.

"This is our principle, whereby promises are made to the people and fulfilled for the people," he said.

Also present were Community Chest Board of Trustees member Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, Deputy Foreign Minister A.Kohillan Pillay, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and PPP president Datuk M.Kayveas.