Hindu and Buddhist consolidation have registered their grievance and anxiety in UN Protest Rally in NY.

US Buddhist and Hindu Organisations have successfully organized Protest Rally over Ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh.

 

 Base-reports and Pics received from Sitangshu Guha, NY, dated 06-10-2012 :: Nearly 20 different Hindu-Buddhist-Rights Groups in USA have registered their strong protest over Islamic atrocities upon the Bangladeshi Minorities in front of United Nations Head Quarter in New York on 5th Oct. 2012. The BHBCUC (Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council -USA), NABC (North American Buddhist Community), Bangladesh Hindu Mandir New York, Sarbojanin Puja Udjapon Parishad – INC., Bangladesh Puja Samity – NY, American Jumma Council -NY and other rights group vehemently condemned the recent Islamic plunder in Ramu, Patia and Ukhiya Buddhist monasteries, Hindu temples and over peace loving minority Hindu-Buddhist people in Cox’s Bazar and Chattagram areas in Bangladesh. In their long demonstration, the protesters all over USA gathered in the UN HQ to demand the safety and security of the minorities of Bangladesh now under a severe persecution of various Islamist factions as if getting a permission of the reluctant Bangladesh authorities.

Condemning a covered militarization, ethnic cleansing, treating minorities as a second class citizen, state support for Islamization of Bangladesh and humiliation on minority citizens of Bangladesh with all other related issues, the congregation demanded a strong law enforcement for the protection of minority Hindu-Buddhist-Christian-Others in Bangladesh.

The demonstration also demanded a hard punishments to the perpetrators of Ramu-Patia-Ukhiya devastations.

A liar Pakistan wants to wash its dirty linen with an Islamic soap.

Police, Hindu community give contradicting statements over minority persecution.

KARACHI: The police and representatives of the Hindu community gave contradicting statements over the issue of minority persecution in Pakistan during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights held on Friday.

During the meeting presided over by Committee Chairman Riaz Fatyana, the police maintained that minorities in Pakistan get equal rights and there was no Hindu migration from Sindh, while representatives from the Hindu community thought otherwise.

Additional Inspector-General (AIG) Falak Khursheed said, “Pakistan is a country where every citizen reserves the right to live his life the way he wants. Minorities especially Hindus girls are never pressurised to accept Islam or to convert their religion.”

He said that only three families had migrated to India while 200-300 other people had gone for a pilgrimage to their holy places this year.

On the other hand, minority MNA Dr Araish Kumar from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said that the AIG was misguiding the committee by presenting wrong figures. He said that around 12 cases of forced conversions were reported in Tando Allahyar in past one month, while 7,000 Hindus had migrated to India in the past three years.

Mangla Sharma from Pakistan Hindu Council said that over 0.1 million Hindus from Sindh have migrated to India. She reiterated that the government has avoided providing 5% quota of jobs at government departments to minorities.

After a long discussion, the committee recommended that district-level special cells, with representatives from police, home department, civil society and Hindu community, be established to protect minority rights.

The committee further advised the Sindh government to lodge cases under the “Anti Terrorism Act” against

those who attack temples and other worship places for minorities in Pakistan, and directed the home department and the provincial government to set up “safe houses” where kidnapped girls can be kept for around one month before being moved to any court.

The officials of the law department were also directed to prepare a draft on Hindu Personal Law with the input on Hindu community leaders.

Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) MNA Dr Attiya Inayatullah, Chairman Pakistan Sikh Council Sardar Ramesh Singh and officials of law and home departments also expressed their views on the issue during the meeting. [eCourtesy: The Express Tribune, Pakistan].

Afghan cleric offer $300k bounty on Anti-Islam filmmaker

An Afghan religious cleric announced $300,000 bounty to kill the producer of the American film which

insulted prophet Muhammad.

This is the first time Afghan religious clerics jointly announce bounty in a bid to defend insulting the Islamic values.

Anti-Islam film sparked deadly protest across the Muslim countries and the producer of the film was widely criticized for desecrating the Islamic values.

A number of Afghan religious students, clerics and members of the civil society following a demonstration urged to arrest and try the producer of the Anti-Islam film.

Mir Farooq Hussainy a religious cleric in western Herat province of Afghanistan vowed to offer bounty for killing the producer of the Anti-Islam film.

He said the bounty will be collected from the local traders and investors of western Herat province.

Mr. Hussainy also said they are going to pay $100,000 for anyone who is going to kill the cartoonist that insulted prophet Muhammad.

In the meantime several members of the provincial clerics council and tribal elders condemned the making of Anti-Islam film and urged local residents to maintain unity.

Anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” was produced by an American-Jewish film maker which insults Prophet Muhammad.

The protesters blamed US and Israel governments for the making of the film and urged the two nations to take strict actions in order to arrest the maker of the movie.

Meanwhile recent reports suggest the maker of the movie was arrested by the US government however there is no news regarding his fate.

Brothers jailed for 32 years for pimping out young girls to curry house workers

• Mubarek and Ahdel Ali sentenced for grooming teenage girls for sex
• Pimped them out to staff at Shropshire restaurant for £150
• Ahdel Ali handed 18 year prison sentence and brother Mubarek got 14 years jail
• Both denied a total of 24 charges, including controlling child prostitution and trafficking

Two brothers have been jailed for a raft of sexual offences including pimping out young girls to workers at a curry house for £150 sex sessions.

Ahdel Ali, 24, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while his 29-year-old brother Mubarek was handed a 14-year-term by Judge Patrick Thomas QC at Worcester Crown Court.

Sentenced: Mubarek Ali, 29, left, and Ahdel Ali, 24, right, have been jailed for 32 years for pimping out young girls to curry house workers

During the brothers' trial the court heard that the two men systematically groomed young girls for after hour sex sessions at the restaurant.

The Ali brothers, both of Regent Street, Wellington, denied a total of 24 offences, including controlling child prostitution, people trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Ahdel Ali, known as Eddie, was also accused of rape and sexual activity with a child.

The abuse was committed against four girls between March 2008 and December 2009.

Mubarek Ali denied four counts of controlling child prostitution, two of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, and one of causing child prostitution between March 2008 and December 2009.

His brother denied three charges of controlling child prostitution, 11 of sexual activity with a child, two of inciting child prostitution, one of meeting a child following sexual grooming, one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and a count of rape alleged to have been committed between June and September 2008.

'We are satisfied with the sentences handed down at court today and are pleased these two men will now serve significant custodial sentences,' West Mercia Police detective chief inspector Neil Jamieson said.

Ahdel Ali and Mubarek Ali targeted these girls because of their vulnerability and then systematically groomed them in such a way that eventually they could exploit them sexually for their own gain and gratification.'

Sentencing: The pair were sentenced to a combined 32 years in jail at by Judge Patrick Thomas QC at Worcester Crown Court, pictured

Jamieson added that the trial had been an ordeal for the victims who gave evidence.

I would like to pay tribute to the strength and character shown by all of the victims who came and gave evidence,' he said. 'It has been very challenging for these young women to come forward and give their evidence and I hope that these convictions will go some way to help them move on with their future lives.

I would also like to thank my team of dedicated officers and staff who worked very hard to bring these men to justice.'

During the trial, Stafford Crown Court heard the pair groomed two teenage girls for sex before persuading them to work as prostitutes for them four years ago.

One of the victims, now aged 19, told the court she and her friend were driven to the Dhaka Tandoori restaurant in Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, after hours.

The woman, giving evidence behind a screen, told the court: 'Two of the men took my friend into a bedroom. It was after the restaurant was closed and there were three men in rooms upstairs.'

She said she went into one room where she found her friend having sex with one of the men. Another man asked her to have sex, she said, but she refused and instead performed a sex act on him.

She told the court: 'I felt I had to do it. I didn’t want to do it.'

When the girls left the restaurant they found the Ali brothers taking drugs and drinking in their car, the jury heard.

The girl told the court: 'They were just laughing. They thought it was funny because we had to do it and they got money for it.'

Earlier the court heard the girl met the brothers when she was 15. She said that they befriended her but when she turned 16 she was forced to have sex with men up to four times a week.

Scorpene purchase followed legal procedures

All must accept the Auditor-General's official report, says the defence minister.

BAGAN DATOH: Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Auditor-General has already explained that the purchase of Scorpene submarines was made according to legal procedures and his official report must be accepted by all quarters.

In response to the opposition’s plan to bring in a French lawyer, William Bourdon, to brief the Malaysian lawmakers on court proceedings in France on the purchase of the submarines, Ahmad Zahid hoped no quarters would twist the existing facts on the matter.

He was also of the opinion that the lawyer was invited to Malaysia by the opposition merely with political motive and not so much for legal business.

Ahmad Zahid said this to reporters after opening the Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Ulum Al Tarbiah’s Sports Day in Kampung Tanah Lalang here today.

The purchase of the submarines should be seen from the aspects of an offset programme, training, and performance assurance for certain period of time, he said, adding that it was really an old issue brought up to create public anger and confusion.

On the request for the government to pay a monthly allowance of RM500 to army veteran who served during the emergency era, Ahmad Zahid said it was up to the prime minister to decide according to the government’s financial ability.

“It is quite difficult for the government to meet the request, but we have to be grateful that during the tabling of Budget 2013 the government had announced the one-off payment of RM1,000 for the army veterans as a token of appreciation for their contribution during the emergency era,” he added.

- Bernama

Polis, jangan masuk campur urusan politik

PSM buat laporan polis terhadap anggota polis yang menyebarkan dakyah.

PETALING JAYA: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) membuat laporan polis terhadap seorang pegawai polis Bukit Aman pagi tadi.

Menurut Setiausaha Agung PSM, S Arutchelvan, pegawai berkenaan Karunanithi dan seorang lagi pegawai polis telah menyampaikan satu taklimat kepada ibu bapa dan pelajar di Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Semenyih.

Tambah beliau, para pegawai berkenaan memfitnah PSM dengan dakwaan bahawa parti itu mempunyai hubungan dengan Parti Komunis Malaysia dan sedang berusaha menyebarkan fahaman komunisme.

Aktiviti PSM didakwa berada dalam kawalan polis.

Gambar enam aktivis PSM yang ditahan di bawah Ordinan Darurat pada tahun lepas didakwa turut digunakan semasa taklimat tersebut.

Dalam laporan polis tersebut Arutchelvan menjelaskan bahawa tuduhan memerangi Yang Di Pertuan Agong terhadap enam aktivis PSM telah digugurkan.

`Perhimpunan Bersih’

Malah keenam-enam aktivis tersebut telah menyaman Ketua Polis Negara dan 80 anggota polis lain kerana penahanan tidak sah.

“Mereka juga menasihatkan para ibu bapa dan pelajar agar tidak menyertai perhimpunan Gabungan Piilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih) kerana aktiviti yang dijalankan tidak berguna dan menyusahkan rakyat,” kata Arutchelvan dalam laporan tersebut.

Berikutan itu, PSM menggesa pihak polis agar menumpukan perhatian terhadap usaha pengurangan jenayah.

“Polis tidak boleh melibatkan diri dalam politik. Mereka sepatutnya menumpukan perhatian terhadap usaha pengurangan jenayah

“Sepatutnya mereka bertindak secara profesional dan tidak membenarkan diri mereka dipergunakan untuk propaganda negatif,” kata Arutchelvan setelah membuat laporan polis terhadap anggota polis yang menyebarkan dakyah terhadap partinya.

Assaulted DAP man receives ‘threat’ calls

Taman Murni DAP branch chairman, A Thirumalvalavan received two calls that threaten to injure him.

PETALING JAYA: A DAP member who alleged that he was assaulted by gangsters in a party meet last week has received calls from unknown people who want to assault him.

“I received the first phone call at 10.23pm from an unknown Indian man. The caller wanted to kick, beat and chop me up.

“I also received another threatening call, this time from a private number about 26 minutes later,” said Taman Murni DAP branch chairman, A Thirumalvalavan in his police report.

The police report was lodged a short while later at Sepang district police headquarters in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi.

He claimed that the threatening calls were made as a result of his allegations that DAP has gangsters within the party fold.

“The man threatened me because I spoke to the media on Friday,” said Thirumalvalavan.

On Friday, he and another party member R Selvan alleged that they were assaulted by gangsters when they attempted to give a memorandum that also included allegations of gangsterism within the party.

Both Thirumalvalavan and Selvan along with Pantai Putra Sepang branch secretary Rashid Md Gani also questioned the DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng and Selangor DAP chief, Teresa Kok for ignoring the issue even though both Lim and Kok had witnessed the incident on Monday.

Helping the poor can get you into trouble

PSM’s Jeyakumar was a thorn in BN’s side even before he became an MP.
INTERVIEW

KUALA LUMPUR: Even before he got into mainstream politics, Dr Michael Jeyakumar was such an irritant to the government that it once tried to put him out of circulation by offering him a scholarship to pursue any course of his choice overseas.

That was in 1998, a year before DAP fielded him as an election candidate in Sungai Siput.

He told FMT the scholarship offer was just one of several attempts to get him out of Perak, where he had been relentlessly fighting for social justice for the poor since his undergraduate days in the late 1970s.

He was also offered the job of heading the medical department of a government hospital in Pahang. He turned down that offer too.

But he has paid a heavy price for his activism. The government once stopped paying his salary as a doctor and referred him to a disciplinary committee. That was when he decided to play an active role in politics, eventually joining Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

The soft-spoken MP said he opened his eyes to the plight of the poor in 1977 when, while pursuing his medical degree at Universiti Malaya, he participated in a community service project in a rubber estate in Sungai Siput.

He soon joined an NGO called Alaigal, which worked with estate and urban pioneer communities, and has since continued with his social activism and community service.

“Actually I’m not the kind of person who is very keen on politics,” he said, “but involvement with squatters and estate workers motivated me to do good for people as an elected representative.”

In 1999, he offered himself to DAP as its candidate for the Buntong state seat, but the party preferred to place another candidate there and told him to contest in Sungai Siput instead. He lost to the then formidable S Samy Vellu.

He lost again in 2004, but became the giant killer in March 2008. In both elections, he contested under the PKR ticket. (PSM was registered only in August 2008.)

He has maintained his service centre in Sungai Siput since the 1999 election while continuing to run his private clinic in Ipoh.

The 57-year-old politician acknowledged that he could not allocate enough money for activities in his constituency, but he believes he still has support among voters because they want an honest and dedicated politician to represent them.

Anti-capitalism

He described PSM as “a lightweight party within Pakatan Rakyat” but said it had an important role to play in the alliance by virtue of its anti-capitalist stand.

“Other parties within Pakatan are in favour of capitalism, but PSM has always been firm in our stand that socio-economic problems in the country are mainly due to our market oriented economy.”

Dr Jeyakumar said the main issues in Sungai Siput were unemployment, landlessness and the displacement of estate workers, with youths being forced to seek work as far away as Singapore.

“SMIs operating within the industrial zone in Sungai Siput prefer to employ foreigners,” he said. “They claim that it is cheaper to employ Nepalis and Bangladeshis, besides their being much easier to control than locals.”

He said unemployment forced people to remain as squatters and resulted in various social problems.

Dr Jeyakumar reckons that there are about 700 squatter families in Sungai Siput, 300 of them living on government land and the rest on private land.

“We have managed to stop the forced eviction of these families, but our effort to secure land titles for them is not getting much support from the land office and local council,” he lamented.

He said so far only two squatter settlements had received a positive response to their application for alternative land. “But it will cost each family at least RM50,000 to relocate and build a new house.”

He said even the Orang Asli Department was not supporting land applications for members of the aboriginal community, who make up 7% of Sungai Siput voters.

Dr Jeyakumar’s service centre deals with about 30 cases a week. Most of these, he said without elaborating, were welfare cases.

Speaking about the 13th general election, he said PSM was likely to field candidates in Sungai Siput, the Perak state seat of Jelapang and the Selangor state seats of Semenyih and Kota Damansara, just like in 2008.

Punishing Samy

He attributed his 2008 victory to the determination of Indian voters to see the defeat of BN. He said Sungai Siput voters decided to punish Samy Vellu for what they saw as his arrogant response to Hindraf’s 2007 rally.

For the coming election, he believes that voters will also consider local issues.

“I can’t give much money to support their programmes, but I believe they value my service not only in Sungai Siput but also in Parliament,” he said.

According to his analysis, Indian support for BN prior to 2007 was between 70% and 80%, but in 2008 less than 40% voted for Samy Vellu.

He believes that the various government announcements about projects for the Indian community have helped BN to regain some support. Perhaps up to 50% of Indians would vote for BN this time around, he said.

He added that some Indians were not happy that Pakatan and their representatives had not done enough for the betterment of the community.

He said the Chinese and Malays in his constituency had not complained much about his performance, but he acknowledge that he needed more time to tackle several issues affecting them and other communities, particularly the questions of landlessness and a lack of employment opportunities.

Referring to the Orang Asli voters, he said only 1% supported him when he contested as a DAP candidate.

“It improved to 4% in 2004 and then 10% in 2008, when I contested under PKR.”

Stubborn Umno ‘killing’ race relations

Umno's refusal to adapt to the changing socio-political setting in the country is its own doom.
COMMENT

The Malaysian people have already shown that they no longer accept the Umno solution.

The coming together of various races during Bersih 3.0 earlier this year sent shivers along the spine of the Umno leadership unless of course they misread or simply refused to read the signals sent by the tens and thousands of participants who voluntarily rallied.

Umno’s approach to ‘unity’ is something like the Nazi final solution. It thinks it can achieve national unity by pitting one race against one another.

Today the Chinese, tomorrow the Indians and later all other non-Malay Malaysians.

Eventually, it will apply the same gas-chambering treatment to the Malays who dared challenge and reject Umno.

The Malays who are opposed and reject Umno are classed as either not having sufficient Malayness or apostates. The majority of us reject this fascism.

The socio-political setting in the country has changed but Umno refuses to adapt.

And those who don’t adapt will perish.

As a DAP member, I am also ready to concede that in the long run, DAP will lose its wider relevance if it also refuses to adapt to the new social setting.

The new social setting demands recognition that despite being of different races, heterogeneity does not prevent the sharing of universal and common values.

Different races value the same freedom and economic justice.

Being of different races does not preclude sharing similar ideas about equality or sharing the same idea about a common future.

You think the right thinking Malay is unmoved to see Umno abuse the Malay definition?

The ordinary Malay finds it reprehensible when Umno exploits the Malay name to enrich the elite and selected few among the Malays.

Vilifying the Chinese

Umno commits the fatal mistake of thinking it can justify almost everything by using the Malay name.

Look at the general vilification on Malaysian Chinese who are now more readily associated with DAP.

Let me ask you, who is the closest Malaysian Chinese to the Prime Minister these days?

It’s a Malaysian Chinese who just secured a RM1 billion contract to do the Ampang LRT extension works.

In that sense, the Umno president is selling out the Malays.

It is certain now that Najib had interceded on behalf of George Kent to award the Ampang LRT extension project to a Malaysian Chinese.

The company failed the technical and financial pre-qualification requirements but for Najib’s intercession, got the project anyway.

Mind you, this is the same Malaysian Chinese who was rumoured to have brokered the contract for the double tracking project for China Harbors.

Additionally, this same Malaysian Chinese was rumoured to have asked US$500 million from the Chinese government allegedly for the benefit of Najib.

‘Tanda Putera’

Umno’s direct or indirect support and endorsement to the film Tanda Putera must also be condemned as an attempt by a desperate government to drive a wedge in between the races of Malaysia.

Umno’s ‘black hand’ must be condemned as a highly irresponsible act of a government that claims it’s committed to democracy and a united Malaysia when in reality its interest is to maintain divisons within this country by playing of one anti-Umno/BN group against the other.

Is that how one proves one’s Malayness? That is the way of an imbecile.

Now, isn’t it the Malay leadership that is responsible for havoc visited upon the ordinary Malay?

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but joined DAP earlier this year. He is a FMT columnist.

A tough battle in Lembah Pantai

SHOWDOWN: Barisan Nasional is going all out to wrest the hottest urban seat in Kuala Lumpur back from the opposition, which it won by a narrow margin in the 2008 general election, writes Carisma Kapoor
LEMBAH Pantai, a constituency in Kuala Lumpur held by Parti Keadilan Rakyat's vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, is considered one of the hot seats in the next  general election. Barisan Nasional will be fighting hard to win it back. In the 2008 general election, Nurul defeated BN's Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who had held the seat since 1995, by a relatively narrow margin of 2,895 votes.
Nurul, a first-time elected representative, is expected to defend the constituency with some 56,000 voters, and will likely face Lembah Pantai Umno chief and Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.
In a recent report, Raja Nong Chik conveyed his intention to contest the Lembah Pantai seat if he was among the candidates selected by BN.
Asked whether it would be a challenge to face Nurul, he said it would be but only because she was an incumbent member of parliament.
As someone who had grown up in the area, Raja Nong Chik, however, welcomed the challenge.
"I am confident of winning the seat based on my service record and relationships established over the past 25 years in the area, starting from my early days as an Umno Youth member," he said.
His years of involvement in the local politics and issues of Lembah Pantai had helped him to understand better the needs of residents.
"I'm contesting so that I can serve the people, not for other interests. I walk the talk, unlike the opposition which criticises and walks away without offering any solutions," he said, adding that even though he was not selected as a candidate in the 2004 general election, he had continued serving the Lembah Pantai residents.

Raja Nong Chik stressed that he had stated several times that the only seat he would like to contest was Lembah Pantai. This, despite being cautioned by some that the seat was "not safe for a minister".
Raja Nong Chik's game plan would include working hard, turun padang (going to the ground), listening to the people's problems, resolving outstanding problems as well as facilitating better living and working conditions for people within and outside Lembah Pantai.
"More importantly, I will try to assist those in the area who have been left behind in developments," he said, referring to the disabled, single mothers, pensioners, traders, low- and medium-cost flat dwellers, the sick and students.
On Nurul's supporters who had spoken out about their preference that she contest in Permatang Pauh, Raja Nong Chik said the suggestion had come about because Nurul had not served her constituency for some time.
"Nurul has only become active recently because the election is coming."
As for BN Lembah Pantai, he said members would fight any opposition candidate and thereafter join their colleagues to help Federal Territories and the rest of the country.
Raja Nong Chik, however, said it was up to the BN leadership to decide on whether to field him.
Nurul claimed that she was not only confident of retaining the Lembah Pantai seat but was also certain that the opposition would take control of Putrajaya.
She said the Election Commission had yet to implement the suggestions by the opposition and their allies for a free and fair election.
Nonetheless, Nurul said, the opposition would continue to participate in the election, highlight abuses and work towards getting at least 75 per cent voter turnout.
Nurul said "phantom busters" had been trained by the opposition to use cameraphones to take note of suspicious voters for legal action.
"We are advocating for international observers to view our electoral process."
On her efforts to "win over" voters in the area, Nurul said apart from relating to the people, she represented their voices in a "new culture of politics", where issues and not individuals drove legislation.
Responding to supporters who had preferred her to contest in Permatang Pauh, a seat held by her father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the 32-year-old said she would obey her party even though she had indicated that she would like to remain with her supporters in Lembah Pantai. -- (NST)

Muhyiddin Supporters can't wait for the PM's exit.

Muhyiddin Yassin's supporters have finally come out to stake the claim for their chief as the next PM of Malaysia, and it is not really surprising as so many things have gone weirdly wrong with Najib's running of the country, the party, and most of all the elections campaign, that most of the people in the BN seem to be sure that with Najib at the helm the BN will suffer an agonising and  humiliating defeat when he calls for elections this time around.

To Muhyiddin, and  in fact the majority at UMNO, Najib has and is taking  the party in the wrong direction, he has not asserted his authority sufficiently to maim the opposition, to them he does not have enough, "fire in the belly" to win the elections they way his predecessors did.
Najib's deputy has scarce respect for him,  he has displayed that time and again by deliberately contradicting  so many directives of Najib's, as one observer noticed,  "the other so called "heavyweights" in UMNO - Nazri, Rais Yatim, Khairy,  and even the likes of Sharizat seem to be  leaning towards Muhyiddin almost to say that there is this general feel in UMNO that Najib  has to go." 


Many in UMNO see Najib today as excess baggage and they want him out, he is causing too much discontent amongst the Malays they in Johor claim,  they are worried that the Pakatan Rakyat is fast gaining a foothold in some major parts of Johor and many within the inner circles have conceded that this time around they may lose Negeri Sembilan and Trengganu  too.

Instead of  building on UMNO's  strengths, he has opted to go all out to win back Penang, Selangor and Perak which they managed to snatch back and this is being done to the detriment of Negeri and Johor says the UMNO leadership in both these states. The battle in these states are as good as lost, the UMNO grassroots will tell you this there is no way they are going to take it back especially Selangor,  Penang, Perak Kelantan and kedah and to make matters worse Trengganu has been confirmed as going the other direction this time around.

One UMNO division leader in Johor is openly asking for Najib's ouster as he thinks if they wait till after the elections it may be too late and if the BN loses this elections it will never recover from it in the near future.

He says,  "there is so much to reveal about the inner workings of UMNO that the next generations of Malays will not want to trust them anymore, and when Pakatan wins they will reveal all,   that is how serious the situation is," notice his choice of words,  "when Pakatan wins" is that an accepted fact in Johor?

Go to Parit Sulong in Johor and see what the UMNO people are saying, there is scant regard for both Najib and Mahathir, there they say - " Mahahtir must shut up and get out, and Najib must learn how to keep his house in order,  if he can't how can he be the leader," now that sentiment is seems to be spreading in Muar too, if you have the opportunity talk to the Malays there.


 As one Malay observer in Muar put it, "in those days the Malays never openly took sides, the listened quietly and gave their support, there was hardly a whisper, today they are not quiet anymore they are not even whispering, they are shouting on top of their voices, 'we're  fed up!!!' we have been betrayed for so long and this party has not only betrayed us they have stolen from us and other Malaysians, we'd rather vote the DAP." 

 The Malays led by UMNO  have long not trusted the DAP. UMNO successfully  branded the DAP a Chinese chauvinistic Party, but the DAP went on building it's image, from the Rahim Tamby Chik case, to  it's MP Ahmad Noor, and its exposure of all the UMNO corruption more and more Malays feel they have a better alternatives in the DAP than UMNO and the BN.

The general feeling down south is,  those who still do not trust the DAP there are other alternatives - PKR and the PAS and the Malays are taking it and whilst this BN government is now really worried about this Malay vote many feel that they will lose more with Najib at the helm, whether  this a Muhysiddin strategy or a fact is better known within UMNO as each faction will tell you.

With Sabah in shambles, with Sarawak who delivered during the last elections and on whose strength  the government was formed - only to land up with  a few meager  inconspicuous ministerial positions the dynamics have changed, the East Malaysians want a leader from their midst, all parties this time around have to make that offering they must see one of their people capturing  Putrajaya - becoming the PM of Malaysia and the demand is, " he  is not to be from UMNO."

The Dayaks and the Kadazans will tell you that and this time around they mean business, but  UMNO can't afford to give them that, because that will be political suicide for the UMNO leadership. To Pakatan Rakyat that is easy, it is no problem, and PAS and DAP will point  to the fact that Anwar readily became their choice for a  leader without any infighting.

Right in January this year this blog spoke of the rift and Muhyiddin's behind the scene strategies to wrest power from Najib. "Live by the gun die by the gun," so the saying goes, Mahahthir removed Hussein Onn that way, Najib removed Abdullah and now his deputy is doing the same, it seems to be becoming the UMNO culture,  however,  has Muhyiddin got the clout to do it.

 Muhyiddin has made no secret about his intentions,  for every major strategy that Najib  has put in place he - Muhyiddin has had a spanner in the works,  he is Malay  first and Malaysian next. Remember?

All his acts of public sabotage was to show the whole world that he is not a deputy to Najib, he is deputy to the chair and the chair only, that is the seat of the PM, "Najib is not after all,  an elected PM, he is a PM by default and that counts for nothing," that is what he confided with one of his close aides. Each time he came out defiantly not to toe the line like he did in the 1 Malaysia campaign Najib just stepped aside and did not confront him.

The youth in the Muhyiddin camp boasts of one staunch supporter who they say,  thinks she is Najib's closest and dearest supporter. According to those in the Muhyiddin camp  there is little they have to do, she does all the work and does it magnificently, one supporter even told this blog,  "she goes for her Botox every Thursday, is she has a change her face  ever so often." That is good enough to ruin Najib without ruining UMNO, but Najib they say "lacks strategy, he lacks foresight he is a poor leader and he must give up, cukup lah!!! cukup!!!! thy say and laugh wryly.

Najib has enough enemies within UMNO he does  not really know his friends, what we are told is that Hishamuddin Hussein Onn the Minister of home affairs and his cousin  is the only one he can trust but that too is of little use as this less intelligent minister only puts him into more trouble each time he opens his mouth.

Talking about less intelligent ministers he has Rais too in his camp, Rais the man who was supposed to have "Burnt" his bridges when he joined Semangat 46, so he has to prove now that he is faithful to the cause - but now, which cause? Najib's or Muhyiddin's?


Many in BN including Mahahtir Mohammed feel that the longer Najib waits the worse their chances of winning better, they are confident of winning after all if the elections commission seems to be in your pocket who wouldn't be?

Najb and Rosmah have  the least confidence in themselves, UMNO and the BN as a whole, so the attitude seems to be whilst we've got it we best make the good  use of it, and there is no doubting that.

One close Najib aide says he is doing everything in his power to win, if he does not then it is all God's will and that is what is irking the Muhyiddin camp they feel Najib is giving it up too easily and that with him at the helm that is exactly what will happen.

They the Muhyiddin camp is  willing to go on an all out assault on Najib to do this, they are demanding he does it, expose Najib and the Mahathir cronies within, look like the man who will save the country and throw Najib out before he calls for the next elections. They feel that is his only way out for UMNO and them.

Muhyiddin however feels time is not ripe, "he does not have the courage to" says an UMNO man, "they are all involved neck deep, one can't take on the other, they'll all die. the only way is for some of them to take responsibility and become the fall guys, not one of them but some of them, and that some is not too little, I'll tell you."

The Najib camp has decided to leave it to fate, now the irony of the whole thing is, PAS says,  "God's will is that BN loses."

When however they have not said as it is all "God's will."

Consider this Muhyiddin has the support of Johor UMNO, the Negeri Sembilan divisions are almost completely pro Muhyiddin, then you have the Trengganu, and Kelantan divisions, so why is he not taking on Najib?

Does Nazri want to turn Sabah into a Filindo state?

Daniel John Jambun

The comment by Datuk Nazri Aziz that the immigrants in Sabah are under control and are not a threat to the state is another proof that the Federal Government is not interested to solve this mother of all problem. What is painful about this comment is that we can smell a dirty rat, a mala fide (bad intention) and the underlying reality that the Federal Government is actually supporting the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah as part of some sinister plan to continue changing the demography of the state.

What he said was outrageous and unacceptable and should have been condemned by everyone and every party, including the leaders and parties of the Barisan Nasional. Unfortunately only PBS, through its Secretary General, Datuk Henrynus Amin was daring enough to protest, saying Nazri “was politically insensitive to grassroots sentiment in Sabah, especially their fears and concern for the future wellbeing posed by the huge presence of illegal immigrants” and that the statement fuelled “speculations in the streets as the genuine commitment of the Barisan Nasional Government to resolve the perennial problem of illegal immigrants in the state.” He demanded that the minister clarify and correct his statement. The response is still total silence.

What is amazing is Nazri’s continuous denial of the problem. How do we get him to behave like a responsible leader? How do we get this stubborn minister to retract his words and change his attitude about the issue? Obviously diplomacy and polite tones like the ones used by the BN component parties do not work. What Nazri needs is outright condemnation in the strongest words to make him realize that the people of Sabah are thirsty and hungry for the defence and protection of the federal government from non-military invasions which continues to this very day. We can’t accept that he is ignorant. He is too educated and too well-informed by the various security branches of the police and army to be ignorant of what are really going on in Sabah. Our only reasonable conclusion is that Nazri is purposefully saying his offensive remarks because he is bullying Sabahans, to let us know that he is boss. We can see that he has been telling us indirectly to shut up about this issue, to let it go, to allow the illegals to grow and increase.

Dear Sabahans, please pay attention to the fact that the illegals (Filipinos and Indonesians) are already the majority group in Sabah (27.79%), compared to KDMs which are now only 21.2%. And they are still increasing through continued arrival, and much more rapid birth rate. And in spite of this the federal leaders, including Tun Mahathir are campaigning for them to be legalised, on top of those hundreds of thousands who already have genuine MyKads! Leaders like Nazri must be gloating and laughing in glee to see that this has happened, to see that the KDMs, “the most stubborn people in Malaysia” (bangsa yang paling degil di Malaysia) have been and are being taught a powerful lesson!

But in case Nazri is actually ignorant, I would like to offer him a free tour of the illegals situation in Sabah, with a package tour including the following: the illegals squatters being allowed by the authorities to spawn and expand in areas KK like Likas, Tebobon, Signal Hill (these are all stealing water and electricity to the tune of millions of ringgits per year); the congested hospital lobbies where a huge proportion of outpatients are illegals; to the Likas Hospital where the maternity wards continues to record that the highest number of births are among Filipino mothers (some of them have three kids within two years!); to the streets of KK where naked children are harassing motorists and pedestrians with begging, and these pests retaliate by hitting cars if not given anything; to the stairways of the Sinsuran and Segama shophouses where foreigners piss and defecate like there is not tomorrow; to the sprawling Filipino handcraft market, the dry and wet fist markets, and open-air restaurants in Sinsuran and Segama in KK, and the smuggled cigarette peddlers in Inanam, and the dirty, dark and smelly tamu in Inanam where Filipinos rule at the blessing of the DBKK and the local YBs; the newspaper reports of crimes committed by illegals (rapes, muggings, thefts, snatching, slashing, drug pushing, murders, etc.); the “free-ports” of the East Coast where illegals can come and in out without much difficulty; to the East Coast towns like Semporna where illegals have outnumbered locals five to one; to even the Interior areas like Keningau, where illegals have gone into the jungle to cut down the trees to start new settlements and plant crops, and so on and so on. But the irony of this offer is that, in case Nazri takes it, he would most likely be smiling and rubbing his hands in glee at the sight of all these because these are what he wants for his grand scheme to turn Sabah into a Filipino and Indonesian state!

Can Nazri deny that this is his real intention for Sabah? Is his intention to turn Sabah into a new Filipino-Indonesian (Filindo) state?

Now to talk about security, and Nazri continued stupid assertion that the illegals pose no security threat, doesn’t he know that all the major cities and towns in Sabah are already surrounded by illegal settlements? Doesn’t he know that in the nearby Sulu islands, the tradition among people of power and influence is to keep a lot of weapons (pistols, M16s) in the house, and these weapons can easily be smuggle into Sabah? If these heavily populated settlements launch an attack for some reasons the consequences will be too horrid to describe. Remember the Corregidor Incidence which almost caused a war to erupt between Malaysia and the Philippines. Remember that during the 1970s and later, Sabah was a channel for transfer of weapons to the southern Mindanao. Remember the Philippines’ claim on Sabah is still in effect. Remember that the Indonesian government is still very much anti-Malaysia. Remember sukarno’s “Ganyang Malaysia,” the Ambalat island conflict, the Sebatik boundary argument, and the new ongoing protests against Malaysia’s stealing of Indonesian dances.

Nazri needs to be sober up and stop treating Sabahans as if we are idiots.

Perolehan Scorpene tidak dikemuka untuk tujuan audit- Azan

(Oleh: Masdar Wahid)

KUALA LUMPUR 7 Oktober: Ahli Parlimen Indera Mahkota, Azan Ismail berkata, perolehan kapal selam Scorpene, pesawat Sukhoi dan kelengkapan ketenteraan lain, tidak dikemuka untuk tujuan audit.

“Tugas Jabatan Audit Negara bukan menyiasat penyelewengan, tetapi menegur sekiranya perolehan tidak mengikut prosedur sepatutnya.

“JAN akan mengaudit secara ‘random’ apa yang dilapor kepada mereka. Dalam isu pembelian Scorpene, cara membuat pembayaran tidak dikemuka dalam penelitian audit. Sepatutnya penelitian ini dibuat SPRM,” ujarnya.

Beliau mengulas kenyataan Menteri Pertahanan, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi bahawa pembelian Scorpene mengikut prosedur perundangan seperti yang telah diperjelaskan Ketua Audit Negara.

Azan dalam pada itu mengesyaki laporan audit sengaja lewat dikemuka ke parlimen, sebagai usaha untuk ‘melindungi sesuat’u.

“Saya mengesyaki, oleh kerana tahun ini tahun kedua ia tergendala untuk diserah kepada parlimen, ada antara laporan yang ‘dikeluarkan’ daripada dibentangkan di parlimen,” ujarnya.

Justeru, beliau menggesa Ketua Audit Negara, Tan Sri Ambin Buang, dipanggil ke parlimen untuk memberi penjelasan.

“Setiap kali parlimen bersidang untuk membentangkan belanjawan, Ketua Audit Negara perlu hadir ke parlimen.

“Kita tak mahu jabatan audit dan ketua audit negara dikambinghitam oleh kerajaan atau dipersalahkan atas kelewatan laporan audit,” ujarnya yang menegaskan kelewatan itu juga mencemar reputasi Jabatan Audit Negara.

Sementara itu, Ahli Parlimen Machang, Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail berkata, isu pokok dalam skandal pembelian Scorpene adalah integriti dan sistem Perolehan Kementerian Pertahanan.

Katanya, hingga kini kerajaan tidak telus menjawab soalan dibangkit Pertubuhan Bukan Kerajaan (NGO) dan Pakatan Rakyat berhubung komisen dalam urusniaga tersebut.

“Rakyat hanya mengetahui isu ini selepas ia didedah NGO Suaram, melibatkan kerugian wang rakyat sebanyak RM7 bilion dan ini satu jumlah yang sangat besar.

“Sebab itu pentadbiran Datuk Seri Najib Razak harus menjawabnya dengan jujur dan telus termasuk persoalan melibatkan harga, keupayaan kapal selam dan bayaran komisen luar biasa yang dikait dengan beliau semasa menjadi Menteri Pertahanan,” katanya.

What Islam Says, and Doesn’t Say

The New York Times

Modern nation states utilize political models that were unanticipated in any of our premodern scriptures. It is anachronistic to ask whether “Islam” endorses constitutionalism or democracy. Islam as such does not proscribe any one particular system of government. (Of course “Islam” doesn’t do anything, Muslims do. We human beings are the agents of our religious traditions.)

Rather, there are general ethical principles that have to be guaranteed under any system of government that Muslims adopt, like social justice; protection of life, property, and honor of humanity; accountability of rulers to law; distribution of wealth; and protection of minorities. All systems of government are imperfect, and it is not only good but also healthy to be perpetually vigilant against abuses of any form of government. However, it may also be the case that a genuine and robust democracy is the least imperfect of all imperfect political models today, as others before us have said.

By speaking of a robust democracy, we are not talking about simply copying the American model of democracy, which is in many ways broken — beholden to special interest groups, and perhaps better labeled as an oligarchy or plutocracy. The ideal model that I see for Muslims would be more akin to some of the European models that combine democracy with guaranteed social services like universal health care, widespread education, respect for human rights and minimized military spending. Then again, we see some of those same European models struggling today with their own inherent racism toward Muslims, so we have to be honest enough to admit that the “perfect” system is one that we will have to adapt, rather than adopt wholesale.

The conversation is ultimately about citizenship, not some mythical blending of “Islam” and “democracy.” All of us, Muslim and non-Muslim, are now citizens of pluralistic societies where we live together as neighbors. We have to begin by realizing the holistic nature of justice (and injustice); that what happens to the least of us has a profound political and moral impact on all of us.

If we are going to insist that Muslim Americans are full and complete citizens, not merely tolerated guests (and we do); if we are going to insist that Muslim Indians are full and complete citizens of India, not the tolerated descendants of “foreign invaders” (and we do); and if we are going to insist that Palestinian Muslims (and Palestinian Christians) are not second-class citizens in Israel but fully deserving of the exact same set of rights, responsibilities and privileges that Jewish citizens of Israel receive (and we do) — then moral consistency demands of us that we recognize the exact same set of rights and responsibilities for non-Muslim citizens of Muslim-majority societies. In other words, quite apart from world opinion and public relations, the fundamental commitment of justice demands that our commitment to democracy goes hand in hand with a robust notion of citizenship that encompasses every citizen of a country regardless of race, religion, gender, class and ethnicity.

To sum up, there may not be an “Islamic democracy” any more than there can be a “Christian democracy” in American that privileges Christians over non-Christians or a “Jewish democracy” that privileges Jewish citizens of Israel over Palestinians, but there can be — and today, must be — a democracy of Muslims who live side by side in a commitment to a “greater we” alongside our neighbors.


Omid Safi, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the author of “Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters” and the editor of “Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism.”

'Malaysian Way' Policy Capable Of Turning Malaysia Into Developed Country - Najib

KUANTAN, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the 'Malaysian Way' policy advocated by previous leaders would be continued in an effort to turn Malaysia into a developed country by 2020.

The prime minister said the Malaysian Way succeeded in enhancing unity among various races and clearly had turned Malaysia into among the best countries in terms of multiracial unity.

"The Malaysia Way is different from other countries, among others, in fostering unity where previous leaders had been successful in retaining the culture, religion and education of all races," he said at the 27th anniversary celebration of the Pahang Federation of Chinese Associations (PFCA) here Sunday night.

Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, and PFCA president Tan Sri Pheng Yin Huah were present.

Najib said the policy was also capable of turning Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020.

"I will do what I can (the policy) as we want to see the country become developed by 2020," he said.

Najib said through the policy, Malaysia recorded many successes and robust growth without marginalizing any race, including minority group.

He said for example in education, Malaysia was the only country in the world which allowed Chinese education in schools.

Najib said opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had never championed Chinese education when he was the education minister.

Live – Ambiga speaks in Penang

It’s a full house at the Caring Society hall in Penang, with Bersih co-chair Ambiga Sreenevasan the main speaker at a forum on Democracy and Elections, organised by social reform group Aliran.

More than 500 people are in the hall waiting for Ambiga to step up to speak.

Right now, Aliran member Subramaniam Pillay, who is also Bersih steering committee member, is featured on a video giving us the background of the Bersih movement.

Meanwhile, it is pouring outside and the corridor outside the hall on the first floor is flooding a little. Hope the water doesn’t enter the hall!

The immediate past president of Aliran, P Ramakrishnan, takes the stage.

Aliran president Francis Loh welcomes the crowd and now Aliran secretary takes over as emcee. He promises the participants that images of the audience won’t be photo-edited to show a much larger crowd squeezed like sardines! The crowd roars knowingly.

The immediate past president of Aliran, P Ramakrishnan, outlines the corruption and decay in Malaysian society, including education. He also laments eroding national unity and the emergence of racist groups such as Perkasa.

Vidoes are now being shown of Pak Samad reading his Unggun Bersih poem and the Bersih 3.0 rally in Penang on 28 April 2012.

Mustafa now introduces Ambiga as the main speaker.

Ambiga highlights the plight of Suaram, which has been being harassed of late after its consistent exposure of the Scorpene election.

She congratulates the people of Penang on their impressive turnout at the Bersih 3.0 rally at the Esplanade in Penang.

She laments the prevalence of postal votes and expresses dissatisfaction with the integrity of the electoral rolls, which now cannot be challenged in court. Even the media are unfair in their coverage of the elections, she pointed out.

She refers to an International Crisis Group report, which notes the strengthening of civil society. The report notes that the Bersih movement as a “game-changer”.

The government for its part has ignored a serious issue: corruption.

But there is selective prosecution. She recalls that Teoh Beng Hock died following a corruption investigation into just RM2,000.

The next general elections are going to be very contentious, and people are getting more interested and engaged because they realise that the rot has to stop now.

“Dictatorships have elections too but it doesn’t mean they are democracy but if you have clean and fair elections, you will be working your way to a vibrant democracy. If you have clean and fair elections, it makes your MPs more accountable and reduces corruption.” Studies have found that the poor will also be better represented.

Meanwhile, she said it’s nonsense that our politicians are not saying anything about political violence. “It shows to me there is tacit support for it.”

On the other hand, the young woman who stepped on the Prime Minister’s image was handcuffed and publicly condemned.

Is there hope at the end of the day? Yes, there’s a lot of hope, she said, “because there are a lot of good right-thinking Malaysians who want to put things right. They are not going to accept second best or people talking rubbish.”

“Vote for people who will respect our Federal Constitution, who will do something to end corruption, for goodness sake,” she said to loud applause.

Wong Chin Huat describes how ordinary Malaysians cast aside their old fears and came out in their tens of thousands for the Bersih 3.0 rally. “You have more and more Malaysians coming out. You know you are not alone.”

“We need to renew our independence and reclaim our country.”

Focus on clean and fair elections, says Ambiga. “Everything we do from now will help, I promise you.”

Chin Huat, responding to a question from the floor, says election workers are not allowed to write anything on ballot papers before handing them to the voters.

He stressed that he believed Malaysians would not take electoral fraud sitting down. “One of the wonderful things of Bersih 3.0 is that we have seen ordinary Malaysians coming out and Malaysians regardless of their ethno-religious background are standing by one another.”

Ambiga noted that the last three or four court judgments have given her hope e.g. the decision on whether Bersih is unlawful, the damages to the ISA detainees, the decision in the Malaysiakini case and the quashing of the decision to ban a Sisters in Islam book. “I have hope because of this and maybe we are entering a new era. It feels as if many people are now getting more engaged.”

The forum ends with a presentation of Aliran T-shirts to Ambiga and Chin Huat, who receive a standing ovation amidst chants of “Bersih! Bersih!”

Kampung Railway : Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur

Janet Jackson plans $20m wedding with Qatari billionaire; converts to Islam

Janet Jackson and her fiancé Wissam al Mana. (GETTY/AFP)

Janet Jackson and her fiancé Wissam Al Mana are reportedly planning to get married in Doha, Qatar in 2013.

The couple hope to tie the knot in Doha where the billionaire was born and are making arrangements for the ceremony to take place in 2013.

Janet and Wissam will be wedded in a Muslim ceremony. A renown Turkish author, Adnan Oktar (aka Harun Yahya), is also making the claim that the 46-year-old Janet Jackson has converted to Islam — as did her brother, Michael Jackson — and is choosing to keep her new religion a secret from her fans.

According to an insider the wedding will be "one of the biggest, most memorable extravaganzas in recent history".

The source added to National Enquirer magazine: "They have tentatively set a late 2013 wedding date. But they are still working out the details and the exact day."

They will reportedly spend $3 million to fly in their 500 wedding guests from all over the world, while Wissam wants to give all attendees a $10,000 Rolex watch each as a thank you for attending.

The insider added: "Wissam is going to splash big when he marries Janet. It's going to be the wedding of the century."

Janet and Wissam allegedly got engaged last year after Wissam, a billionaire whose family has extensive reaches in the real estate and media spheres, proposed to her with a stunning 15 carat diamond ring. The couple met in December of 2009 after Janet gave a special performance in the Middle East and the rest, so it seems, is history. The couple was supposedly shooting for a 2011 wedding, but they ultimately tempered their excitement and chose to hold off for a couple of years so they could have time to plan the festivities.

Janet has been dating Wissam - who is almost a decade younger than her - since summer 2010.

The 46-year-old singer - the sister of the late Michael Jackson - has previously insisted there is nothing wrong with dating younger men as long as the couple is happy.

Janet - who was in a seven-year relationship with music producer Jermaine Dupri - said: "My mother always raised us to believe that age was just a number. All of us - my sisters, my brothers - we'll just tell you our ages because it's all about where you are mentally and how you feel about yourself. It doesn't matter."

Ten vehicles burnt in Ahmedabad protest against anti-Islam film

The police have arrested 110 people after protests against an anti-Islamic film made in the US turned violent here on Wednesday afternoon, triggering tension in this communally sensitive city in the election-bound Gujarat.

Joint commissioner of police Ajay Tomar told Khaleej Times that differences of opinion among Muslim shopkeepers over keeping their establishments closed to express their outrage against the controversial film had led to the violence in which ten vehicles were torched and five policemen injured.

The mob even set fire to motorcycles parked in an all-woman police station near the historical Teen Derwaza in the market surrounded by shops owned by Muslims.

This correspondent found a curfew-like situation in the usually bustling locality on Thursday with gun-totting jawans of the Rapid Action Force and the State Reseved Police patrolling the trouble-torn localities.

It is learnt that Zarina Khan, a local activist who has since been arrested, had approached the main city police station in the area seeking permission to take out a rally in the old city in protest against the film, ‘Innocence of Muslims’.

When the police rejected her request, she and her supporters met Mufti Shabbir Alam Siddiqi, the imam of Juma Masjid, who advised them against the rally saying the film had already been banned in the country, and hence, there was no need for further protests.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, some 2,000 protesters gathered at garden in the heart of the city and went ahead with the rally and reached the mosque and mobbed the imam.

When the policemen can-charged them to disperse them, they were abused and assaulted.

Soon, as the word spread to other Mulsim-dominated areas, more crowds gathered. But when the agitators started torching bikes and police vehicles, the police lobbed tear-gas shells and even fired in the air.

Only on Monday, a peaceful shutdown was observed in Teen Darwaza. After this, some Muslim leaders like Zarina had decided to call for a ‘bandh’ in other minority-dominated areas of the city such as Kalupur, Dariapur, Shahpur, Danilimda, Jamalpur and Gomtipur. She had even published and distributed pamphlets appealing for joining the rally.

Reporters complain Anwar brought in foreign lawyers over Scorpene case

PR has alleged of corruption in Malaysia’s purchase of two Scorpene submarines from a French firm. — Reuter pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — The Young Journalists Club today lodged a police report against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers Chua Tian Chang, Datuk Mahfuz Omar and R. Sivarasa for bringing three foreign lawyers to the Parliament to discuss the Scorpene submarine issue.

The federal opposition have claimed of corruption in the multibillion purchase of the submarines in 2009.

Club president Dzulkarnain Taib said the organisation did not want foreign interference in the country’s affairs.

“What is the opposition’s right to bring foreign lawyers to give a briefing in Parliament?

“What is SUARAM’s (Suara Rakyat Malaysia) locus standi in the case?” Dzulkarnain said after lodging a report at the Dang Wangi police station here this evening.

The former Suara Keadilan editor identified the three lawyers as William Bourdon, the French lawyer who was deported from Malaysia earlier this year and Joseph Breham and Oliver Netzer.

The journalist also asked about the ties between the opposition and SUARAM as well as the funds to bring the three lawyers here.

Apart from the 100-member strong club, the others who came along to show support for the report were pro-Barisan Nasional groups such as Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (PERKASA), Lembaga Kesedaran Pencegahan Jenayah (LKPJ), Lembaga Pelindung Kebajikan Pengguna Malaysia (LPKPM) and Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM).

Dzulkarnain said his current job now was to monitor the media in the interest of the country, adding he supported the current government.

Several groups and Putrajaya have focused on human rights group SUARAM after it revealed that former political aide Abdul Razak Baginda had sold Malaysian naval secrets to France.

In April this year, the Tribunal de Grand Instance in Paris began its inquiry into SUARAM’s claim that French naval firm DCNS had paid some RM452 million as a bribe to Malaysian officials to obtain a contract for two submarines. SUARAM had filed the complaint with the French courts in 2009.

In a May 30 press conference in Bangkok, Breham had revealed that a classified government document on the Malaysian navy’s evaluation of the Scorpene submarines it was then planning to buy had been sold by Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd to DCNS for RM142 million.

Abdul Razak, a former think-tank head who was at the centre of the 2006 investigation into the murder of former model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, is listed as a director of Terasasi with his father, Abdul Malim Baginda.

Weeks after the revelation, SUARAM came under close scrutiny of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) due to its foreign funding sources, and the government agency said last week that it plans to charge the activist group for its “misleading accounts”

Evicted, but he vows to fight on

The other day I told my wife: If I die from this... because I'm sure those people are going to get me into an accident or shoot me... I want to give this house to charity, to those who need it.'

PETALING JAYA: The dreaded moment came for A Muthukrishnan on Tuesday without warning.

Awoken from his sleep by his wife in the afternoon, the 44-year-old former mutton seller’s heart sank when he saw some 30 men outside his gate, together with several cars and two big lorries.

Among them were policemen, lawyers, and moneylenders: they had come to chase him out of his home.

“My wife told me something was happening outside and I walked to my gate to see. And when I saw so many of them, I was afraid, confused, I asked my daughters to go back inside,” the father of three recounted to FMT.

Muthukrishnan knew this day would come, but didn’t expect it to be done so cruelly.

On Sept 1, FMT had reported about Muthukrishnan’s plight of being conned by licensed moneylenders into signing away his double-storey house in Selayang Baru.

He had also blamed Standard Chartered bank when it allegedly failed to properly inform him and to protect him from having his house taken away wrongfully.

The situation was all the more tragic as it had also left him officially a disabled man when he was one day set upon by men with parangs, believed to be sent by the same moneylenders.

He was now without a right thumb, and had limited use of both hands. For the past few years, his business also suffered as his wife had to take over from him due to his disability.

Muthukrishnan had sought help from many parties and thought that he could prolong losing his house or, even change the outcome. He had hoped that he could stop Tuesday from happening, as the matter was still undecided at the courts, but to no avail.

“There was a hearing on Monday but the moneylenders [defendants] didn’t turn up. Instead, they turned up at my house with a bailiff the next day. They didn’t even serve any documents, or court orders,” he said.

But he had no choice but to comply with the group’s demands as he feared for his family’s safety.

“They acted quite rough. They said they didn’t care, and that they would pull us out if they had to. And that they would trash my house if I didn’t come out. I begged. Asked them to come in a few days but they didn’t budge.

“What could I do? You want to fight with all of them? In my heart, I just prayed that they did not disturb my daughters,” said Muthukrishnan, who only managed to pack some clothes before the group came in with the locks.

His house was then sealed with several padlocks and chains on all sides.

“There were people crowding around, and I felt embarrassed for my children. I didn’t do anything wrong, but what would people think when they see us being chased out like that?”

Continue to highlight the case

Today, Muthukrishnan is staying together with his wife at his mother’s house. His son, 20, goes to work from his brother’s house and his two daughters go to school from his sister’s place.

“I’ve lost everything. The use of my hands. My job. And now finally my home. I can’t drive or go anywhere without depending on anyone. Now my children are scattered all over,” he added.

He said that for the past few days, he did not cry in front of his wife and daughters, but wept inside.

“I asked my children to be patient, not to cry, and don’t think about this too much. I wanted them to study hard for their upcoming exams,” said Muthukrishnan.

He said he felt betrayed by the many institutions supposed to help and protect him.

“It’s very sad. The government does not support the good guys at all. Not only was I cheated by these people, but the bank, Bank Negara, the police, Money Lenders’ Association, Bar Council, even the courts seem to be conspiring against me.

“If any one of this people, like the police, helped me in the beginning, it would not have come to this stage,” he said, adding that only the Consumers Tribunal helped him by providing a lawyer.

Asked what he planned to do now, Muthukrishnan could only shake his head.

“What can I do?

“On Wednesday, I went back to get my IC, my wallet, and more clothes for my wife. There is still so much inside I haven’t taken out because they don’t let me. I had to go to the back to feed my dog through the gates,” he said.

However, Muthukrishnan said that he would continue to highlight his case.

“This is not only about me, but those other people who are afraid of standing up and complaining about such issues. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been wronged this way. But I don’t care anymore, what is the worse they can do to me?

“But the government and all other agencies I’ve complained to don’t take action. They think that I am bad just because I took loans, but I was, and am, a taxpayer. Before this, I donated to charity when I could. Now I’m the one who needs charity.

“The other day I told my wife: If I die from this… because I’m sure those people are going to get me into an accident or shoot me… I want to give this house to charity, to those who need it,” he added.

PMO officers visit Bkt Jalil estate

According to residents' action committee member, the officers visited the area to find out the real situation of the ex-workers.

BUKIT JALIL: Two officers from the Prime Minister’s Office visited the Bukit Jalil estate where former workers are demanding that the federal government allocate four acres out of the remaining 26-acre land to build low-cost houses for them.

The Indian officers also refused to introduce themselves and requested the media not to take photographs of them.

Bukit Jalil Estate Residents’ Action Committee member K Balakrishnan said that he was told the officers visited the estate to find out the real situation of the residents.

“They also visited Bandar Kinrara Section 1, which is an ex-estate turned into low-cost terrace houses for the plantation workers,” he added.

Also present was Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan and Hindraf coordinators.

It was reported that in 1973, the Ministry of Labour and Manpower had discussed about the housing project for the plantation workers in both the Kinrara and Bukit Jalil estates.

While Kinrara estate received the houses, Bukit Jalil residents were overlooked.

Meanwhile, Balakrishnan insisted that the residents would submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as planned.

“When the government is willing to spend RM20 million to buy land in Penang, what is the big deal for them to build houses in Bukit Jalil?” he asked.

Politicians and gangsters

An anonymous letter implicates a minister, Umno and MIC Youth chiefs of having links with gangsters.

KUALA LUMPUR: A PKR-linked NGO has lodged a police report today over an anonymous letter claiming that three prominent Barisan Nasional politicians have links to an Indian gang.

The People Welfare and Rights Organisation (Power) wanted the police to verify whether the unsigned letter, purportedly from a member of Selayang Baru Umno, was genuine, and for the police to probe into the politicians’ alleged links with the Indian gang “36”.

“The letter, which was left in my office yesterday in Sentul, mentions the name Human Resource Minister S Subramaniam, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and MIC Youth chief T Mohan,” Power president S Gobi Krishnan (photo) told reporters after lodging the report at the Travers police station here.

“It is addressed to the prime minister and says that on Dec 3, 2011, MIC held an event which was attended by [the three politicians] as well as 7,000 youths who represent an Indian gang,” he said.

According to the letter, which is dated April 20, 2012, Subramaniam, Khairy and Mohan were also given gifts bearing the gang’s logo at the event last year.

The anonymous writer wrote: “That event gave a bad impression, especially the Indian community towards BN party. The event also clearly shows an attempt by Gang 36 to fortify its positions through politics.”

Matter of national security

Gobi stressed today that even though the letter was unsigned, the accusation was serious and its contents must be verified as it involved two members of parliament as well as a minister.

“I am asking the police to look into this immediately as it is an issue of national security. What would happen to this country if the allegations in the letter were true?” said Gobi.

“We are not accusing anyone, just making a police report so that the police can investigate whether it is true or not and to inform the rakyat what really happened.”

He also suggested that there was a link between the contents of the letter and the MyKad brawl in Putrajaya on May 2, which involved several opposition members being attacked.

“When we made the police report over the incident in front of the prime minister’s office, no action has been taken for months.

“And now this letter links the leaders with gangsterism. So is it true that they are protecting the gangsters, and that is why no police action has been taken?” said Gobi.

LGE accused of ignoring gangsterism in DAP

Alleged victims say they were beaten up in the party chief’s presence.

PETALING JAYA: Two men who claim they were physically assaulted in the presence of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng have accused him of being indifferent to the issue of gangsterism in the party.

A Thirumalvalavan (photo, left) and R Selvan (in white shirt), who are both branch-level officials in DAP, have lodged a police report about the attack, but they told reporters today that they were disappointed by Lim’s silence over it.

The incident allegedly happened last Monday during a meeting organised by Selangor DAP in Pekan Salak, Sepang. The two, together with Pantai Putra Sepang branch secretary Rashid Md Gani (photo, middle), were about to submit a memorandum to Lim when they were attacked, they said. Ironically, one of the points of the memorandum was gangsterism in the party.

“Lim and (Selangor DAP chief) Teresa Kok were present when Thirumalvalavan and Selvan were dragged and bashed up by gangsters,” Rashid told this morning’s press conference. “Why didn’t he stop the violence?

“We are also very disappointed with Kok’s leadership. She has also kept silent.”

The Monday meeting was a regular Selangor DAP parliamentary liaison session, but a discussion of election strategies was also on the agenda.

“After delivering his speech, Lim had to leave the hall to attend a funeral,” Rashid said. “We wanted to have dialogue session and hand over a memorandum to him.”

The memorandum complained that:

the Sri Mahamariamman temple in Sungai Pelek was facing a threat of demolition;

Sungai Pelek DAP coordinator P Sivakumar mishandled funds for the Ponggal festival and Deepavali vouchers and hampers;

Sivakumar conducted party activities without informing branch members; and

Sivakumar and Sepang DAP liaison committee chairman Lwi Kian Keong engaged gangsters to intimidate party members.

Thirumalvalavan, who leads DAP’s Taman Murni branch, was in tears when he recalled Monday’s incident. “I was dragged by gangsters who are not DAP members,” he said. “They slapped and kicked me.”

Selvan, a member of the party’s Pantai Sepang Putra committee, said he suffered the same treatment.

The attackers snatched his DAP membership card and destroyed it, he added.

Both displayed to reporters bruises on their shoulders and arms.

Contacted after the press conference, Sivakumar denied that he used gangsters.

He told FMT that everyone at the Monday meeting, including the alleged attackers, were DAP members.

“The state committee ensured that only members would attend the meeting,” he said, adding that Thirumalvalavan, Selvan and Rashid were there only to cause trouble.

“Some party members had to stop them to protect Lim,” he said.

Pakatan's Nov 3 rally is 'tip of iceberg', say analysts

(Malaysian Digest) - The planned mass gathering to be staged by Pakatan Rakyat on Nov 3 in is just one of many public assemblies in store in the run up to the 13th General Election, analysts believe.

Pakatan on Wednesday announced that it will be holding the gathering to push for electoral reforms and are expecting a 500,000 turnout at Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu had told reporters that the government has yet to meet the eight core demands made by coalition for clean and fair elections Bersih, "especially on the need to clean up the electoral roll and media fairness".

Speaking to Malaysian Digest, political analyst Wan Saiful Wan Jan said such gatherings by political parties are expected as election nears.

"I think there’s a real purpose behind this (mass gathering) which is to rally Pakatan supporters in preparation for elections. Of course they need a reason to do it," said the chief executive of think-tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS).

"I’m not surprised at the announcement. The first time I heard this was a few weeks ago from one of the Pakatan leaders and said they said there’s an event they are planning and at that stage they called it 'election convention'. That was the term used at the time," he added.

Political analyst James Chin from Monash University Malaysia also believes that Pakatan’s intention of holding the rally is to regroup and prepare its supporters for the impending polls.

However, he doubts that holding such a gathering at a stadium would make as much impact compared to doing it in the streets.

"This is a chance for Pakatan to rally their troops. They must think that the General Election (GE) is just around the corner," said Chin.

"However, I think that doing it in the stadium would have a lesser effect than having it in the streets, which is more 'exciting'. I think the government will ignore them. Nothing will change. The government will not bow down to demands in reforming the system because if they do that, they will lose. Any changes will only come after the GE," he said.

He also finds it hard to believe that Pakatan is holding a rally so soon, "but then again, maybe they want to show everyone that they are
capable of holding a peaceful rally."

Political scientist and activist Wong Chin Huat, meanwhile, staunchly supports the planned rally.

"I support the rally. It is apparent that the government will only respond when the rakyat takes action. Albeit, reluctantly, they will soon respond. Although the reform obtained is not as much as we wanted, previous Bersih rallies have proved that it can be prevent the situation from worsening," said Wong who is also Bersih 2.0 steering committee member.

"Imagine what will happen without the rallies, things would definitely be worse," he added.

Wong also said Barisan Nasional (BN) still has much to do to gain the rakyat’s confidence in the electoral system.

"I wish for the rally to be successful, however, I think that it is ironic that the call for electoral reforms should come from the opposition and that the ruling government is not joining it," he said.

"Malaysia is undergoing rapid development and transformation, the next ruling government needs high legitimacy to rule. If Barisan Nasional is confident of winning, they should also push for electoral reforms. It is in their best interest, after all," he added.

Analysts foresees more politically-motivated gatherings will be held in the next few months leading to the election which is yet to be called by the prime minister.

Earlier this week, more than 1,000 of Kelantan government supporters gathered outside the Federal Court in Putrajaya, as a leave application was being heard over the state’s demand for oil royalty payments. Meanwhile, Bersih had announced last month that it will be holding a concert on Oct 13 as a ‘reminder’ to the government on the former’s eight unfulfilled demands.

According to Wan Saiful, it is common for political parties to hype their supporters up before the election and expects similar gatherings by both sides of the political divide.

"As it comes closer to election both sides will be trying their best to bring supporters together and they will find the reason to do these rallies but the real motivation is just to bring the supporters together so that they would work harder in their campaigns. We can expect more of these sorts of gatherings.

"I think it’s necessary. All political parties around the world do it when it gets closer to the election date. They need to convey their messages to their supporters so that when people go down to campaign they can go to different places and spread the same message. It is more about galvanizing the parties’ supporters, not so much to garner votes.

"I’m very sure BN will be doing their stuff as well. The advantage for BN is they have the cloak of government activities so they can call it something like 'The Prime Minister Meets the Rakyat' or something like that."

However, Wan Saiful said although BN is expected to hold their own mass gatherings, which he believes will have a bigger turnout than Pakatan’s, these assemblies by the ruling party will not be held as a reaction its rival’s rallies.

"I think there will be more rallies like this organized by al parties, not necessarily to counter one another.

"In fact the biggest rally will be carried out by Umno at end of November when they will be holding their annual general meeting (AGM). Gerakan had theirs so we will definitely see more of these sort of gatherings."

The Enemies Of The State

In Malaysia, the sad truth is that the bigger institutions get and the more progress they enjoy, they often become targets of some disgruntled individuals who have nothing to lose by shooting off unsubstantiated allegations. These characters are no more than enemies of the state.

A concerned Son of Johore

In modern Johor, where development moves at a rapid and promising pace, there is little support left, if any, for detractors attempting to vilify the state and its institutions.

The only possible motive driving those characters is likely to be jealousy or some other self-interest pursuit.

In Malaysia, the sad truth is that the bigger institutions get and the more progress they enjoy, they often become targets of some disgruntled individuals who have nothing to lose by shooting off unsubstantiated allegations. These characters are no more than enemies of the state.

Examples of such characters are none other than lawyer Kamal Hisham Jaafar and has-been corporate chieftan, Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim. One is a so-called lawyer who has teamed up with a two-bit blogger to spew out hard-to-believe allegations against the State and its Palace. And the other is the high profile former head of state’s investment company, Johor Corporation, who is also spewing out some rather ludicrous arguments against the current establishment.

What both these “entertainers” have in common is simply this: they are clearly unable to fit into the new dynamic and clean leadership that has taken shape at Johor.

Johor’s progress today is the most phenomenal that it has ever been. Here are just some examples:

- the Pengerang oil and gas project will see Petronas pouring in over RM60 bil plus another RM60bil from other investors to hit a total of RM120bil in the next five to six years. The project will create at least 20,000 jobs during the construction phase and 4,000 jobs for highly skilled workers.

- Recently opened Legoland will see 5 mil visitors in the first year alone and has already created 1000 jobs for Johoreans.

- Never have there been more Singapore companies wanting to relocate some of their operations in Johor as now.

- In Desaru, the Government is planning a revamp of previously stalled projects, to have internationally classed hotels and a theme park, to make this place similar to “NusaDua” of Bali’s fame.

Johor Corporation has undergone a revamp that is finally seeing it coming it out of financial dire straits by unlocking all the hidden values in the group, divesting non-cores and by bringing in the right professionals to run its many companies.

For all this to happen, there has clearly been the right push for direction from the top of the state, including its Menteri Besar and the Sultan of Johor.

Indeed, it is noteworthy that in a recent show of support for Sultan Ibrahim, a throng of Johorians turned up to offer their well wishes to the head of state. The journalists covering that event wrote a most noteworthy quote: Johorean Albert Pang, 60, representing the Johor Baru Thoong Nyien Hakka Association, said Johor has progressed and developed rapidly over the years and the Johor Monarch had played a big part in the state development.

So Kamal Hashim and his types should be seen for what they are – nothing more than loud trouble-makers still trying to be heard. The state and country has moved on.

And as if to add insult to injury, Kamal Hisham has actually fled the country for a very interesting reason – he is facing allegations that he has embezzled a sum of RM660,000 from a company called Southern Ads Sdn Bhd.

Not only that. The blogs have said this about Kamal Hisham: “This guy is a crook. Everywhere he goes, he would mention Tuanku’s (Johor Sultan) name. We all know that he had cheated Tuanku on a couple of business deals.”

Here’s where it gets interesting – one of the deals Kamal Hisham is linked to involves sixty million ringgit at the centre of it. So how come this small time guy can be doing such big deals if he only operates from a small shoplot in Johor? Clearly, he has amassed some of these monies unlawfully and is now hiding in Dubai, where no doubt he is living it up. In one of the blogs, Kamal Hisham is seen posing in front of a brand new Mercedes G-Class SUV. So much for claiming he’s a victim.

So this is the character who is trying to vilify a state and its leaders of wrong doing?

As for Ali Hashim, the good news is that he has been quiet for some time. But those who know this character are well aware that he is always planning and scheming something, either to fight against the changes that are taking place or to make some unfounded and dubious allegations that his so called JCorp empire is being broken. But here’s a reminder to Ali Hashim: in the first place, you left JCorp in that broken state, with crumbling debts. And secondly, you should be thankful that the might of the State isn’t coming after you for all the shenanigans that you and your team have pulled off during your tenure as the superman of JCorp, such as the sweetener used to buy-out that fried chicken retailer or whatever inducements received to give such a sweet deal to the Malton group to ink the one-sided deal that favoured that Chinese tycoon over the Pusat Bandar Damansara land. Interesting that this matter has hit the courts now, and we wonder what’s going to surface in all the court documents!

And what about the multi-salaries paid to yourself and your directors in JCorp under your rein.