Friday, 21 December 2012
Salafist video threatens to take German hostages
A militant Salafist group has released a video calling on followers to take German hostages to free Murat K., the Islamist currently serving a six-year prison sentence for stabbing two policemen in Bonn in May.The three-minute video, posted on an Islamist page, praises the "lion Murat K." and promises, "We will not rest until we have freed you from captivity."
"Everyone who offends the Prophet will be slaughtered, whether near or far," a man says in German with a foreign accent. "And know, brother, the Germans are near enough to reach. We will take them prisoners, until you are free for your noble deed."
Der Spiegel magazine reported on Thursday that the man speaking the voice is former Berlin rapper Denis Cuspert alias Deso Dogg. He is thought to have fled to Egypt earlier this year to re-establish the militant organization Millatu Ibrahim, which is banned in Germany, and whose logo appears in the video.
German security forces are taking the video seriously and investigating its source. "Such videos could spur on Salafists prepared for violence," said North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Ralf Jäger. "That is why the authorities are keeping the protagonists of this scene in their sights."
A spokesman for the federal state prosecutors said they were aware of the video and analyzing it.
A Bonn court convicted Murat K. of grievous bodily harm, breaching the peace, and resisting arrest in October. He stabbed the two policemen when a demonstration turned violent after members of the far-right group Pro-NRW publicly displayed cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Murat K. defended his actions in court, saying that, "Those who insult the Prophet deserve the death penalty." He added that since the state had allowed the cartoons to be displayed, he was justified in attacking the officers.
Federal prosecutors said last week they believed Islamist extremists were behind a botched bomb attack at Bonn train station. The federal prosecutor said in a statement that there was enough evidence to suggest the incident was "an attempted explosives attack by a terrorist organisation with a radical Islamist bent."
The Local/DPA/bk
Militants hunt Buddhists in Narathiwat
Photo by Post TodayNARATHIWAT - A gang of Islamic militants burned down the Bacho Tambon Administration Organisation
office on Thursday, after failing to find any Buddhist employees to kill.
Seven armed men stormed into the offices of the Bacho TAO in Bacho district shortly after noon.
Abdulwaha Dulayapinij, the office’s chief administrator, told the police he and seven other employees were just leaving for lunch.
''One of them fired a gun into the air and ordered everyone to stay put in Yawi [a Malay dialect spoken by Muslims in the South] and then asked if there were any Buddhist Thais working here,” Mr Abdulwaha said.
“I told him there were none, and the outlaw was upset and said I had lied to him.”
Mr Abdulwaha then explained there was a female Buddhist Thai civil servant identified as Suchada sae Li working at the TAO as a community development officer, level 3, but she was on leave.
Upset with the answer, two of the gunmen emptied a five-litre container of gasoline into the archive and equipment storage rooms, set fire to it, and then fled the scene.
Staff, villagers and a local disaster relief team tried to put out the fire, but the blaze spread quickly and destroyed the whole building.
Mr Abdulwaha said it appeared the assailants wanted to kill Ms Suchada who was the only Buddhist official at the Bacho TAO, and had planned to use the gasoline to burn her body.
He said the attack left him and the other staff in fear for their own safety and it was likely they would not return to work until the office was rebuilt.
Anwar hits out at Najib for ‘illicit outflow’
Pakatan Rakyat is planning to hold a roundtable meeting on the matter. Apart from the PM, Bank Negara and GFI reps will also be invited.
VIDEO INSIDE
PETALING JAYA: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today said Pakatan Rakyat will organise a roundtable meeting and invite Finance Minister Najib Tun Razak to discuss the latest report by Global Financial Integrity [GFI] on illicit financial outflows.
The GFI report had revealed that nearly RM200 billion in “dirty money” had been siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010, making it the second worst worldwide.
Anwar described the amount of money that had gone out between 2001 and 2010, at RM 871.4 billion, as “very alarming”.
The opposition leader said he would be writing to Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar, GFI and the chief ministers of the Pakatan Rakyat-governed states to attend the roundtable talk planned for January 2013.
He added that he would also be inviting the banking sector as well.
Anwar criticised Najib for remaining silent on the issue and concluded that the prime minister had failed to manage the economy and stem corruption.
“My Pakatan colleagues and I are ready to take the initiative to bring all parties to a roundtable to pursue this issue and come up with a strong action plan,” he told a press conference here.
“This is a form of robbery that is affecting the state of the economy and of course will adversely impact the masses.
“It is only proper for the government and Bank Negara to explain and for us in Pakatan to also assure that we will give all cooperation to discuss what will be done, because what has been done in the past has failed miserably, because the amount has increased so much,” he said.
Washington-based financial watchdog GFI yesterday found that in 2010, Malaysia was the world’s number two when it came to illegal capital flight, second only to China.
The report further revealed that Malaysia ranked number three globally over 10 years from 2001 to 2010 with US$285 billion (RM871.4 billion) of illicit outflow.
The year 2010 also saw the highest level of illicit outflow in Malaysia in the previous 10 years; in 2009, Malaysia’s capital flight was US$30.41 billion (RM93 billion), and that figure leaped to US$64.38 billion (RM196.8 billion) in the following year – an increase of 112%.
Bank Negara under fire
Anwar said that from next week onwards, he would be holding weekly press conferences while awaiting the 13th general election and the focus would be on this “crucial matter”.
He said such roundtable discussions have been done in India where it (illegal financial outflow) had become a major issue, and even described as “the great Indian robbery” in the media there.
Anwar said that effective measures must be taken as the opposition does not have confidence that the Treasury can resolve it independently.
“GFI monitors the outflow of illicit money by employing globally accepted economic methodologies and its reports set the global benchmark on this matter. As such, its appraisal and analysis of Malaysia’s dire situation should be taken seriously by all parties,” he said, stressing that such leakages will “ultimately harm the people of Malaysia”.
Anwar noted that GFI explained in its report that “macroeconomic issues and the perception of widespread corruption and bribery; size of the illegal economy, namely criminal activities, illegal gambling; and weak law enforcement on matters of public and economic governance” can cause the flow of illicit money out of the counntry.
He also criticised Bank Negara for failing to monitor such huge sums of money going out of the country illegally, citing the RM40 million “political donation” matter in Hong Kong as one example.
“That is just one specific instance, and even then only after it was exposed. Can Bank Negara safely say that it is the only amount going out? How is it the central bank is unable to monitor these things? Tell us how it has gone unnoticed and no action taken.”
“I believe the country needs a united stand to address this problem. Immediate steps should be taken to finalise an action plan for implementation. The prime minister cannot lead the nation by avoiding the issue,” he said.
VIDEO INSIDE
PETALING JAYA: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today said Pakatan Rakyat will organise a roundtable meeting and invite Finance Minister Najib Tun Razak to discuss the latest report by Global Financial Integrity [GFI] on illicit financial outflows.The GFI report had revealed that nearly RM200 billion in “dirty money” had been siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010, making it the second worst worldwide.
Anwar described the amount of money that had gone out between 2001 and 2010, at RM 871.4 billion, as “very alarming”.
The opposition leader said he would be writing to Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar, GFI and the chief ministers of the Pakatan Rakyat-governed states to attend the roundtable talk planned for January 2013.
He added that he would also be inviting the banking sector as well.
Anwar criticised Najib for remaining silent on the issue and concluded that the prime minister had failed to manage the economy and stem corruption.
“My Pakatan colleagues and I are ready to take the initiative to bring all parties to a roundtable to pursue this issue and come up with a strong action plan,” he told a press conference here.
“This is a form of robbery that is affecting the state of the economy and of course will adversely impact the masses.
“It is only proper for the government and Bank Negara to explain and for us in Pakatan to also assure that we will give all cooperation to discuss what will be done, because what has been done in the past has failed miserably, because the amount has increased so much,” he said.
Washington-based financial watchdog GFI yesterday found that in 2010, Malaysia was the world’s number two when it came to illegal capital flight, second only to China.
The report further revealed that Malaysia ranked number three globally over 10 years from 2001 to 2010 with US$285 billion (RM871.4 billion) of illicit outflow.
The year 2010 also saw the highest level of illicit outflow in Malaysia in the previous 10 years; in 2009, Malaysia’s capital flight was US$30.41 billion (RM93 billion), and that figure leaped to US$64.38 billion (RM196.8 billion) in the following year – an increase of 112%.
Bank Negara under fire
Anwar said that from next week onwards, he would be holding weekly press conferences while awaiting the 13th general election and the focus would be on this “crucial matter”.
He said such roundtable discussions have been done in India where it (illegal financial outflow) had become a major issue, and even described as “the great Indian robbery” in the media there.
Anwar said that effective measures must be taken as the opposition does not have confidence that the Treasury can resolve it independently.
“GFI monitors the outflow of illicit money by employing globally accepted economic methodologies and its reports set the global benchmark on this matter. As such, its appraisal and analysis of Malaysia’s dire situation should be taken seriously by all parties,” he said, stressing that such leakages will “ultimately harm the people of Malaysia”.
Anwar noted that GFI explained in its report that “macroeconomic issues and the perception of widespread corruption and bribery; size of the illegal economy, namely criminal activities, illegal gambling; and weak law enforcement on matters of public and economic governance” can cause the flow of illicit money out of the counntry.
He also criticised Bank Negara for failing to monitor such huge sums of money going out of the country illegally, citing the RM40 million “political donation” matter in Hong Kong as one example.
“That is just one specific instance, and even then only after it was exposed. Can Bank Negara safely say that it is the only amount going out? How is it the central bank is unable to monitor these things? Tell us how it has gone unnoticed and no action taken.”
“I believe the country needs a united stand to address this problem. Immediate steps should be taken to finalise an action plan for implementation. The prime minister cannot lead the nation by avoiding the issue,” he said.
‘Show details, Palani’
The MIC president must come clean on the special allocation meant for Tamil schools, says PKR.
PETALING JAYA: MIC president G Palanivel has been challenged to reveal details of the RM100 million special allocation for Tamil schools, announced by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak when he tabled the 2012 Budget in September 2011.
Malacca PKR vice-president G Rajendran said while the Education Ministry had recently said that it dispensed RM10 million out of the RM100 million, the remainder of RM90 million remained a “mystery”.
He said the failure of the Tamil schools to utilise the fund before December, 2012 would result in the money “going back” to the Finance Ministry.
Rajendran said Palanivel, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who has been entrusted to handle the special allocation for Tamil schools, should come clean on the matter and not stay silent without giving any explanation.
“Palanivel should take the blame since nobody in the MIC has any knowledge and clue as to what had happened to the allocation… he has been handling this [allocation] without even informing his party leaders where the money was going,” he told FMT.
It was reported in February that the Cabinet had agreed to channel the funds through Surya Cooperative, set up by the party in October, last year.
The RM100 million allocation was meant for 369 partially-aided Tamil schools nationwide for three categories, namely maintenance and upgrade, building additional blocks and building new schools.
However, it is learnt that the 369 partially-aided Tamil schools in the list were reduced to 224 by Palanivel.
Rajendran said the problem was further compounded after Surya Cooperative director D Ravindran disagreed with Palanivel’s plan to reduce the number of schools meant to receive the aid.
“And the ego battle may see Palanivel handing the money back to the Education Ministry,” he said.
A ‘stupid’ move
FMT also learnt that two MIC leaders, namely S Veerasingham and MM Samy, had raised questions on the RM100 million at a party central working committee (CWC) meeting recently.
“Palanivel told them [CWC members] that he will tell them details of the fund soon… but until now nothing has been made public,” said a CWC member when contacted.
Rajendran said the money should be fully utilised as sending back the unused money to the ministry would be “a stupid” move.
“Once the money is sent back, they [MIC] have to start the whole process again if there are Tamil schools wanting assistance and this would take time. Even if the money is rolled back and added to the other RM100 million announced in the 2013 Budget, the process of applying for funds would be long and tedious,” said the opposition grassroots leader.
The idea of special allocation to schools nationwide was mooted by Najib in a move to upgrade the condition of partially-aided schools.
In 2012, Najib announced RM500 million for national schools and RM100 million each to Chinese, Tamil and religious schools respectively.
He also promised an additional RM100 million for Tamil schools in the 2013 Budget.
Palanivel could not be reached for comment as he is abroad and is only expected to return to work in early next month.
PETALING JAYA: MIC president G Palanivel has been challenged to reveal details of the RM100 million special allocation for Tamil schools, announced by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak when he tabled the 2012 Budget in September 2011.Malacca PKR vice-president G Rajendran said while the Education Ministry had recently said that it dispensed RM10 million out of the RM100 million, the remainder of RM90 million remained a “mystery”.
He said the failure of the Tamil schools to utilise the fund before December, 2012 would result in the money “going back” to the Finance Ministry.
Rajendran said Palanivel, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who has been entrusted to handle the special allocation for Tamil schools, should come clean on the matter and not stay silent without giving any explanation.
“Palanivel should take the blame since nobody in the MIC has any knowledge and clue as to what had happened to the allocation… he has been handling this [allocation] without even informing his party leaders where the money was going,” he told FMT.
It was reported in February that the Cabinet had agreed to channel the funds through Surya Cooperative, set up by the party in October, last year.
The RM100 million allocation was meant for 369 partially-aided Tamil schools nationwide for three categories, namely maintenance and upgrade, building additional blocks and building new schools.
However, it is learnt that the 369 partially-aided Tamil schools in the list were reduced to 224 by Palanivel.
Rajendran said the problem was further compounded after Surya Cooperative director D Ravindran disagreed with Palanivel’s plan to reduce the number of schools meant to receive the aid.
“And the ego battle may see Palanivel handing the money back to the Education Ministry,” he said.
A ‘stupid’ move
FMT also learnt that two MIC leaders, namely S Veerasingham and MM Samy, had raised questions on the RM100 million at a party central working committee (CWC) meeting recently.“Palanivel told them [CWC members] that he will tell them details of the fund soon… but until now nothing has been made public,” said a CWC member when contacted.
Rajendran said the money should be fully utilised as sending back the unused money to the ministry would be “a stupid” move.
“Once the money is sent back, they [MIC] have to start the whole process again if there are Tamil schools wanting assistance and this would take time. Even if the money is rolled back and added to the other RM100 million announced in the 2013 Budget, the process of applying for funds would be long and tedious,” said the opposition grassroots leader.
The idea of special allocation to schools nationwide was mooted by Najib in a move to upgrade the condition of partially-aided schools.
In 2012, Najib announced RM500 million for national schools and RM100 million each to Chinese, Tamil and religious schools respectively.
He also promised an additional RM100 million for Tamil schools in the 2013 Budget.
Palanivel could not be reached for comment as he is abroad and is only expected to return to work in early next month.
Seeking justice or vendetta?
The truth, as bitter as it is, remains that carpet trader Deepak is livid at how ‘ungrateful’ both Najib and Rosmah have been to him.
COMMENT
A wealthy carpet trader has after four years decided to “clear his conscience” and hopes the real perpetrator/s behind the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu will not go unpunished.
Deepak Jaikishan, whose carpets once adorned the residence of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, is now crying foul, implicating the premier in the Mongolian interpreter’s death.
In 2008, Deepak was said to have paid private investigator P Balasubramaniam (Bala) RM5 million for the latter to retract his first statutory declaration which directly linked Najib to Altantuya’s death.
But on Nov 12, 2009, Bala via YouTube disclaimed the second SD, saying he was paid by Deepak to withdraw the first SD. Deepak, meanwhile, said he did so at the behest of a “female friend” who later turned out to be Rosmah Mansor.
The “I want to clear my conscience drama” came about after Deepak lost millions in government contracts. He had a 20-year contract to build 16 1Malaysia Mara hostels abroad worth RM2 billion but the deal was suspended.
Deepak claimed subsequent to his involvement in 2008, he has been pressured by the “powers that be” to be silent. And between 2010 and 2011, his home and his offices had been raided by various agencies sent by the government to intimidate and silence him.
Deepak is now considering legal action against the government, including Najib.
The “Deepak-Rosmah/Najib” drama unfolded after whistleblower Raja Petra Kamarudin revived the matter in April 2011.
Now Deepak decided to reveal all. But then was it really a case of wanting to “clear his conscience and seek justice for Altantuya” or is it all about vendetta for the billions lost in government contracts?
For Deepak’s sake, one hopes it is all about giving conscience a priority. Nevertheless, this businessman is angry for having been taken for granted by both Najib and Rosmah, the latter whom Deepak regarded as his “elder sister”.
What’s Deepak up to, really?
It is unfortunate that Deepak got himself entangled with the “crooks”, but then did he not know from day one just whom he was dealing with? Was Deepak that naïve that he had no idea of the machinations of Rosmah and Najib?
Where was Deepak’s conscience when he “rewarded” Bala with RM5 million to tell a lie and save both Najib’s skin and his political career?
The truth, as bitter as it is, remains that Deepak is livid at how “ungrateful” both Najib and Rosmah have been to him, especially after he agreed to help the couple escape blame for Altantuya’s gruesome murder in the jungle of Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, in October 2006.
Two members of an elite police unit were later convicted and sentenced to death for the crime. What was Deepak thinking when Rosmah asked him to look for Bala the very day when the PI’s SD was made public?
Is it wrong to deduce that Deepak willingly jumped in to help when everyone else Rosmah contacted turned her down because he was hoping for a “quid pro quo”?
He played accomplice to crooks and suffered in the process. What would be unacceptable is for Deepak to use “conscience” as an excuse to seek revenge against Rosmah and Najib.
The fact is that Deepak’s ties with Rosmah turned sour following a land dispute involving him and Umno senator Raja Roopiah Abdullah. Deepak claimed that his company, Asta Canggih Sdn Bhd, was the nominee company or third party vehicle in the acquisition of 223 acres of land after he struck an agreement with Raja Roopiah.
Under the agreement, he was supposed to get all but 23 acres of the land, which would be returned to Raja Roopiah. Deepak claimed that Najib had bypassed the Cabinet in deciding to pull back the land from him.
Hoping for a miracle?
The dirt uncovered by Deepak is not shocking, not when Najib’s reputation precedes him. Besides the Altantuya murder, the country’s sixth prime minister is implicated in kickbacks worth millions through the purchase of the Scorpene submarines when he served as defence minister a decade ago.
Still, if Deepak is hoping for miracles, he may just end up disappointed, knowing fully well the travesty of justice that continues to plague the nation.
Deepak’s lament that the MACC is more interested in covering up the secret dealings following the 2006 murder of Altantuya is also nothing out of the ordinary, going by the agency’s battered image as one that has no “power” to fight for the truth.
While MACC had recorded Deepak’s statement over his role, it left matters at that, giving the impression of a cover-up. However, the opposition DAP said it would lodge a police report over Deepak’s revelation that Najib and Rosmah were involved in Altantuya’s murder.
DAP chairman Karpal Singh said while it was wrong for Deepak to hide the truth for the past two years, it was more important that Altantuya’s murderer be brought to justice. Indeed, it is justice and not vindictiveness that should truly be Deepak’s concern.
Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.
COMMENT
A wealthy carpet trader has after four years decided to “clear his conscience” and hopes the real perpetrator/s behind the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu will not go unpunished.Deepak Jaikishan, whose carpets once adorned the residence of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, is now crying foul, implicating the premier in the Mongolian interpreter’s death.
In 2008, Deepak was said to have paid private investigator P Balasubramaniam (Bala) RM5 million for the latter to retract his first statutory declaration which directly linked Najib to Altantuya’s death.
But on Nov 12, 2009, Bala via YouTube disclaimed the second SD, saying he was paid by Deepak to withdraw the first SD. Deepak, meanwhile, said he did so at the behest of a “female friend” who later turned out to be Rosmah Mansor.
The “I want to clear my conscience drama” came about after Deepak lost millions in government contracts. He had a 20-year contract to build 16 1Malaysia Mara hostels abroad worth RM2 billion but the deal was suspended.
Deepak claimed subsequent to his involvement in 2008, he has been pressured by the “powers that be” to be silent. And between 2010 and 2011, his home and his offices had been raided by various agencies sent by the government to intimidate and silence him.
Deepak is now considering legal action against the government, including Najib.
The “Deepak-Rosmah/Najib” drama unfolded after whistleblower Raja Petra Kamarudin revived the matter in April 2011.
Now Deepak decided to reveal all. But then was it really a case of wanting to “clear his conscience and seek justice for Altantuya” or is it all about vendetta for the billions lost in government contracts?
For Deepak’s sake, one hopes it is all about giving conscience a priority. Nevertheless, this businessman is angry for having been taken for granted by both Najib and Rosmah, the latter whom Deepak regarded as his “elder sister”.
What’s Deepak up to, really?
It is unfortunate that Deepak got himself entangled with the “crooks”, but then did he not know from day one just whom he was dealing with? Was Deepak that naïve that he had no idea of the machinations of Rosmah and Najib?
Where was Deepak’s conscience when he “rewarded” Bala with RM5 million to tell a lie and save both Najib’s skin and his political career?
The truth, as bitter as it is, remains that Deepak is livid at how “ungrateful” both Najib and Rosmah have been to him, especially after he agreed to help the couple escape blame for Altantuya’s gruesome murder in the jungle of Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, in October 2006.
Two members of an elite police unit were later convicted and sentenced to death for the crime. What was Deepak thinking when Rosmah asked him to look for Bala the very day when the PI’s SD was made public?
Is it wrong to deduce that Deepak willingly jumped in to help when everyone else Rosmah contacted turned her down because he was hoping for a “quid pro quo”?
He played accomplice to crooks and suffered in the process. What would be unacceptable is for Deepak to use “conscience” as an excuse to seek revenge against Rosmah and Najib.
The fact is that Deepak’s ties with Rosmah turned sour following a land dispute involving him and Umno senator Raja Roopiah Abdullah. Deepak claimed that his company, Asta Canggih Sdn Bhd, was the nominee company or third party vehicle in the acquisition of 223 acres of land after he struck an agreement with Raja Roopiah.
Under the agreement, he was supposed to get all but 23 acres of the land, which would be returned to Raja Roopiah. Deepak claimed that Najib had bypassed the Cabinet in deciding to pull back the land from him.
Hoping for a miracle?
The dirt uncovered by Deepak is not shocking, not when Najib’s reputation precedes him. Besides the Altantuya murder, the country’s sixth prime minister is implicated in kickbacks worth millions through the purchase of the Scorpene submarines when he served as defence minister a decade ago.
Still, if Deepak is hoping for miracles, he may just end up disappointed, knowing fully well the travesty of justice that continues to plague the nation.
Deepak’s lament that the MACC is more interested in covering up the secret dealings following the 2006 murder of Altantuya is also nothing out of the ordinary, going by the agency’s battered image as one that has no “power” to fight for the truth.
While MACC had recorded Deepak’s statement over his role, it left matters at that, giving the impression of a cover-up. However, the opposition DAP said it would lodge a police report over Deepak’s revelation that Najib and Rosmah were involved in Altantuya’s murder.
DAP chairman Karpal Singh said while it was wrong for Deepak to hide the truth for the past two years, it was more important that Altantuya’s murderer be brought to justice. Indeed, it is justice and not vindictiveness that should truly be Deepak’s concern.
Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.
Talks going on well with SAPP, says Anwar
Anwar Ibrahim today played down talks of tension between the 'original' Sabah PKR members and allies of Wilfred Bumburing and Lajim Ukin.
PETALING JAYA: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today dismissed reports that talks were not going well with former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee’s Sabah Progressive People’s (SAPP) party.
He said Pakatan Rakyat, which he leads, has been “more successful with SAPP” as there has been a more active process of negotiations and “they have been attending our joint meetings”.
Anwar’s comments contradict a report on Tuesday quoting a SAPP insider who claimed that Yong had implied that SAPP could well be on a collision course with its “allies” PKR and DAP (Pakatan members) in many seats.
Speaking to FMT after SAPP’s supreme council meeting on Monday, the insider said Yong told his comrades that SAPP must stick to its “principle” that a local-based party must take the majority of the State Legislative Assembly seats.
But Anwar insisted that talks were going smoothly and that seat negotiations in Sabah were underway.
Anwar said that the opposition allies are more inclined towards a one-to-one fight against Barisan Nasional parties.
“We have taken a clear position that we are moving towards that direction, that’s it’s one-to-one,” Anwar said in a press conference at the PKR headquarters today.
When asked about Jeffrey Kitingan-led State Reform Party (STAR), Anwar said that Tuaran MP Wilfred Bumburing, who helms Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS), had been appointed to negotiate seats with Jeffrey in Sabah.
“We think we have a problem with the STAR because STAR says it is opposed to all Peninsula-based parties while we say that we are opposed to all corrupt leaders irrespective of whether peninsula or state-based. There is a difference there.
“Notwithstanding that, we have assigned Wilfred (Bumburing) to proceed with the negotiations, including with the STAR,” said Anwar.
‘We want to kill Umno’
Asked if peninsula-based Pakatan was focusing its efforts on only parliamentary seats and leaving the state to the locals to fight out, Anwar said: “There is no way we are only fighting in the parliamentary seats and giving the state to Musa [Aman]. We want to kill Umno.”
He also touched on reports that Sabah PKR was dysfunctional following Anwar’s ready acceptance of BN defectors Bumburing and Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin.
Both declared their alliance to PKR-Pakatan but declined to become members of the coalition. Lajim has set up his own platform Pakatan Perubahan Sabah which is Pakatan-friendly.
FMT had last month reported tension within Sabah PKR between the “PKR ori”[original] or “PKR photocopy”, the former referring to genuine members of the party while “photocopy” addresses those with APS and PPS who “refused” to be members of PKR but have declared support for Anwar.
But Anwar played down such allegations, saying that it was not an accurate assessment of the current situation.
“Not really, of course; there are questions raised, for example: ‘why do you consider this candidate… we think another candidate is better’. Things like that. We’ve had sessions, [PKR] state leader Ahmad Tamrin will be present in all the other meetings, similar with Wilfred and Lajim.”
“It is not about new or old, [former health minister and MCA leader] Chua Jui Meng came in later but he is still the head of Johor and doing similarly well national. I don’t think that is quite correct.”
When asked about the details of the “deal” with the newcomers, Anwar merely said that the collaboration with Lajim and Bumburing was going “smoothly”.
“They come in as partners in Pakatan. They are committed to the Pakatan agenda. We are working very well. In fact, next week I am going to [meet] Wilfred and Lajim as part of the campaign programme. I don’t have a problem, seriously.”
“There will be questions. Particularly now with people clamouring for seats or lobbying for seats; it is something which is quite normal. But we have to draw the line, you know.”
Seat talks smooth
Meanwhile, when asked about seat allocations nationwide, Anwar said that in the peninsula there has been much more progress.
“It is ongoing, in Selangor it is finished. In Penang there is one, Kedah one, Perlis one; I was told, Perak two state seats. So it is 95% resolved,” he said.
Anwar said that he told the committee working on seats, PKR’s Azmin Ali, PAS’s Mustafa Ali and DAP’s Tan Kok Wai to conclude the talks, but he was informed that there is a bit more to be done, especially in Sabah and Sarawak as it involves SAPP and STAR.
PETALING JAYA: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today dismissed reports that talks were not going well with former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee’s Sabah Progressive People’s (SAPP) party.He said Pakatan Rakyat, which he leads, has been “more successful with SAPP” as there has been a more active process of negotiations and “they have been attending our joint meetings”.
Anwar’s comments contradict a report on Tuesday quoting a SAPP insider who claimed that Yong had implied that SAPP could well be on a collision course with its “allies” PKR and DAP (Pakatan members) in many seats.
Speaking to FMT after SAPP’s supreme council meeting on Monday, the insider said Yong told his comrades that SAPP must stick to its “principle” that a local-based party must take the majority of the State Legislative Assembly seats.
But Anwar insisted that talks were going smoothly and that seat negotiations in Sabah were underway.
Anwar said that the opposition allies are more inclined towards a one-to-one fight against Barisan Nasional parties.
“We have taken a clear position that we are moving towards that direction, that’s it’s one-to-one,” Anwar said in a press conference at the PKR headquarters today.
When asked about Jeffrey Kitingan-led State Reform Party (STAR), Anwar said that Tuaran MP Wilfred Bumburing, who helms Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS), had been appointed to negotiate seats with Jeffrey in Sabah.
“We think we have a problem with the STAR because STAR says it is opposed to all Peninsula-based parties while we say that we are opposed to all corrupt leaders irrespective of whether peninsula or state-based. There is a difference there.
“Notwithstanding that, we have assigned Wilfred (Bumburing) to proceed with the negotiations, including with the STAR,” said Anwar.
‘We want to kill Umno’
Asked if peninsula-based Pakatan was focusing its efforts on only parliamentary seats and leaving the state to the locals to fight out, Anwar said: “There is no way we are only fighting in the parliamentary seats and giving the state to Musa [Aman]. We want to kill Umno.”
He also touched on reports that Sabah PKR was dysfunctional following Anwar’s ready acceptance of BN defectors Bumburing and Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin.
Both declared their alliance to PKR-Pakatan but declined to become members of the coalition. Lajim has set up his own platform Pakatan Perubahan Sabah which is Pakatan-friendly.
FMT had last month reported tension within Sabah PKR between the “PKR ori”[original] or “PKR photocopy”, the former referring to genuine members of the party while “photocopy” addresses those with APS and PPS who “refused” to be members of PKR but have declared support for Anwar.
But Anwar played down such allegations, saying that it was not an accurate assessment of the current situation.
“Not really, of course; there are questions raised, for example: ‘why do you consider this candidate… we think another candidate is better’. Things like that. We’ve had sessions, [PKR] state leader Ahmad Tamrin will be present in all the other meetings, similar with Wilfred and Lajim.”
“It is not about new or old, [former health minister and MCA leader] Chua Jui Meng came in later but he is still the head of Johor and doing similarly well national. I don’t think that is quite correct.”
When asked about the details of the “deal” with the newcomers, Anwar merely said that the collaboration with Lajim and Bumburing was going “smoothly”.
“They come in as partners in Pakatan. They are committed to the Pakatan agenda. We are working very well. In fact, next week I am going to [meet] Wilfred and Lajim as part of the campaign programme. I don’t have a problem, seriously.”
“There will be questions. Particularly now with people clamouring for seats or lobbying for seats; it is something which is quite normal. But we have to draw the line, you know.”
Seat talks smooth
Meanwhile, when asked about seat allocations nationwide, Anwar said that in the peninsula there has been much more progress.
“It is ongoing, in Selangor it is finished. In Penang there is one, Kedah one, Perlis one; I was told, Perak two state seats. So it is 95% resolved,” he said.
Anwar said that he told the committee working on seats, PKR’s Azmin Ali, PAS’s Mustafa Ali and DAP’s Tan Kok Wai to conclude the talks, but he was informed that there is a bit more to be done, especially in Sabah and Sarawak as it involves SAPP and STAR.
Charge Sepang protesters, says Hindraf
It takes offence at a call for the destruction of Hindu temples.
KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf today urged the authorities to punish the participants of last Tuesday’s demonstration against the rebuilding of a Hindu shrine in Sepang.
In a report lodged at the Travers police station, Hindraf youth chief S Thiagarajan said the demonstrators had incited racial and religious hatred.
Thiagarajan referred to a placard displayed at the protest, which read “Robohkan Kuil Haram” (Demolish Illegal Temples), saying it represented a “blatant act” of bullying against a “vulnerable minority”.
Tuesday’s demonstration was carried out by a group calling itself Taman Seroja Residents Association. It was in reaction to a proposal to rebuild a Hindu altar that the Sepang municipal council had demolished. The altar was located on the porch of a private home.
Referring to the offending placard, Thiagarajan said: “There are no such things as illegal Hindu temples or licences for the same as there are no such things as illegal mosques or suraus, churches, Chinese temples, gurudwaras, etc, or licences for the same.
“All these places of worship exist and co-exist by virtue of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.”
The report also called for the prosecution of the municipal officers who demolished the altar.
It also urged the government to “seriously promote” racial and religious co-existence as opposed to mere tolerance.
Speaking to FMT, Thiagarajan proposed that state governments earmark a site for a Hindu temple for every 1,000 Hindus.
He questioned the authorities’ failure to act against Tuesday’s demonstrators, contrasting this with the swift action taken against Seputeh MP Teresa Kok a couple years ago over her call for mosque loudspeakers to be lowered in volume at dawn.
KUALA LUMPUR: Hindraf today urged the authorities to punish the participants of last Tuesday’s demonstration against the rebuilding of a Hindu shrine in Sepang.In a report lodged at the Travers police station, Hindraf youth chief S Thiagarajan said the demonstrators had incited racial and religious hatred.
Thiagarajan referred to a placard displayed at the protest, which read “Robohkan Kuil Haram” (Demolish Illegal Temples), saying it represented a “blatant act” of bullying against a “vulnerable minority”.
Tuesday’s demonstration was carried out by a group calling itself Taman Seroja Residents Association. It was in reaction to a proposal to rebuild a Hindu altar that the Sepang municipal council had demolished. The altar was located on the porch of a private home.
Referring to the offending placard, Thiagarajan said: “There are no such things as illegal Hindu temples or licences for the same as there are no such things as illegal mosques or suraus, churches, Chinese temples, gurudwaras, etc, or licences for the same.
“All these places of worship exist and co-exist by virtue of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.”
The report also called for the prosecution of the municipal officers who demolished the altar.
It also urged the government to “seriously promote” racial and religious co-existence as opposed to mere tolerance.
Speaking to FMT, Thiagarajan proposed that state governments earmark a site for a Hindu temple for every 1,000 Hindus.
He questioned the authorities’ failure to act against Tuesday’s demonstrators, contrasting this with the swift action taken against Seputeh MP Teresa Kok a couple years ago over her call for mosque loudspeakers to be lowered in volume at dawn.
36 ditahan terlibat kes gaduh di Sg Petani
Ketua Polis Kedah juga berkata pihaknya tidak akan berkompromi dengan sesiapa yang menyebarkan maklumat palsu.
ALOR SETAR: Polis Kedah menahan 36 orang yang dipercayai terlibat dalam insiden pergaduhan di Sungai Petani bagi membantu siasatan, kata Ketua Polis Kedah Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim.
Katanya semua tahanan yang berumur antara 18 hingga 30-an itu kini ditahan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Kuala Muda, di Sungai Petani.
Beliau berkata tangkapan terakhir dibuat pada 4.30 pagi tadi di sekitar Sungai Petani dan akan menahan beberapa lagi suspek berdasarkan maklumat yang diperoleh menerusi soal siasat ke atas tahanan.
“Kita tangkap semua yang terlibat. Polis tak akan berkompromi dengan sesiapa yang melakukan provokasi sehingga mencetuskan keadaan hura-hara,” katanya pada sidang media di Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen (IPK) Kedah di sini hari ini.
Mengenai pihak yang menyebarkan maklumat palsu menerusi media sosial, blog dan khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) bahawa berlakunya rusuhan di daerah Kuala Muda terutama Sungai Petani, Ahmad berkata Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersial (JSJK) negeri akan menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan ke atas pihak yang menyebarkan maklumat yang tidak benar berkaitan situasi di daerah berkenaan.
Katanya polis turut mengambil tindakan terhadap mereka yang bertanggungjawab menyebar maklumat palsu dan mencetuskan keadaan yang kurang menyenangkan.
Ahmad berkata semalam pihaknya mengadakan pertemuan dengan ketua-ketua agama, pemimpin politik dan wakil rakyat daerah Kuala Muda di IPD Kuala Muda bagi menerangkan situasi sebenar supaya mereka boleh menyampaikan maklumat yang betul kepada masyarakat setempat.
Katanya apa yang berlaku hanyalah pergaduhan kecil antara kumpulan anak muda dan bukannya rusuhan seperti yang digambarkan dalam blog dan media sosial.
Beliau juga menegaskan kepada golongan muda agar tidak melakukan sesuatu yang melanggar undang-undang kerana perkara tersebut membabitkan soal keselamatan.
“Kita mampu untuk tenteramkan keadaan tersebut jika masyarakat memberi kerjasama untuk mengharmonikan situasi ini. Kita juga sebarkan maklumat tepat dalam laman sosial Facebook kepada masyarakat dan kita tak sembunyikan apa-apa fakta,” katanya.
Ahmad turut memberi amaran keras kepada penyebar maklumat palsu agar segera menghentikan perbuatan itu kerana katanya maklumat yang berbentuk provokasi dan sensasi berupaya untuk mencetuskan masalah perkauman sekali gus mengugat ketenteraman awam.
Katanya dakwaan kematian akibat pergaduhan antara kaum juga tidak wujud seperti yang digambarkan dalam berita di laman sosial dan pihak polis kini giat melakukan kawalan di daerah itu.
“Saya dah pantau keadaan di Sungai Petani dan saya lihat keadaan normal, masyarakat melakukan aktiviti harian dan kedai buka macam biasa. Tak ada kuil atau rumah ibadah lain terbakar seperti yang dilapor oleh blogger,” kata Ahmad.
Bernama
ALOR SETAR: Polis Kedah menahan 36 orang yang dipercayai terlibat dalam insiden pergaduhan di Sungai Petani bagi membantu siasatan, kata Ketua Polis Kedah Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim.Katanya semua tahanan yang berumur antara 18 hingga 30-an itu kini ditahan di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Kuala Muda, di Sungai Petani.
Beliau berkata tangkapan terakhir dibuat pada 4.30 pagi tadi di sekitar Sungai Petani dan akan menahan beberapa lagi suspek berdasarkan maklumat yang diperoleh menerusi soal siasat ke atas tahanan.
“Kita tangkap semua yang terlibat. Polis tak akan berkompromi dengan sesiapa yang melakukan provokasi sehingga mencetuskan keadaan hura-hara,” katanya pada sidang media di Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontinjen (IPK) Kedah di sini hari ini.
Mengenai pihak yang menyebarkan maklumat palsu menerusi media sosial, blog dan khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) bahawa berlakunya rusuhan di daerah Kuala Muda terutama Sungai Petani, Ahmad berkata Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersial (JSJK) negeri akan menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan ke atas pihak yang menyebarkan maklumat yang tidak benar berkaitan situasi di daerah berkenaan.
Katanya polis turut mengambil tindakan terhadap mereka yang bertanggungjawab menyebar maklumat palsu dan mencetuskan keadaan yang kurang menyenangkan.
Ahmad berkata semalam pihaknya mengadakan pertemuan dengan ketua-ketua agama, pemimpin politik dan wakil rakyat daerah Kuala Muda di IPD Kuala Muda bagi menerangkan situasi sebenar supaya mereka boleh menyampaikan maklumat yang betul kepada masyarakat setempat.
Katanya apa yang berlaku hanyalah pergaduhan kecil antara kumpulan anak muda dan bukannya rusuhan seperti yang digambarkan dalam blog dan media sosial.
Beliau juga menegaskan kepada golongan muda agar tidak melakukan sesuatu yang melanggar undang-undang kerana perkara tersebut membabitkan soal keselamatan.
“Kita mampu untuk tenteramkan keadaan tersebut jika masyarakat memberi kerjasama untuk mengharmonikan situasi ini. Kita juga sebarkan maklumat tepat dalam laman sosial Facebook kepada masyarakat dan kita tak sembunyikan apa-apa fakta,” katanya.
Ahmad turut memberi amaran keras kepada penyebar maklumat palsu agar segera menghentikan perbuatan itu kerana katanya maklumat yang berbentuk provokasi dan sensasi berupaya untuk mencetuskan masalah perkauman sekali gus mengugat ketenteraman awam.
Katanya dakwaan kematian akibat pergaduhan antara kaum juga tidak wujud seperti yang digambarkan dalam berita di laman sosial dan pihak polis kini giat melakukan kawalan di daerah itu.
“Saya dah pantau keadaan di Sungai Petani dan saya lihat keadaan normal, masyarakat melakukan aktiviti harian dan kedai buka macam biasa. Tak ada kuil atau rumah ibadah lain terbakar seperti yang dilapor oleh blogger,” kata Ahmad.
Bernama
‘Sabah Umno reps only servicing Muslims’
Disgruntled Sabah Upko members are fed up with Umno YBs and want a special programme to re-educate them on their responsibilities to the electorate.
LAHAD DATU: The strained relationship between two Barisan Nasional components here has emerged into the open over the preferential treatment given to Muslim Bumiputera at the expense of the non-Muslims.
The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) which is embarrassed that it has not been able to provide the same level of social assistance that Umno provides its supporters, this week accused the dominant BN party of granting assistance based on religious beliefs rather than on needs and creating a split where none existed before.
Silam Upko division chairman, Basari Sarkun, charged that the Silam Umno elected representatives were neglecting the wellbeing of the non-Muslim Bumiputera and ignoring the sacrifices of BN component parties and their supporters that ensured the coalition’s victory in the last election.
Basari, who is also district councillor, said Umno seemed to be only interested in helping the Muslim community, especially its party members first and then the community.
“Let me remind you all that the victory of Silam is the victory of all the component parties in BN, and not solely Umno or the YBs themselves. They should fulfil their election pledge to the people after they had won,” he said.
He suggested that the BN conduct a special programme to educate its elected representatives to understand their duty to all citizens as well as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s unity drive which they had taken to mean as an exercise of merely putting up their finger and shouting “1 Malaysia” during a function or a photo opportunity.
“I have requested for the YBs special fund to repair churches, roads, village community halls in non-Muslim Bumiputera majority villages. I also requested 1Malaysia computer, zinc sheets, water tanks and other such items for our communities, but sadly the YBs were not forthcoming,” he said.
A highly emotional Basari, who cried at various points of his speech to some 600 party members during a division meeting, said that even government poverty eradication programmes were discriminatory in nature including the supply of electricity and water in rural areas.
‘There’s still hope’
In attendance were Upko president Bernard Dompok, who is also federal Plantation and Commodity Minister, his deputy Ewon Ebin, who is State Rural Development Minister, State Cultural Board chairman Wences Anggang and central committee members Madius Tanggau and Markus Mojigoh (Putatan MP).
Dompok urged his party members to be calm and voice their grievances through the proper party channels.
He said the acceptance by Najib to set up Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants was “a good indication” of the willingness of the current BN government to resolve the long-standing Sabahan problems.
“There is still hope in BN… it is willing to listen and find ways to improve the situation. Of course, we can’t resolve everything overnight, but when the right times come, it will be resolved,” he told disgruntled members and party supporters.
LAHAD DATU: The strained relationship between two Barisan Nasional components here has emerged into the open over the preferential treatment given to Muslim Bumiputera at the expense of the non-Muslims.The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) which is embarrassed that it has not been able to provide the same level of social assistance that Umno provides its supporters, this week accused the dominant BN party of granting assistance based on religious beliefs rather than on needs and creating a split where none existed before.
Silam Upko division chairman, Basari Sarkun, charged that the Silam Umno elected representatives were neglecting the wellbeing of the non-Muslim Bumiputera and ignoring the sacrifices of BN component parties and their supporters that ensured the coalition’s victory in the last election.
Basari, who is also district councillor, said Umno seemed to be only interested in helping the Muslim community, especially its party members first and then the community.
“Let me remind you all that the victory of Silam is the victory of all the component parties in BN, and not solely Umno or the YBs themselves. They should fulfil their election pledge to the people after they had won,” he said.
He suggested that the BN conduct a special programme to educate its elected representatives to understand their duty to all citizens as well as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s unity drive which they had taken to mean as an exercise of merely putting up their finger and shouting “1 Malaysia” during a function or a photo opportunity.
“I have requested for the YBs special fund to repair churches, roads, village community halls in non-Muslim Bumiputera majority villages. I also requested 1Malaysia computer, zinc sheets, water tanks and other such items for our communities, but sadly the YBs were not forthcoming,” he said.
A highly emotional Basari, who cried at various points of his speech to some 600 party members during a division meeting, said that even government poverty eradication programmes were discriminatory in nature including the supply of electricity and water in rural areas.
‘There’s still hope’
In attendance were Upko president Bernard Dompok, who is also federal Plantation and Commodity Minister, his deputy Ewon Ebin, who is State Rural Development Minister, State Cultural Board chairman Wences Anggang and central committee members Madius Tanggau and Markus Mojigoh (Putatan MP).
Dompok urged his party members to be calm and voice their grievances through the proper party channels.
He said the acceptance by Najib to set up Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants was “a good indication” of the willingness of the current BN government to resolve the long-standing Sabahan problems.
“There is still hope in BN… it is willing to listen and find ways to improve the situation. Of course, we can’t resolve everything overnight, but when the right times come, it will be resolved,” he told disgruntled members and party supporters.
MACC panel: Cecil Abraham not involved in closing case
“The
operations review panel would like to state that one of the panel
members, Cecil Abraham, was not present nor involved in the meeting,”
panel chairperson Hadenan Abdul Jalil said in a statement today.He said the case related to Balasubramaniam’s second SD was discussed during the panel’s meeting on Nov 8, 2012, and the panel had agreed with the deputy public prosecutor’s decision to stop the investigation on grounds that the testimonies given by major witnesses were not supported by other witnesses, and the credibility of the major witnesses was disputable.
Since last week, Malaysiakini has attempted to contact Cecil, who is a senior partner of the legal firm of Zul Rafique and Partners, through telephone, writing, facsimile and email, but has yet to receive any response.
Hadenan (right) was responding to articles published in the online media related to MACC’s investigation on Balasubramaniam’s second SD.The issue arose last month when Deepak Jaikishan, who has claimed to be personally involved in the ‘flipping’ of Balasubramaniam, made a series of explosive revelations, including the allegation that two lawyers - a senior lawyer and his son - were involved in drafting the second SD.
In the first SD, Balasubramaniam linked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu who was murdered by two police officers in 2006, but he signed a second SD the next day to deny Najib’s involvement.
Check-and-balance mechanism
In an interview with PAS organ Harakah last week, Deepak had related how the senior lawyer had drafted and prepared the document along with the latter’s son, though only his son came to see the other parties involved at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, where Balasubramaniam was allegedly “kept”.
The lawyer’s name was supposedly mentioned by Deepak in the interview that has been posted on YouTube, with the name edited out.In the statement today, Hadenan stressed that the panel functions as a check-and-balance mechanism in the MACC, where all investigations done by the commission will be submitted to the panel members for their feedback.
“The panel members consist of those with expertise and who represent professional bodies, and they make decisions without interference from any party.
“Hence any statement that doubts the transparency and independence of the operations review panel is much regretted,” he said, adding that the MACC would reopen investigations if there were new and relevant statements.
however, Hadenan’s statement does not mention whether Cecil was involved in Balasubramaniam’s second SD.
Americk: Cecil is a lawyer of the highest integrity...
There has been much speculation in the press recently over the identity of a “Tan Sri lawyer and his son” who were both supposedly involved in the preparation of my client’s 2nd statutory declaration (SD), the contents of which were specifically designed to withdraw the allegations made in his earlier statutory declaration and to state that my client, Bala, was ‘compelled’ to make those allegations ‘under duress’.
The reasons for this alleged ‘compulsion’ leading to the alleged ‘duress’ were never explained in the 2nd SD.
As far as I am concerned, the 1st SD was transcribed, produced and eventually affirmed by my client over a period of two months during which time every detail was painstakingly checked and cross-checked to ensure the highest accuracy. There was never any reason for my client to withdraw those contents unless he had been forced to, which is now apparent.
Let me make it very clear that my client does not know the identity of the lawyer(s) who drafted this 2nd statutory declaration. He had not instructed any lawyer to do so. This is because the contents of his 1st statutory declaration were true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Therefore there was never any necessity to alter the contents of his 1st SD. However, Bala was forced to sign a 2nd SD because of a threat to the safety of his wife and children.
My
client was presented with this 2nd SD when he was being held in a room
at the Hilton Hotel, KL Sentral, on the morning of July 4, 2008. In the
hotel room with him at that time were Deepak Jaikishan (left), his brother Dinesh and one ASP Suresh. At about 8am Deepak received a phone call from the reception desk informing him that some documents had just been delivered to the hotel. Dinesh went to retrieve them and brought them back to the room.
A few minutes later an elderly Malay gentleman turned up at this room. His name was Zainal Abidin bin Muhayat. He introduced himself as a commissioner for oaths and proceeded to attest Bala’s signature on the 2nd SD. Bala had not read the contents of this 2nd SD. He was merely requested to sign it. This commissioner for oaths then placed his stamp over his own signature.
The address on this stamp is Suite 17.01, 17th Floor, Menara Pan Global, Lorong P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur. It has been pointed out that this address is the same as that of the law firm of Zul Rafique & Partners in 2008. I presume this commissioner for oaths must have been working from this office, unless of course a false address had been used.
The commissioner for oaths then informed Deepak to make sure he showed my client where his office was situated whilst Deepak was driving Bala to the Prince Court Hotel for a press conference scheduled to take place later that morning.
Concern of the commissioner of oaths
This
commissioner for oaths was concerned that Bala would know exactly where
his office was as a commissioner for oaths is only supposed to attest
signatures at the premises at which he is registered. He wanted to
ensure Bala knew where his office was situated in the event he was
asked. Deepak however, did not show Bala where this office was. At the Prince Court Hotel, Bala was held in an area above the main lobby where he was introduced to a lawyer named Arunampalam, whose presence at the hotel had been organised by Deepak. This lawyer informed Bala that he was not to say anything to the press, who were waiting in the main lobby, as he, Arunampalam, would do all the talking.
Bala
had never met this lawyer Arunampalam before that and neither had Bala
engaged him to represent him in the scheduled press conference. At the conference that followed, Arunampalam handed out copies of the 2nd SD to all the journalists present and informed them that Bala had been forced to sign the 1st SD under duress. This, of course, is totally untrue.
The only duress Bala had been under was when he was forced to sign the 2nd SD as threats had unequivocally been made to the wellbeing of his wife and children by both Deepak and Nazim Tun Razak. These threats have been documented in earlier revelations Bala has made and are in the public domain. Both Deepak and Nazim Tun Razak have not denied these allegations.
It is pertinent to note that whilst this press conference was being held at the Prince Court Hotel, Bala’s wife and children were at the immigration department at Pusat Bandar Damansara with Deepak’s secretary, a Miss Wong, having their passports hastily processed for the intended flight from Malaysia, due to take place that very afternoon.
This
was one of the conditions imposed by Deepak and the parties behind him
as a guarantee for the safety of Bala’s wife and children….that they
immediately leave the country until such time that Najib Tun Razak
became prime minister. Having laid out the circumstances in which Bala was made to sign that 2nd SD, I would now wish to comment on the speculation surrounding the lawyers involved in preparing that second SD.
The Bar Council president, Lim Chee Wee, has made a statement to the effect that the Bar Council would no doubt urge the Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board to investigate this matter should a complaint be lodged against the lawyers who prepared this second SD.
I wish to clarify the position at present.
Bala is unable to lodge a complaint with this Disciplinary Board for the simple reason he is unable to identify the lawyer(s) who attended to the drafting of that 2nd SD, as this was done in his absence and without his permission.
All he is able to do at this point in time is to confirm that he had not instructed any lawyer to prepare that 2nd SD, nor was he present before a lawyer when it was being prepared. The contents of that 2nd SD are also totally false.
Deepak has gone on record to say that the lawyers involved in the preparation of that 2nd SD were in fact a ‘Tan Sri and his son who is also a lawyer’.
This
statement has, in the circumstances, publically perpetrated, by
insinuation and deduction, the identification of Tan Sri Cecil Abraham (left)
and his son Sunil as the possible culprits due to a strange series of
coincidences, which in themselves are indeed unfortunate. I wish to place on record that I find these allegations extremely surprising as I know Cecil personally. He is a barrister of the highest integrity with at least 40 years of impeccable service to the Malaysian Bar and is held in high esteem by all those who have had the privilege of making his acquaintance, both personally and professionally.
Bar Council president must act
It is therefore unthinkable that someone who possesses such an ingrained sense of dignity, integrity and professionalism and who has dedicated over 40 years of his life in upholding all that is sacrosanct to the honour of being a member of an historically noble profession, would in any way so blatantly compromise those ideals by partaking in something as undignified and as irresponsible as knowingly formulating a false statement to be sworn by someone he had never met, under circumstances of obvious duress and coercion, knowing at all times that I was representing Bala.
It is for this reason Bala will not, at this point in time, be lodging a complaint with the Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board for the simple reason he is unable to identify the lawyer (or lawyers) concerned who were involved in preparing a knowingly false statutory declaration without any instructions from him to do so.
As this is a rather serious matter, may I suggest that the president of the Bar Council organise a simple email to be sent to all members of the Malaysian Bar requesting that the member(s) responsible for drafting that 2nd SD do the right thing and make themselves known, as it appears innocent parties may be publicly falling victim to the blame game and finger pointing which has emerged since Deepak’s revelations, to which I certainly do not subscribe.
Americk Singh Sidhu
Identity of Deepak's 'backer' is secondary, says PKR
At a press conference today, Anwar said Deepak had provided new evidence into the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu and also provided evidence of corruption and suppression of evidence by the authorities.
“These are all criminal acts. You do not say that somebody is behind it. If you say we will investigate it is all right, but you do not cover-up a crime.
“That is the central issue,” Anwar said, adding that he was not surprised with the allegations made by Umno bloggers that he was behind the expose.
“But you have to look at who is making this expose. It is Deepak, who is said to be a close family friend of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Rosmah (Mansor). Deal with it. They (Najib and Rosmah) have to respond,” he said.
Anwar added that the system does not allow people to cast aspersions as Deepak had done.
"If you (the media) take the same position as Umno - (by focussing on) who is behind it, (it is not good). Look at the revelations that have been made.
"I for one do not condone smearing of people (without proof) and if what Deepak alleges (is true or untrue) he should be held responsible and accountable," said Anwar, who is the Permatang Pauh MP and opposition leader.
Anwar has been implicated by pro-Umno bloggers as the mastermind behind the series of revelations by Deepak that had put Najib in bad light.
Deepak had told several news organisations that he had been roped in by Najib to help convince private investigator P Balasubramaniam to retract his statutory declaration.
‘If Deepak alleges Anwar...’
Anwar then went on to attack the mainstream media, saying that if Deepak had said something about Anwar, it would appear in the front pages of all these newspapers.
“If such allegations are made against me, they will appear in The Star, New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia for the next 30 days. But here you have the specific allegations and some of you (the media) have privy to the facts as there are specific allegations.
“There are accounts or payments made, and (these allegations) are serious, but the news had been completely submerged.
“That is why the submarines have been a big political issue in this country,” Anwar added, referring to the Scorpene submarine scandal that started the whole affair of the retracted statutory declaration.
PAS shows Indians the door
"You scratch my back, I'll claw you back". That's PAS's gratitude for you.Mohan Dass
Indians who form the bulk of the non-Muslim supporters of PAS have been shown the door by the party hierarchy. They should therefore walk out of PAS.
It's time Indians should realize this: You are there to look after PAS interests, but PAS is not there to look after your interests.
In effect PAS is saying to you "You scratch my back, I'll claw you back". That's PAS's gratitude for you.
Just look at the unfolding events. PAS is accusing its non-Muslim supporters of undermining the party's Islamic stand. How so? The National PAS Supporters Congress had merely defended non-Muslim rights when PAS took action against non-Muslims for alleged indecent behaviour. Now, the PAS Assistant Secretary-general and State Executive Councillor Datuk Takuyuddin Hassan claims that the congress has bad intentions and must not question what the party decides.
Wake up Indians. Don’t turn a blind eye to the problems of your community. Know which side of your bread is buttered.
• Where was PAS when Indians highlighted the plight of stateless persons within the community?
• Where was PAS when temples were being demolished in Selangor with impunity?
• Where was PAS when you protested the proposed condominium near Batu Caves that would threaten the caves and the Murugan
statue?
There is no Nambikei with PAS. Know where to place your trust!!
NAJIB "COMPLICIT" in Malaysia's "mind-boggling" DIRTY MONEY CONSPIRACY - Anwar
UPDATE 2 Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim held Prime Minister Najib Razak accountable for the huge jump in "dirty money" siphoned out of Malaysia, accusing him of blocking investigations and failing to make public the results of a central bank probe."He is complicit in this. We raised the matter two years ago but not only has nothing been done, the amount of illicit outflows has more than doubled in 2010 compared to 2009. He has not been transparent to the people and has blocked investigations," Anwar told a press conference on Thursday.
Expressing a lack of confidence in Najib to come clean on the scandal or to come up with an action plan to stop the outflows, Anwar said his Pakatan Rakyat coalition would be initiating a roundtable in January 2013 to get the Malaysian government, the central bank to thrash out the issue with the Global Financial Integrity.
The Opposition Leader was responding to a report released earlier this week by the Washington-based financial watchdog that sent shock waves around the world.
GFI, which tracks capital flight, is run by top financial experts including former senior IMF researchers. It said in its latest report that RM 197 billion of 'dirty money' had been siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010 compared to RM 93 billion in 2009, an increase of 112 %. This gives Malaysia the rather shameful record of being the No.2 country in the world after China of having the highest illicit outflows in 2010.
GFI warned that capital flight in Malaysia is "at a scale seen in few Asian countries". For the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, Malaysia was ranked No. 3 globally with the cumulative amount of 'dirty money' siphoned out amounting to US$285 billion (RM871.4 billion), after China's US$2,740 billion and Mexico's US$476 billion.
Explain, Zeti & Najib: Don't 'blackout' the news
Anwar also challenged Bank Negara to explain "how it can fail to detect such a large sum as RM197billion" leaving the country in 2010 alone when the existing financial system was "transparent."
Anwar also slammed BN Members of Parliament for failing in their duty to the people and demanding for an explanation from the government.
"We are talking about mind-boggling crime... This is the same situation as in the Great Indian Robbery where US$500 billion was spirited out of the coutry over a period of 6 decades. But not a single BN MP has stood up to question what is happening here," said Anwar.
"The Opposition raised the matter in Parliament and we were told by the Deputy Minister of Finance that the probe carried out by Bank Negara found the amount was exaggerated. But now we find that a year later, the amount of illegal outflows has jumped even more.
"The Bank Negara report was never made public. Why? I will be writing to Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the BNM governor, GFI officials, representatives of the government and state governments to come together in a meeting in 2013 to sort out what is behind these huge numbers. We also welcome Datuk Najib to attend."
A former deputy prime minister, Anwar also lamented the media "blackout" on the news and did not discount the possibility that Bank Negara may have come under political pressure to "keep silent".
Malaysia Chronicle
Latest GFI report on RM196.8 billion dirty money siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010 is the third warning of adverse international reports in the last month of the year that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” as far as Malaysia is concerned
The latest Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report on the astronomical RM196.8 billion in dirty money siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010, resulting in a mind-boggling total of RM871 billion in illegal capital flight from the country over the last 10 years (2001-2010), is the third warning of adverse international reports in the last month of the year that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” as far as Malaysia is concerned.
The GFI report marks a trio of adverse international reports about Malaysia in the last month of this year to warn Malaysians why the time has come for a change of Federal government in Putrajaya in the forthcoming 13th General Elections.
There are still 11 days before the end of the month of December for the year 2012. Will there be another adverse international report about Malaysia to make it a quartet of adverse international reports in the last month of this year?
The other two adverse international reports for Malaysia which were published this month are:
• Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012 – Despite a change of methodology for the TI CPI score and ranking, the ineluctable fact is that corruption under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from 2009-2012 is even worse than corruption under the previous five Prime Ministers, including Tun Abdullah and Tun Mahathir;
• Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 which showed that Malaysia is losing out in the battle for the future, as the results highlight that Malaysia is suffering a twin educational crisis, with the Malaysian education system providing an increasingly inferior education over the years as well as Malaysian students losing out to their peers in other countries in the key critical subjects of mathematics and science which will determine whether Malaysia could succeed to transform itself into a competitive, innovative and high-income developed nation in the international arena.
The year 2012 is ending very poorly both for the country and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
There are not only this trio of adverse international reports for Malaysia in the last month of December 2012, but the country is increasingly haunted by the ghosts of past decades of corrupt, undemocratic and unjust governance.
Recently, former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir made the unforgettable quote that it is better for the people to elect the devil they know rather than the angel whom they may not know.
What Mahathir had not reckoned with is that the ghosts of the past are increasingly taking centre-stage in Malaysian politics – not only the ghosts of the murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu; Teoh Beng Hock, the victim of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) and the countless who were “murdered” while under police custody in police lockups like A. Kugan crying out for justice, but other “ghosts” of the past as well.
The recent explosive “confessions” by the carpet trader, Deepak Jaikishan on the Atantunya murder case; the public exchanges between the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and the former Criminal Crime Investigation Department Director Datuk Ramli Yusof about the wrongs and abuses of power committed by the other; the public allegations of corruption and abuses of power made against the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, are only some of the “skeletons” rattling in the national cupboard but nobody expects the UMNO/BN administrations to get to the bottom to uncover their truths.
Only a change of Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 13GE in the next 100 days can resolve and appease all the “ghosts” of the UMNO/BN administrations, particularly of the past three decades – including who was responsible for the murder of auditor Jalil Ibrahim in Hong Kong in the first mega-scandal of the Mahathir era, the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal in the eighties.
The GFI report marks a trio of adverse international reports about Malaysia in the last month of this year to warn Malaysians why the time has come for a change of Federal government in Putrajaya in the forthcoming 13th General Elections.
There are still 11 days before the end of the month of December for the year 2012. Will there be another adverse international report about Malaysia to make it a quartet of adverse international reports in the last month of this year?
The other two adverse international reports for Malaysia which were published this month are:
• Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012 – Despite a change of methodology for the TI CPI score and ranking, the ineluctable fact is that corruption under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from 2009-2012 is even worse than corruption under the previous five Prime Ministers, including Tun Abdullah and Tun Mahathir;
• Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 which showed that Malaysia is losing out in the battle for the future, as the results highlight that Malaysia is suffering a twin educational crisis, with the Malaysian education system providing an increasingly inferior education over the years as well as Malaysian students losing out to their peers in other countries in the key critical subjects of mathematics and science which will determine whether Malaysia could succeed to transform itself into a competitive, innovative and high-income developed nation in the international arena.
The year 2012 is ending very poorly both for the country and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
There are not only this trio of adverse international reports for Malaysia in the last month of December 2012, but the country is increasingly haunted by the ghosts of past decades of corrupt, undemocratic and unjust governance.
Recently, former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir made the unforgettable quote that it is better for the people to elect the devil they know rather than the angel whom they may not know.
What Mahathir had not reckoned with is that the ghosts of the past are increasingly taking centre-stage in Malaysian politics – not only the ghosts of the murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu; Teoh Beng Hock, the victim of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) and the countless who were “murdered” while under police custody in police lockups like A. Kugan crying out for justice, but other “ghosts” of the past as well.
The recent explosive “confessions” by the carpet trader, Deepak Jaikishan on the Atantunya murder case; the public exchanges between the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and the former Criminal Crime Investigation Department Director Datuk Ramli Yusof about the wrongs and abuses of power committed by the other; the public allegations of corruption and abuses of power made against the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, are only some of the “skeletons” rattling in the national cupboard but nobody expects the UMNO/BN administrations to get to the bottom to uncover their truths.
Only a change of Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 13GE in the next 100 days can resolve and appease all the “ghosts” of the UMNO/BN administrations, particularly of the past three decades – including who was responsible for the murder of auditor Jalil Ibrahim in Hong Kong in the first mega-scandal of the Mahathir era, the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal in the eighties.
India To Award Two Highway Projects To Malaysian Firms, Says Najib
By Saraswathi Muniappan
NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The Indian government will award two highway projects in Tamil Nadu, South India, to Malaysian firms under a government-to- government arrangement, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
Malaysia and India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2010 on highway management and development.
"I informed them that we've already enforced the first phase of the MoU, but the project delivery under the second phase has not materialise yet," he said after a bilateral meeting with India's Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
He said Manmohan Singh has given his commitment and was prepared to take positive steps to realise the MoU's second phase by offering the opportunity to Malaysian firms to undertake the two highway projects in Tamil Nadu.
Asked where would be the highways in Tamil Nadu, Najib said: "Identification of the highways and the concession companies will be done later. Details will be announced later once the projects have been formally confirmed."
"Apart from that, we also agreed to expand our collaborations with India, a very strategic partner to Malaysia.
"Given the warm and cordial bilateral relations with India, Malaysia is a natural gateway to Indian companies to penetrate the more open Asean market," said Najib, who is also Finance Minister.
On Malaysia-India CEO Forum, Najib said that it was one of the most active CEO forums.
"The forum serves as a platform for the private sector to share their experience on how to operate in India," he said.
"Overall, Malaysian companies have displayed their performance which has earned high appreciation and India has high regard for the capabilities of our companies.
"Projects such as the monorail in Mumbai and the highways that we've built were of the quality that we can be proud of and they also have high regard for our achievements," he added.
NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The Indian government will award two highway projects in Tamil Nadu, South India, to Malaysian firms under a government-to- government arrangement, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
Malaysia and India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2010 on highway management and development.
"I informed them that we've already enforced the first phase of the MoU, but the project delivery under the second phase has not materialise yet," he said after a bilateral meeting with India's Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
He said Manmohan Singh has given his commitment and was prepared to take positive steps to realise the MoU's second phase by offering the opportunity to Malaysian firms to undertake the two highway projects in Tamil Nadu.
Asked where would be the highways in Tamil Nadu, Najib said: "Identification of the highways and the concession companies will be done later. Details will be announced later once the projects have been formally confirmed."
"Apart from that, we also agreed to expand our collaborations with India, a very strategic partner to Malaysia.
"Given the warm and cordial bilateral relations with India, Malaysia is a natural gateway to Indian companies to penetrate the more open Asean market," said Najib, who is also Finance Minister.
On Malaysia-India CEO Forum, Najib said that it was one of the most active CEO forums.
"The forum serves as a platform for the private sector to share their experience on how to operate in India," he said.
"Overall, Malaysian companies have displayed their performance which has earned high appreciation and India has high regard for the capabilities of our companies.
"Projects such as the monorail in Mumbai and the highways that we've built were of the quality that we can be proud of and they also have high regard for our achievements," he added.
Poet Cecil Rajendra opens reading room in Penang
Human rights lawyer and renowned poet Cecil Rajendra has
converted his former law office in George Town into a reading room for
the public.
The By, In, For & About Penang (BIFAP) Reading Room provides a
quiet haven for senior citizens to read books and newspapers or for
children to cultivate the reading habit or do their homework while their
parents are in town.
Many of the books are about Penang written by Penang-based authors, said Cecil, a frequent contributor to Aliran. His work has also been published by Amnesty International and other international publishers.
The reading room is open from 10.00am to 6.00pm on weekdays. It is
located at 2 Che Em Lane, the entrance to which is just opposite the
CIMB Bank along Beach Street.
Cecil Rajendra at the opening of his reading room in Penang
Many of the books are about Penang written by Penang-based authors, said Cecil, a frequent contributor to Aliran. His work has also been published by Amnesty International and other international publishers.
Joining Cecil at the launch was Penang-based black-and-white photographer par excellence Ismail Hashim, an Aliran founder member
Thursday, 20 December 2012
INDIAN HINDU ROOTS RELIGION IS THE OLDEST & LARGEST RELIGION OF THE WORLD. THEN WHY INDIA IS NOT DECLARED AS A HINDU COUNTRY?
Hinduism third largest religion of world: Pew research.
But ‘Indian-Hindu root religion’ is still the largest religion of world if you consider Hindus (15%) + Buddhist (7%) + Other Religions (nearly 1% most of them are Sikhs, Jains etc) + Religiously Unaffiliated (16% most of them are in China and hide their practising Buddhist culture due a oppressive Communist Govt)……… SO THERE IS AT LEAST 35% INDIA ROOTS RELIGIONISTS IN THIS WORLD LARGER THAN 32% CHRISTIANS AND 23% MUSLIMS SO FAR.
India, which accounts for majority of world’s Hindus, is also home to almost all the major religions of the world, a Pew research said Tuesday.
Pew demographic study ’based on analysis of more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers’ finds 2.2 billion Christians (32 per cent of the world’s population), 1.6 billion Muslims (23 per cent), 1 billion Hindus (15 per cent), nearly 500 million Buddhists (7 per cent) and 14 million Jews (0.2 per cent) around the world as of 2010.
In addition, more than 400 million people (six per cent) practice various folk or traditional religions, including African traditional religions, Chinese folk religions, Native American religions and Australian aboriginal religions.
An estimated 58 million people ‘ slightly less than one per cent of the global population’ belong to other religions, including the Baha’i faith, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Tenrikyo, Wicca and Zoroastrianism, to mention just a few, it said.
Pew said overwhelmingly, Hindus and Christians tend to live in countries where they are in the majority.
Ninety seven per cent of all Hindus live in the world’s three Hindu-majority countries (India, Mauritius and Nepal), and nearly nine-in-ten Christians (87 per cent) are found in the world’s 157 Christian majority countries.
The median age of two major groups ‘Muslims (23 years) and Hindus (26)’ is younger than the median age of the world’s overall population (28), it said adding that all the other groups are older than the global median.
Read Original PEW Reports: The Global Religious Landscape | Global Hinduism | Global Buddhism | Religiously Unaffiliated | Global Christianity | Global Muslim | Folk Religionists | Other Religions
Post Script:
Why the 1 (one) billion Hindus of the world have not a single Hindu Country for their own?
If the 32% stake holders Christian has about 30 declared Christian Countries (157 Christian-majority nations) in this world….
The 23% stake holders Muslims have 57 declared Muslim Countries….
The 7% stake holders Buddhists have 8 Buddhist Countries….
The 0.2% stake holders Jews have 1 Jews Country….
Actually, ’India root religion’ is still the largest religion of world if you consider Hindus (15%) + Buddhist (7%) + Other Religions (nearly 1% most of them are Sikhs, Jains etc) + Religiously Unaffiliated (16% most of them are in China and hide their practising Buddhist culture due a oppressive Communist Govt)……… SO THERE IS AT LEAST 35% INDIAN-HINDU ROOTS RELIGIONISTS IN THIS WORLD LARGER THAN 32% CHRISTIANS AND 23% MUSLIMS SO FAR. As Pew is a Christian affiliated organisation, it addresses the crisis and problems before the Christianity in order to propagate the Christianity in a top place. Within this theoretical module the ‘Indian Roots Religions’ are shown in an easy fragmentation quite unopposed.
The existence Aryavarta-Bharat-Hindusthan-India solely depends upon the Hindu Majority and an establishment of a Hindu Rashtra in Bharat. We have to encounter forceful conversion of Hindus into Islam and Christianity. Until and unless a meaningful Dhramarashtra on the basis of Hindu principles is established here the entity of Hindusthan will be always challenged by the Islam, Christianity, Communism, Consumerism and Corruption. We should compete our vision to make a Hindu Rashtra in Bharat within 2025. Jayatu Jayatu Hindu Rashtram.
Then why 15% Hindus of global population have no rights to have their own Hindu Country? Why the delay of declaring Bharat as a Hindu Rashtra? WHY???
Turkey Gives Christians Land to Build a Church: A Cemetery
 |
| Main gate, Mor Gabriel Monastery |
Istanbul, December 18 (World Watch Monitor) — Three years after a Syrian Orthodox foundation applied to build a church in Istanbul, the Greater Istanbul Municipality has granted them a large plot of land and a building permit.
Banner headlines in the Turkish media praised the early-December decision as “a first in the history of the Republic,” declaring that never before had Turkey allowed a non-Muslim minority to build an official new house of worship.
Still, Syriac Christians were far from pleased.
For one thing, the land they were “granted” by the municipality is, in fact, a Latin Catholic cemetery.
“We don’t want a Syriac church on top of a cemetery!” the website suryaniler.com stated. “This is a big scandal.”
In fact, the graveyard had been donated back in 1868 to the Italian Catholic Church in what is now Istanbul’s Yesilkoy district. It was then officially registered as Catholic property in 1936, although later confiscated in 1951 by the city.
The Council of Europe’s 2011 progress report noted that Turkey was not fully implementing Law No. 3998, which states that cemeteries belonging to minority communities can no longer be taken over by local municipalities.
According to lawyer Nail Karakas, the Latin Catholic foundation had applied to the city last summer, in accordance with the government’s August 2011 pledge to restore expropriated minority properties, to regain possession of their property and resume Christian burials in the graveyard.
So Syriac leaders are insisting that the cemetery land newly designated for their church be returned instead to its rightful owners. “It is clear that (the authorities) want to cause conflict between the minority communities,” commented Syriac layman Sabo Boyaci.
Boyaci also faulted the government for trying to exploit the Syriac community politically. “I don’t believe the government’s sincerity. They delivered this land to us in order to silence us on the matter of Mor Gabriel Monastery. The government simply aims to make a good impression on the European and Turkish public,” he told Hurriyet Daily News.
Monastery lands under threat
European Union officials have expressed “serious concerns” since the final Nov. 15 verdict by the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals against the 4th century Mor Gabriel Monastery. The court ordered the confiscation of some 680 acres belonging to the monastery built more than 1,600 years ago near Mardin, in eastern Turkey’s Tur Abdin region. The decision was termed an “unlawful appropriation” by the Council of Europe.
Five disputes over the ownership of the ancient monastery’s lands have bounced back and forth in the courts since 2008, when Muslim villagers in the vicinity of the monastery protested to the state Treasury and Forestry Administration, claiming that the monastery was illegally occupying their lands.
Litigation was then instigated by state institutions, which had redrawn local boundaries earlier that year to update the national land registry, and passed new laws authorizing the transfer of “uncultivated or forested lands” to state ownership.
“I know from my experience very well that if some ‘citizens’ bring an organized action against non-Muslims in Turkey, it is almost certain that the state somehow has a hand in it,” columnist Orhan Kemal Cengiz wrote Dec. 7 regarding the case in Today’s Zaman.
The lawsuit was openly supported by Mardin parliamentarian Suleyman Celebi, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party. Celebi claimed that although the monastery’s legal boundaries were established in Ottoman times, the Syriac Christians had failed to observe them properly.
According to a deputy chairman of the monastery foundation, if an individual appeal to the Constitutional Court does not overturn the Nov. 15 decision, the monastery will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate had once resided in Midyat, until it was forced in 1930 to move to Damascus, where it still remains.
The oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world, Mor Gabriel still keeps alive the ancient Aramaic language closest to that spoken by Jesus.
Some 2,000 Syriac Christians still reside in their traditional homelands in and around Mardin. More than 15,000 others have immigrated to Istanbul in recent decades. Without any official church of their own, the Istanbul parishes worship in rented Catholic Church buildings located throughout the city.
The Syriac Church of the Virgin Mary Foundation says their proposed new church needs to be large enough for 1,000 worshippers.
Mother of Jihad bomb T-shirt boy in court
THE mother and uncle of a three-year old named Jihad, who was born on September 11, are due in a French court for sending him to school in a top with "I am a bomb" written on it.
The sweatshirt also had the words "Jihad, born on September 11" emblazoned on the back when he turned up at his nursery school in the southern town of Sorgues on September 25.
The pair are charged with condoning a crime over the alleged reference to the 9/11 attacks on New York's twin towers in 2001. The uncle bought the top and the mother dressed her son in it when she sent him to school that day.
Jihad's teacher alerted the authorities and a few days later the town mayor, Thierry Lagneau of the conservative UMP party, asked prosecutors to investigate.
"I condemn the attitude of the parents who shamefully took advantage of the person and the age of this child to convey a political message," Lagneau said.
The mother and uncle of the boy, who official records show was born on September 11, 2009 and was given Jihad as his first name, were not known Islamists, prosecutors said.
The mother was astonished at the reaction to her son's top and at the proportions the affair had taken on, they added.
She and her brother were due in court in Avignon, southern France, on Tuesday afternoon.
The sweatshirt also had the words "Jihad, born on September 11" emblazoned on the back when he turned up at his nursery school in the southern town of Sorgues on September 25.
The pair are charged with condoning a crime over the alleged reference to the 9/11 attacks on New York's twin towers in 2001. The uncle bought the top and the mother dressed her son in it when she sent him to school that day.
Jihad's teacher alerted the authorities and a few days later the town mayor, Thierry Lagneau of the conservative UMP party, asked prosecutors to investigate.
"I condemn the attitude of the parents who shamefully took advantage of the person and the age of this child to convey a political message," Lagneau said.
The mother and uncle of the boy, who official records show was born on September 11, 2009 and was given Jihad as his first name, were not known Islamists, prosecutors said.
The mother was astonished at the reaction to her son's top and at the proportions the affair had taken on, they added.
She and her brother were due in court in Avignon, southern France, on Tuesday afternoon.
No aid: PTAs shell MIC
Several Parent Teachers' Associations of partially-aided Tamil schools deprived of government aid vent their frustration on MIC.
PETALING JAYA: Several partially-aided Tamil schools’ Parent Teachers’ Associations (PTA) in Selangor and Perak have decried MIC’s decision to drop their schools from receiving government aid.
Ladang West Country (Timur) Tamil school PTA chairman M Vinayagamurthy said it was not right for the largest Indian political party to strike out his school from the list.
“What did we do wrong? Our student number is increasing and there is lack of space for them to study. This is not right,” he told FMT.
The school has about 400 students and was supposed to receive RM500,000 for maintenance works.
On Monday, SS2 Tengah MIC branch chairman S Padnmanagan accused party president G Palanivel of depriving allocations to 145 partially-aided Tamil schools in the country.
“In the original list presented to the Cabinet in February, it was stated that RM100 million allocation would be channelled to 369 partially-aided Tamil schools nationwide for three categories, namely maintenance and upgrade, building additional blocks and building new schools.
“But in a revision done by MIC in May, the party leadership reduced the number of schools to 224. What happened to the rest?” asked Padnmanagan.
However, MIC Youth chief T Mohan defended his boss, saying the funds were handled by the Education Ministry and the party merely prepared the list of schools in need of aid.
Vinayagamurthy said the school’s administration and the PTA did a lot of work to get the funding.
“We want to know why this happened. If the government had allocated the sum for us, why was it not given? Give us a reason,” he said.
MIC should not handle funds
Ladang Rinching Tamil School PTA chairman R Chandran was more vocal, saying that MIC should not handle funds for Tamil schools from now on.
“If the government has decided to help us, who is MIC to stop it?’” he asked.
His school has about 500 students and was supposed to receive RM140,000 for roof repairs, upgrading its classrooms and plumbing works for its toilets.
Chandran urged the government to allocate the funds straight to the PTAs in future.
“We are prepared to be audited on a regular basis but do allocate the aid to us. Come and visit my school and see for yourself how badly we are in need of government aid,” he said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by a St Philomena Convent Tamil School PTA official.
“I’m not surprised. We were promised RM85,000 earlier and it was also announced by newspapers that we have received it but till now, we have seen nothing,” said the official who wished to remain anonymous.
He added that so far only MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had fulfilled his promise, when he allocated RM20,000 for the school for some repair works.
“As for this case, I don’t understand why MIC needs to drop our school if the government has approved funds for us,” he said.
The school has about 400 students and was supposed to receive RM15,000 for maintenance works.
However, Ladang Changkat Salak Tamil School PTA chairman M Sathiaseelan defended MIC, saying that the party and the government had helped procure funds for the school annually.
“We received RM8,000 grant for our school and another additional RM5,000 just recently. Probably they withdrew the funds to help other schools which are in dire need,” he said.
Sathiaseelan’s school has about 50 students and was supposed to receive RM15,000 for maintenance works.
Palanivel is also the MIC chairman for both Selangor and Perak.
PETALING JAYA: Several partially-aided Tamil schools’ Parent Teachers’ Associations (PTA) in Selangor and Perak have decried MIC’s decision to drop their schools from receiving government aid.Ladang West Country (Timur) Tamil school PTA chairman M Vinayagamurthy said it was not right for the largest Indian political party to strike out his school from the list.
“What did we do wrong? Our student number is increasing and there is lack of space for them to study. This is not right,” he told FMT.
The school has about 400 students and was supposed to receive RM500,000 for maintenance works.
On Monday, SS2 Tengah MIC branch chairman S Padnmanagan accused party president G Palanivel of depriving allocations to 145 partially-aided Tamil schools in the country.
“In the original list presented to the Cabinet in February, it was stated that RM100 million allocation would be channelled to 369 partially-aided Tamil schools nationwide for three categories, namely maintenance and upgrade, building additional blocks and building new schools.
“But in a revision done by MIC in May, the party leadership reduced the number of schools to 224. What happened to the rest?” asked Padnmanagan.
However, MIC Youth chief T Mohan defended his boss, saying the funds were handled by the Education Ministry and the party merely prepared the list of schools in need of aid.
Vinayagamurthy said the school’s administration and the PTA did a lot of work to get the funding.
“We want to know why this happened. If the government had allocated the sum for us, why was it not given? Give us a reason,” he said.
MIC should not handle funds
Ladang Rinching Tamil School PTA chairman R Chandran was more vocal, saying that MIC should not handle funds for Tamil schools from now on.
“If the government has decided to help us, who is MIC to stop it?’” he asked.
His school has about 500 students and was supposed to receive RM140,000 for roof repairs, upgrading its classrooms and plumbing works for its toilets.
Chandran urged the government to allocate the funds straight to the PTAs in future.
“We are prepared to be audited on a regular basis but do allocate the aid to us. Come and visit my school and see for yourself how badly we are in need of government aid,” he said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by a St Philomena Convent Tamil School PTA official.
“I’m not surprised. We were promised RM85,000 earlier and it was also announced by newspapers that we have received it but till now, we have seen nothing,” said the official who wished to remain anonymous.
He added that so far only MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had fulfilled his promise, when he allocated RM20,000 for the school for some repair works.
“As for this case, I don’t understand why MIC needs to drop our school if the government has approved funds for us,” he said.
The school has about 400 students and was supposed to receive RM15,000 for maintenance works.
However, Ladang Changkat Salak Tamil School PTA chairman M Sathiaseelan defended MIC, saying that the party and the government had helped procure funds for the school annually.
“We received RM8,000 grant for our school and another additional RM5,000 just recently. Probably they withdrew the funds to help other schools which are in dire need,” he said.
Sathiaseelan’s school has about 50 students and was supposed to receive RM15,000 for maintenance works.
Palanivel is also the MIC chairman for both Selangor and Perak.
A melodrama of sex, bribery, murder
Najib Tun Razak has yet to fight an election as PM, but his future is mired in fresh troubles.
COMMENT
By Jonathan Manthorpe
Najib (Tun) Razak has been Malaysia’s Prime Minister since early in 2009, but he has yet to fight an election and speculation is now rife among the country’s chattering classes that he may not survive at the helm until the next national vote is due in April.
What is powering the rumour mill is yet more twists and turns in the melodrama of sex, bribery and murder stemming from when Najib was defence minister a decade ago.
The latest revelations place Najib far more into the centre of events that led to the murder by two of his bodyguards of the Mongolian fashion model, translator and mistress of his chief policy adviser, (Abdul) Razak Baginda.
Equally compelling is that the new allegations are coming from Deepak Jaikishan, a former confidante of Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and a man well-connected to the upper echelons of the ruling United Malays National Organization (Umno).
Local media in Malaysia is full of suggestions by unnamed Umno officials that perhaps Deepak has been put up to his revelations by Najib’s main political rival, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Other candidates for the political assassination of Najib are the bitter former prime minister (Dr) Mahathir Mohamad, and the prime minister and Umno leader Najib ousted in 2009, Abdullah (Ahmad) Badawi.
But the reality of Malaysian politics is the limited impact of the still-unresolved story of Najib’s $2-billion purchase of two Scorpene submarines from France, the $200-million facilitation fee paid to a company controlled by his aide Baginda, and the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu after she demanded a $500,000 cut.
While it resonates with some social strata among urban voters, in heartland rural Malaysia, where elections are won and lost, tales of bribery, mistresses and murder among the political classes do not excite much interest.
And, as Najib’s political career defied the logic that one plus one make two ever since the murder of Altantuya in 2006, there is no particular reason to think it cannot survive the latest allegations.
Loose ends
Even the trial and conviction of two of Najib’s bodyguards for the murder was deftly stage managed without repercussions. The trial had not properly started when the judge dismissed the charges against Baginda, who now lives in exile in Britain. Questions about who ordered the men to kill Altantuya were never asked.
What might yet join all the loose ends of this story together is that French magistrates are investigating whether bribery was involved in the 2002 agreement to sell the submarines to Malaysia.
The latest story from Deepak story centres on a private detective named Perumal Balasubramanian, who was hired by Baginda to keep Altantuya away from his house after he jilted her and she demanded a cut of the $200-million facilitation fee.
Altantuya, who had worked as a model in Paris, acted as translator for Baginda in the negotiations with the French for the submarines.
In a sworn statement made soon after the discovery of the murdered Altantuya, whose body was blown up with military explosive after she was shot twice in the head, Balasubramanian said Baginda told him she had been Najib’s mistress first. But Najib had passed her on to Baginda because he was expecting to become prime minister and having a mistress might affect his chances.
Najib has on several occasions denied ever meeting Altantuya.
After making this statement, Balasubramanian was hauled into a police station where he was persuaded to make another statement recanting. He then swiftly left the country and is now believed to be living in Chennai, India.
However, in a number of interviews in the past few weeks, Deepak has substantiated the private detective’s original statement and also said he gave several cheques to Balasubramanian worth the equivalent of over $240,000 in all to finance his flight from the country and exile.
And, says Deepak, the source of the money to keep Balasubramanian quiet and out of the country was Najib’s younger brother Nazim Abdul Razak. – Vancouver Sun
COMMENT
By Jonathan ManthorpeNajib (Tun) Razak has been Malaysia’s Prime Minister since early in 2009, but he has yet to fight an election and speculation is now rife among the country’s chattering classes that he may not survive at the helm until the next national vote is due in April.
What is powering the rumour mill is yet more twists and turns in the melodrama of sex, bribery and murder stemming from when Najib was defence minister a decade ago.
The latest revelations place Najib far more into the centre of events that led to the murder by two of his bodyguards of the Mongolian fashion model, translator and mistress of his chief policy adviser, (Abdul) Razak Baginda.
Equally compelling is that the new allegations are coming from Deepak Jaikishan, a former confidante of Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and a man well-connected to the upper echelons of the ruling United Malays National Organization (Umno).
Local media in Malaysia is full of suggestions by unnamed Umno officials that perhaps Deepak has been put up to his revelations by Najib’s main political rival, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Other candidates for the political assassination of Najib are the bitter former prime minister (Dr) Mahathir Mohamad, and the prime minister and Umno leader Najib ousted in 2009, Abdullah (Ahmad) Badawi.
But the reality of Malaysian politics is the limited impact of the still-unresolved story of Najib’s $2-billion purchase of two Scorpene submarines from France, the $200-million facilitation fee paid to a company controlled by his aide Baginda, and the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu after she demanded a $500,000 cut.
While it resonates with some social strata among urban voters, in heartland rural Malaysia, where elections are won and lost, tales of bribery, mistresses and murder among the political classes do not excite much interest.
And, as Najib’s political career defied the logic that one plus one make two ever since the murder of Altantuya in 2006, there is no particular reason to think it cannot survive the latest allegations.
Loose ends
Even the trial and conviction of two of Najib’s bodyguards for the murder was deftly stage managed without repercussions. The trial had not properly started when the judge dismissed the charges against Baginda, who now lives in exile in Britain. Questions about who ordered the men to kill Altantuya were never asked.
What might yet join all the loose ends of this story together is that French magistrates are investigating whether bribery was involved in the 2002 agreement to sell the submarines to Malaysia.
The latest story from Deepak story centres on a private detective named Perumal Balasubramanian, who was hired by Baginda to keep Altantuya away from his house after he jilted her and she demanded a cut of the $200-million facilitation fee.
Altantuya, who had worked as a model in Paris, acted as translator for Baginda in the negotiations with the French for the submarines.
In a sworn statement made soon after the discovery of the murdered Altantuya, whose body was blown up with military explosive after she was shot twice in the head, Balasubramanian said Baginda told him she had been Najib’s mistress first. But Najib had passed her on to Baginda because he was expecting to become prime minister and having a mistress might affect his chances.
Najib has on several occasions denied ever meeting Altantuya.
After making this statement, Balasubramanian was hauled into a police station where he was persuaded to make another statement recanting. He then swiftly left the country and is now believed to be living in Chennai, India.
However, in a number of interviews in the past few weeks, Deepak has substantiated the private detective’s original statement and also said he gave several cheques to Balasubramanian worth the equivalent of over $240,000 in all to finance his flight from the country and exile.
And, says Deepak, the source of the money to keep Balasubramanian quiet and out of the country was Najib’s younger brother Nazim Abdul Razak. – Vancouver Sun
‘New book on Kampung Medan not a reproduction’
The new book by Suaram chairman K Arumugam has nothing to do with the book on Kampung Medan written in Tamil.
KUALA LUMPUR: Suaram chairman K Arumugam denied that his new book “Violence Against An Ethnic Minority In Malaysia: Kampung Medan”, is a reproduction of his earler book written in Tamil, “March 8”.
“March 8” was published in 2006. A total of 3,000 copies were sold before it was banned in 2007 by the Home Ministry on grounds that it was prejudicial to national security.
When the ban was challenged in court, the High Court and Appeals Court judges maintained that the book is seditious. The case is awaiting trial at the Federal Court.
“This book is different. New information has been added,” said Arumugam.
It is largely based on a PhD thesis by (co-author, Wawasan Open University senior lecturer) S Nagarajan and court documents,” said Arumugam during the launch of the book at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) last night.
He added that the new book does not contain commentaries that were deemed as detrimental to public order as was the case in his previous book.
“Violence Against An Ethnic Minority In Malaysia” is a 147-page book published by human rights NGO, Suaram.
It looks into the Kampung Medan racial violence on March 8, 2001 from the perspective of the people who were victimised and lived there.
Suaram director Kua Kia Soong who edited the book also concurred with Arumugam.
“It’s a completely different book. This one is in English,” said Kua.
‘Perpetrators were outsiders’
Meanwhile, Arumugam told the audience of about 40 people of his hope that justice will be served to the people.
“We want to know the truth. The government should admit if there were wrongs and if there was a need to reform institutions,” he said.
After the launch, a forum was held. The panellists were Hindraf adviser N Ganesan, anti-ISA pressure group GMI chief, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, and Kua.
Syed Ibrahim said that contrary to the official version, the Kampung Medan incident was not a racial clash between the Malays and the Indians.
“It is not an ethnic clash. This book provides an analysis [to show] that there were no group clashes…
“People there lived harmoniously despite it being a squatter area. The perpetrators were outsiders, not locals,” Syed Ibrahim said.
He pointed out that contrary to the official version, the Kampung Medan incident was supposed to be a catalyst to overthrow former menteri besar, Dr Khir Toyo.
Khir was the Selangor menteri besar from 2000 to 2008.
“The clash was the result of people within Umno who were unhappy with the appointment of Khir as Selangor menteri besar,” Syed Ibrahim said.
Ganesan, meanwhile, accused the police of working hands in glove with the assailants.
“There were 2,053 policemen against 100 mobsters. The police are pulling a wool their eayes,” he said.
Kua in his analysis pointed out that there was a similarity in the May 13, 1969 clashes with the Kampung Medan incident.
“Kampung Medan and May 13 are not racial clashes. Both were allowed to drag on by the security forces,” he said, adding that the May 13 incident was allowed to drag on for two months whereas the Kampung Medan clash was allowed to continue for 15 days.
KUALA LUMPUR: Suaram chairman K Arumugam denied that his new book “Violence Against An Ethnic Minority In Malaysia: Kampung Medan”, is a reproduction of his earler book written in Tamil, “March 8”.“March 8” was published in 2006. A total of 3,000 copies were sold before it was banned in 2007 by the Home Ministry on grounds that it was prejudicial to national security.
When the ban was challenged in court, the High Court and Appeals Court judges maintained that the book is seditious. The case is awaiting trial at the Federal Court.
“This book is different. New information has been added,” said Arumugam.
It is largely based on a PhD thesis by (co-author, Wawasan Open University senior lecturer) S Nagarajan and court documents,” said Arumugam during the launch of the book at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) last night.
He added that the new book does not contain commentaries that were deemed as detrimental to public order as was the case in his previous book.
“Violence Against An Ethnic Minority In Malaysia” is a 147-page book published by human rights NGO, Suaram.
It looks into the Kampung Medan racial violence on March 8, 2001 from the perspective of the people who were victimised and lived there.
Suaram director Kua Kia Soong who edited the book also concurred with Arumugam.
“It’s a completely different book. This one is in English,” said Kua.‘Perpetrators were outsiders’
Meanwhile, Arumugam told the audience of about 40 people of his hope that justice will be served to the people.
“We want to know the truth. The government should admit if there were wrongs and if there was a need to reform institutions,” he said.
After the launch, a forum was held. The panellists were Hindraf adviser N Ganesan, anti-ISA pressure group GMI chief, Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, and Kua.
Syed Ibrahim said that contrary to the official version, the Kampung Medan incident was not a racial clash between the Malays and the Indians.
“It is not an ethnic clash. This book provides an analysis [to show] that there were no group clashes…
“People there lived harmoniously despite it being a squatter area. The perpetrators were outsiders, not locals,” Syed Ibrahim said.He pointed out that contrary to the official version, the Kampung Medan incident was supposed to be a catalyst to overthrow former menteri besar, Dr Khir Toyo.
Khir was the Selangor menteri besar from 2000 to 2008.
“The clash was the result of people within Umno who were unhappy with the appointment of Khir as Selangor menteri besar,” Syed Ibrahim said.
Ganesan, meanwhile, accused the police of working hands in glove with the assailants.
“There were 2,053 policemen against 100 mobsters. The police are pulling a wool their eayes,” he said.
Kua in his analysis pointed out that there was a similarity in the May 13, 1969 clashes with the Kampung Medan incident.
“Kampung Medan and May 13 are not racial clashes. Both were allowed to drag on by the security forces,” he said, adding that the May 13 incident was allowed to drag on for two months whereas the Kampung Medan clash was allowed to continue for 15 days.
May 13, Kg Medan – Never again!
Even though biologically, there is no such basis for a category known as “race”, the social construction of race is ever present in this country.
COMMENT
By Kua Kia Soong
The launch of “Violence against an Ethnic Minority in Malaysia: Kampung Medan 2001” by S Nagarajan and K Arumugam yesterday is a wake-up call for Malaysians to get wise to the Malaysian state’s attempts to portray racist/fascist pogroms against ethnic minorities in Malaysia as so-called “racial riots” that came about “naturally” because of social conditions and dissatisfaction.
This is the first book written to put the record straight on the racial violence against ethnic Indian Malaysians at Kampung Medan in 2001. For this racial violence to happen more than 30 years after “May 13” is a scandal and an indictment of Malaysia’s modern day institutions which are still steeped in racism and racial discrimination.
My 2007 title, “May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969” challenged the official version that the violence (in which the victims were mainly ethnic Chinese) was the result of “riots” between “Malays” and “Chinese” who had been provoked by irresponsible opposition politicians. The official version of the Kampung Medan violence in 2001 was that the “riots” had been sparked by incidents which ignited “naturally” in a neglected urban ghetto.
The facts on May 13 point to an orchestrated pogrom in which a complicit state allowed the violence to drag on until July 1969, before the security forces demonstrated their full capacity to restore order. As documented in Nagarajan and Arumugam’s new book, the Kampung Medan violence, which started on March 8, 2001, was allowed to continue over a number of days in a relatively small enclave of Petaling Jaya – with the last tragic incident occurring on March 23.
This delay in taking action reveals a serious credibility problem surrounding our law enforcement and security forces. How is it that these forces failed in their duty to apprehend the thugs who unleashed the racial violence and also failed to investigate those who had organised the violence?
Eyewitness accounts show that in some of the racial attacks there, the police just stood by without stopping and apprehending the thugs. This was the same observation noted during the “May 13” pogrom, namely, the security forces did not play the professional role expected of them.
Just as in 1969, these incidents were not “racial clashes” between ordinary Malays and non-Malays. In this record of Kampung Medan, it is clear that the people within this community were of diverse ethnicity and that between them there was the sort of camaraderie evident in Kampung Baru in May 1969.
The culprits who were responsible for the violence were fascist thugs from outside these communities who had been brought there by “hidden hands”. It is the duty and responsibility of the police and security forces to apprehend the thugs and to unmask the hidden hands and reveal their agenda.
After all, our Malaysian Police Force pride themselves on being one of the best in this part of the world, having been trained by the British colonial power to handle the Emergency during the fifties. Note the speed with which they execute ISA operations and their alacrity in breaking up civil demonstrations of thousands!
Racism against ethnic Indians
The purposeful stereotyping of the Chinese and Indian Malaysians as the “immigrants who should know their place” as distinct from those defined as “bumiputeras” (princes of the soil) by the state and the Malay far-right is intended to justify “Malay dominance”. Thus the “May 13 incident” has been frequently used as a deterrent to any challenge to the status quo, whether during a general election or simply a challenge to an unjust Umno policy.
In recent years, a pattern has emerged in which ethnic Indians, who are a minority community in this country (of less than 10% of the total population) finding themselves the majority in official statistics on deaths in police custody and victims of police shootings.
These shocking facts reflect the racist portrayal of the marginalised Indian community in the state institutions. Through the years, we have also witnessed many cases of racial slurs against ethnic Indians in the mainstream media and school textbooks.
Even though biologically, there is no such basis for a category known as “race”, the social construction of race is ever present in this country. Racism and racialisation came about during the period when the different communities were under the dominance of British colonialism.
In the circumstances of that time, it suited the dominant group to legitimise dominance by a divide and rule strategy that viewed minorities as “non-indigenous” who required assimilation.
This legacy of racism, which has been further institutionalised since independence, is not only evident in school textbooks but also in media discourse and everyday conversation.
My writings on press coverage of ethnic affairs since the Eighties (eg. “Media Watch: The Use and Abuse of the Malaysian Press”, SCAH 1990) have shown that ethnic minority groups tend to be reproduced in the Malay-language press in stereotypical, blatantly racist terms.
Thus, minorities are associated with problems and conflict and then portrayed as a threat to the dominant Malay population. Topics tend to focus on “aliens”, “them versus us”, crime and cultural differences are interpreted negatively. The message is clear: “Immigrants must adapt or else…”, “Indians must behave…”
Today, this blatant racism has become second-nature to the Malay-language press and media watching is no longer an art in Malaysia!
’1Malaysia’ forces Umno to outsource racism
State complicity is evident not only in the negligent role of the security forces but also in its tolerance of the far-right and their racist taunts. Fascism has a knack for appearing in capitalist crises.
At the time when the racial violence happened at Kampung Medan in 2001, the so-called “Malay Action Front” provocatively waved the keris and pledged to defend “Malay ethnic supremacy”. Such racist provocation and Umno’s manipulation of Malay sentiments serve to ensure Umno’s monopoly of political power and their ability to reap the fruits of Malay-centrism.
In the process, such racist propaganda serves to divert the attention of the Malay poor from their real problems and the ruling elite responsible for them.
Since the 2008 political tsunami and Umno’s attempts to win back non-Malay support through such ploys as the “1Malaysia” slogan, it appears that Umno Youth’s traditional role of racial breast-beating has been outsourced to the far-right groups.
Umno soon learnt that the spectacle of “Kerishamudin” playing the Malay warrior at the 2006 Umno general assembly had cost them too many non-Malay votes in the 2008 general election.
The Umnoputras, in their pursuit of political and economic power, are not interested in solving the social problems that have resulted from the neo-liberal and discriminatory policies which they have put in place.
The far-right is there to ensure that the Malay working class and middle class are wooed by the “Malay-centrist” ideology in an effort to prevent them from joining the growing movement against the present unjust system. As has happened in the history of capitalism, fascists only offer racism and violence as a solution to people’s desperation.
Outlaw racism, racial discrimination and hate crimes
“Hate crimes” are criminal acts committed as intimidation, threats, property damage, assault, murder or such other criminal offence. The negative impact of hate crimes on the greater community cannot be emphasised enough.
In order to nip this tendency in the bud, “Incitement to racial hatred” needs to be made a criminal offence.
Under the British Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 for example, publication of materials that incite racial hatred is an arrestable offence.
These include deliberately provoking hatred against a racial group; distributing racist material to the public; making inflammatory public speeches; creating racist websites on the internet; inciting inflammatory rumours about an individual or ethnic group, in order to spread racial discontent.
The UK Public Order Act 1986 defines racial hatred as “hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic origins”. Section 21 of the Act makes “incitement to racial hatred” an offence to publish or distribute material which is threatening or abusive or insulting if intended to stir up racial hatred…”
In Malaysia, the proposed Equality Act and Equality and Human Rights Commission (see below) should likewise specifically deal with hate crimes and incitement to racial hatred.
Never too late for truth and justice
Although this is more than 10 years after the Kampung Medan incident, it is never too late for the truth to be spoken and justice to be despatched to the victims of organised racial violence. There is simply no cut-off point in the struggle for truth and justice.
The British government is currently being forced to carry out a judicial review of the Batang Kali massacre that happened in 1948.
When my book on “May 13” was published in 2007, I called for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission so that the nation can know the truth about the pogrom of 1969 when hundreds of ethnic Chinese Malaysians were killed.
Forty three years have passed, and we still do not know the identity of the victims and the “hidden hands” who orchestrated that “May 13 Incident”.
But all these efforts will be in vain if the rest of the Malaysian society does not learn the lessons of this episode. We have to redress the human rights issues that have still not been resolved in this country and reform the institutions to ensure that “Kampung Medan” and “May 13” never ever happen again.
Such steps include:
Forming and swiftly deploying a Special Multi-Ethnic Peace-Keeping Force to keep order if such incidents occur in future;
Establishing, with urgency, a neutral Commission of Inquiry into any such incidents and charging the culprits responsible for murder.
Implementing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Committee;
Ensuring that recruitment into the police and armed forces and career advancement are based on merit;
Enacting an Equality Act to promote equality and non-discrimination irrespective of race, creed, religion, gender or disability with provision for an Equality & Human Rights Commission;
Institutionalising equality and human rights education at all decision-making levels, including state and non-state actors/institutions;
Ratifying the Convention on the Eradication of Racial Discrimination (CERD).No platform for racists and fascists
Clearly, far right racial supremacists who rail about the dominance of their “race” would be reined in by an Equality and Human Rights Commission and dealt with under an Equality Act.
Any government that has credibility must implement a policy of “Zero Tolerance for Racists” and “No Platform for Fascists”.
Freedom of expression does not extend to the right to violence, incitement of racial or religious hatred. Indeed, it is the freedom of expression for the majority of humanity that fascists threaten.
Fascism must not be allowed to infect the democratic space built by our fore fathers. The publication of this book is another positive contribution to the peoples’ history, the struggle against racism and fascism in Malaysia and a further advancement of the ever growing civil society movement in this country.
The writer is the adviser for human rights organisation Suaram
COMMENTBy Kua Kia Soong
The launch of “Violence against an Ethnic Minority in Malaysia: Kampung Medan 2001” by S Nagarajan and K Arumugam yesterday is a wake-up call for Malaysians to get wise to the Malaysian state’s attempts to portray racist/fascist pogroms against ethnic minorities in Malaysia as so-called “racial riots” that came about “naturally” because of social conditions and dissatisfaction.
This is the first book written to put the record straight on the racial violence against ethnic Indian Malaysians at Kampung Medan in 2001. For this racial violence to happen more than 30 years after “May 13” is a scandal and an indictment of Malaysia’s modern day institutions which are still steeped in racism and racial discrimination.
My 2007 title, “May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969” challenged the official version that the violence (in which the victims were mainly ethnic Chinese) was the result of “riots” between “Malays” and “Chinese” who had been provoked by irresponsible opposition politicians. The official version of the Kampung Medan violence in 2001 was that the “riots” had been sparked by incidents which ignited “naturally” in a neglected urban ghetto.
The facts on May 13 point to an orchestrated pogrom in which a complicit state allowed the violence to drag on until July 1969, before the security forces demonstrated their full capacity to restore order. As documented in Nagarajan and Arumugam’s new book, the Kampung Medan violence, which started on March 8, 2001, was allowed to continue over a number of days in a relatively small enclave of Petaling Jaya – with the last tragic incident occurring on March 23.
This delay in taking action reveals a serious credibility problem surrounding our law enforcement and security forces. How is it that these forces failed in their duty to apprehend the thugs who unleashed the racial violence and also failed to investigate those who had organised the violence?
Eyewitness accounts show that in some of the racial attacks there, the police just stood by without stopping and apprehending the thugs. This was the same observation noted during the “May 13” pogrom, namely, the security forces did not play the professional role expected of them.
Just as in 1969, these incidents were not “racial clashes” between ordinary Malays and non-Malays. In this record of Kampung Medan, it is clear that the people within this community were of diverse ethnicity and that between them there was the sort of camaraderie evident in Kampung Baru in May 1969.
The culprits who were responsible for the violence were fascist thugs from outside these communities who had been brought there by “hidden hands”. It is the duty and responsibility of the police and security forces to apprehend the thugs and to unmask the hidden hands and reveal their agenda.
After all, our Malaysian Police Force pride themselves on being one of the best in this part of the world, having been trained by the British colonial power to handle the Emergency during the fifties. Note the speed with which they execute ISA operations and their alacrity in breaking up civil demonstrations of thousands!
Racism against ethnic Indians
The purposeful stereotyping of the Chinese and Indian Malaysians as the “immigrants who should know their place” as distinct from those defined as “bumiputeras” (princes of the soil) by the state and the Malay far-right is intended to justify “Malay dominance”. Thus the “May 13 incident” has been frequently used as a deterrent to any challenge to the status quo, whether during a general election or simply a challenge to an unjust Umno policy.
In recent years, a pattern has emerged in which ethnic Indians, who are a minority community in this country (of less than 10% of the total population) finding themselves the majority in official statistics on deaths in police custody and victims of police shootings.
These shocking facts reflect the racist portrayal of the marginalised Indian community in the state institutions. Through the years, we have also witnessed many cases of racial slurs against ethnic Indians in the mainstream media and school textbooks.
Even though biologically, there is no such basis for a category known as “race”, the social construction of race is ever present in this country. Racism and racialisation came about during the period when the different communities were under the dominance of British colonialism.
In the circumstances of that time, it suited the dominant group to legitimise dominance by a divide and rule strategy that viewed minorities as “non-indigenous” who required assimilation.
This legacy of racism, which has been further institutionalised since independence, is not only evident in school textbooks but also in media discourse and everyday conversation.
My writings on press coverage of ethnic affairs since the Eighties (eg. “Media Watch: The Use and Abuse of the Malaysian Press”, SCAH 1990) have shown that ethnic minority groups tend to be reproduced in the Malay-language press in stereotypical, blatantly racist terms.
Thus, minorities are associated with problems and conflict and then portrayed as a threat to the dominant Malay population. Topics tend to focus on “aliens”, “them versus us”, crime and cultural differences are interpreted negatively. The message is clear: “Immigrants must adapt or else…”, “Indians must behave…”
Today, this blatant racism has become second-nature to the Malay-language press and media watching is no longer an art in Malaysia!
’1Malaysia’ forces Umno to outsource racism
State complicity is evident not only in the negligent role of the security forces but also in its tolerance of the far-right and their racist taunts. Fascism has a knack for appearing in capitalist crises.
At the time when the racial violence happened at Kampung Medan in 2001, the so-called “Malay Action Front” provocatively waved the keris and pledged to defend “Malay ethnic supremacy”. Such racist provocation and Umno’s manipulation of Malay sentiments serve to ensure Umno’s monopoly of political power and their ability to reap the fruits of Malay-centrism.
In the process, such racist propaganda serves to divert the attention of the Malay poor from their real problems and the ruling elite responsible for them.
Since the 2008 political tsunami and Umno’s attempts to win back non-Malay support through such ploys as the “1Malaysia” slogan, it appears that Umno Youth’s traditional role of racial breast-beating has been outsourced to the far-right groups.
Umno soon learnt that the spectacle of “Kerishamudin” playing the Malay warrior at the 2006 Umno general assembly had cost them too many non-Malay votes in the 2008 general election.
The Umnoputras, in their pursuit of political and economic power, are not interested in solving the social problems that have resulted from the neo-liberal and discriminatory policies which they have put in place.
The far-right is there to ensure that the Malay working class and middle class are wooed by the “Malay-centrist” ideology in an effort to prevent them from joining the growing movement against the present unjust system. As has happened in the history of capitalism, fascists only offer racism and violence as a solution to people’s desperation.
Outlaw racism, racial discrimination and hate crimes
“Hate crimes” are criminal acts committed as intimidation, threats, property damage, assault, murder or such other criminal offence. The negative impact of hate crimes on the greater community cannot be emphasised enough.
In order to nip this tendency in the bud, “Incitement to racial hatred” needs to be made a criminal offence.
Under the British Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 for example, publication of materials that incite racial hatred is an arrestable offence.
These include deliberately provoking hatred against a racial group; distributing racist material to the public; making inflammatory public speeches; creating racist websites on the internet; inciting inflammatory rumours about an individual or ethnic group, in order to spread racial discontent.
The UK Public Order Act 1986 defines racial hatred as “hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic origins”. Section 21 of the Act makes “incitement to racial hatred” an offence to publish or distribute material which is threatening or abusive or insulting if intended to stir up racial hatred…”
In Malaysia, the proposed Equality Act and Equality and Human Rights Commission (see below) should likewise specifically deal with hate crimes and incitement to racial hatred.
Never too late for truth and justice
Although this is more than 10 years after the Kampung Medan incident, it is never too late for the truth to be spoken and justice to be despatched to the victims of organised racial violence. There is simply no cut-off point in the struggle for truth and justice.
The British government is currently being forced to carry out a judicial review of the Batang Kali massacre that happened in 1948.
When my book on “May 13” was published in 2007, I called for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission so that the nation can know the truth about the pogrom of 1969 when hundreds of ethnic Chinese Malaysians were killed.
Forty three years have passed, and we still do not know the identity of the victims and the “hidden hands” who orchestrated that “May 13 Incident”.
But all these efforts will be in vain if the rest of the Malaysian society does not learn the lessons of this episode. We have to redress the human rights issues that have still not been resolved in this country and reform the institutions to ensure that “Kampung Medan” and “May 13” never ever happen again.
Such steps include:
Forming and swiftly deploying a Special Multi-Ethnic Peace-Keeping Force to keep order if such incidents occur in future;
Establishing, with urgency, a neutral Commission of Inquiry into any such incidents and charging the culprits responsible for murder.
Implementing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Committee;
Ensuring that recruitment into the police and armed forces and career advancement are based on merit;
Enacting an Equality Act to promote equality and non-discrimination irrespective of race, creed, religion, gender or disability with provision for an Equality & Human Rights Commission;
Institutionalising equality and human rights education at all decision-making levels, including state and non-state actors/institutions;
Ratifying the Convention on the Eradication of Racial Discrimination (CERD).No platform for racists and fascists
Clearly, far right racial supremacists who rail about the dominance of their “race” would be reined in by an Equality and Human Rights Commission and dealt with under an Equality Act.
Any government that has credibility must implement a policy of “Zero Tolerance for Racists” and “No Platform for Fascists”.
Freedom of expression does not extend to the right to violence, incitement of racial or religious hatred. Indeed, it is the freedom of expression for the majority of humanity that fascists threaten.
Fascism must not be allowed to infect the democratic space built by our fore fathers. The publication of this book is another positive contribution to the peoples’ history, the struggle against racism and fascism in Malaysia and a further advancement of the ever growing civil society movement in this country.
The writer is the adviser for human rights organisation Suaram
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