A furious Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) will hold simultaneous rallies in front of all DAP headquarters across the country tomorrow evening.
The rallies are to protest against the Penang government's ineptness and failure to declare the 'Tamil High Chaparral' Kampung Buah Pala in Bukit Gelugor, George Town as a living cultural heritage.
The movement will mobilise some 10,000 of Hindraf activists across the country to demonstrate outside Komtar, which houses the Penang state government office, and the party offices in Ipoh, Damansara, Seremban, Johor Bahru and Malacca.
The demonstration, scheduled at 4pm, will underline Hindraf's seriousness to force the state government to protect the minority communities' interests, rights and benefits in Penang.
The rally is also expected to highlight the state government's ineptness in resolving other issues related to Tamil schools, employment, business opportunities and housing allocations.
However, the Kampung Buah Pala quandary, currently a major controversy in the state, will feature prominently in the mammoth rally.
The rallies, the first by Hindraf against a Pakatan Rakyat ally, is a blow to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's government, which had positioned itself as a people's government based on competency, accountability and transparency.
Confirming this, London-based Hindraf leader P Waytha Moorthy said Hindraf was fed up with Lim's apathy to the villagers' predicament.
Enough is enough
"We have tolerated enough with the DAP government's inaction at resolving outstanding issues," he said.
Social activists from various groups are expected to join the rally.
Also tomorrow morning, Waytha Moorthy's seven-year-old daughter, Vwaishhnnavi will hand over an appeal note to the Chief Minister asking for his help to save Kampung Buah Pala.
Tomorrow's rally is set to pave the stage for a series of Hindraf-led protest against the state government.
On Wednesday, another group of Hindraf supporters led by S Jayathas is expected hold a rally outside Komtar.
Hindraf's Penang island coordinator K Kalayselvam recalled that the perceived marginalisation of the Indian community was a dominant issue during the last general election.
However, over the past 15 months, he said the DAP government had yet to produce a blueprint to tackle constructively problems pertaining to the community.
"It's time to give the DAP a wake up call. It must protect Kampung Buah Pala, the only Tamil urban village left in Penang today," said Kalayselvam.
Hindraf advisor K Maran said Hindraf campaigned against Barisan Nasional because the Indian community wanted a better caring government to help them.
However, he slammed the DAP government for not showing any difference from the previous one.
"If the DAP government cannot protect a village of 300 people from the rich, then our support for Pakatan is meaningless," he said.
Kampung Buah Pala is known among locals as 'Tamil High Chaparral' because of its population of cowherds, livestock and Tamil traditional cultural features.
The villagers face forced eviction from their village, which they and their ancestors have stayed for nearly 200 years.
Mexican standoff
The city police have informed the villagers that the developer, Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd had obtained a court's writ of possession to seize the village, demolish homes and flatten the site to construct a lucrative mega housing project -named the Oasis.
Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar and his supporters are expected to join the villagers on Thursday in what can be described as a 'Mexican standoff' between the developer's demolition team and the residents of 'High Chaparral'.
Hindraf advisor N Naragan criticised Lim for his so-called personal crusade, including having a debate with former Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon to eliminate corruption and malpractices in the previous administration.
However, he chided Lim for being a hypocrite by being a lame duck on the Kampung Buah Pala issue when it was clear the village land deal were tainted with fraud.
He said Lim must now prove his sincerity by stepping in and prevent the demolition on grounds that there was malpractice in the whole deal.
Whether or not the DAP government intervenes, Hindraf will go ahead with its rallies tomorrow and on Wednesday.
It also plans to organise more rallies against Lim's government until the controversy is resolved.
"The state government has already incurred our wrath. We will show our rage," said Maran.
The rallies are to protest against the Penang government's ineptness and failure to declare the 'Tamil High Chaparral' Kampung Buah Pala in Bukit Gelugor, George Town as a living cultural heritage.
The movement will mobilise some 10,000 of Hindraf activists across the country to demonstrate outside Komtar, which houses the Penang state government office, and the party offices in Ipoh, Damansara, Seremban, Johor Bahru and Malacca.The demonstration, scheduled at 4pm, will underline Hindraf's seriousness to force the state government to protect the minority communities' interests, rights and benefits in Penang.
The rally is also expected to highlight the state government's ineptness in resolving other issues related to Tamil schools, employment, business opportunities and housing allocations.
However, the Kampung Buah Pala quandary, currently a major controversy in the state, will feature prominently in the mammoth rally.
The rallies, the first by Hindraf against a Pakatan Rakyat ally, is a blow to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's government, which had positioned itself as a people's government based on competency, accountability and transparency.
Confirming this, London-based Hindraf leader P Waytha Moorthy said Hindraf was fed up with Lim's apathy to the villagers' predicament.
Enough is enough
"We have tolerated enough with the DAP government's inaction at resolving outstanding issues," he said.
Social activists from various groups are expected to join the rally.
Also tomorrow morning, Waytha Moorthy's seven-year-old daughter, Vwaishhnnavi will hand over an appeal note to the Chief Minister asking for his help to save Kampung Buah Pala.
Tomorrow's rally is set to pave the stage for a series of Hindraf-led protest against the state government.
On Wednesday, another group of Hindraf supporters led by S Jayathas is expected hold a rally outside Komtar.
Hindraf's Penang island coordinator K Kalayselvam recalled that the perceived marginalisation of the Indian community was a dominant issue during the last general election.
However, over the past 15 months, he said the DAP government had yet to produce a blueprint to tackle constructively problems pertaining to the community."It's time to give the DAP a wake up call. It must protect Kampung Buah Pala, the only Tamil urban village left in Penang today," said Kalayselvam.
Hindraf advisor K Maran said Hindraf campaigned against Barisan Nasional because the Indian community wanted a better caring government to help them.
However, he slammed the DAP government for not showing any difference from the previous one.
"If the DAP government cannot protect a village of 300 people from the rich, then our support for Pakatan is meaningless," he said.
Kampung Buah Pala is known among locals as 'Tamil High Chaparral' because of its population of cowherds, livestock and Tamil traditional cultural features.
The villagers face forced eviction from their village, which they and their ancestors have stayed for nearly 200 years.
Mexican standoff
The city police have informed the villagers that the developer, Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd had obtained a court's writ of possession to seize the village, demolish homes and flatten the site to construct a lucrative mega housing project -named the Oasis.
Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar and his supporters are expected to join the villagers on Thursday in what can be described as a 'Mexican standoff' between the developer's demolition team and the residents of 'High Chaparral'.
Hindraf advisor N Naragan criticised Lim for his so-called personal crusade, including having a debate with former Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon to eliminate corruption and malpractices in the previous administration.However, he chided Lim for being a hypocrite by being a lame duck on the Kampung Buah Pala issue when it was clear the village land deal were tainted with fraud.
He said Lim must now prove his sincerity by stepping in and prevent the demolition on grounds that there was malpractice in the whole deal.
Whether or not the DAP government intervenes, Hindraf will go ahead with its rallies tomorrow and on Wednesday.
It also plans to organise more rallies against Lim's government until the controversy is resolved.
"The state government has already incurred our wrath. We will show our rage," said Maran.
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