British lawyers to visit M'sia over Indian plight

(Malaysiakini) Two British lawyers acting for Hindraf will be meeting with marginalised Indians on a fact-finding mission as they prepare to re-file a class action suit against the British government.

The visit by lawyers Imran Khan and Suresh Grover is part of Hindraf's effort to build its case against the British government, which is accused of abandoning Indians without protection after bringing them in as labourers to then Malaya.

“The lawyers will go to the ground and interview first-hand cases such as denial of identity cards and education among marginalised Indians,” said Human Rights Party (HRP) information chief S Jayathas (left).

The meeting, to be held at Klang Hokkien Hall, will begin at 9am this Sunday.

Jayathas, who is also a Hindraf activist, said when contacted that the movement is expecting a large turnout but stressed that it is strictly a discussion meeting, and is optimistic that there will not be any problems with the police.

30,000 documents to support the lawsuit

The fact-finding mission is one of many efforts by Hindraf to gather evidence as it picks up from its similar suit in 2007 which was stalled when top Hindraf leaders were detained under the Internal Security Act following the landmark Hindraf rally in Kuala Lumpur.

“We had three months to pursue the case when we filed the suit in 2007, but we decided to focus on securing the release of our Hindraf leaders first. Also, back then, we still needed more documents (to support our case).

“So far we have found 30,000 documents (in Britain) to support our claims and this meeting will be one of the things that we will need to do before we re-file the lawsuit soon,” he said.

Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy, who filed the previous suit, remains in exile and is leading the charge in Britain.

However, his brother, HRP president and former ISA detainee P Uthayakumar, is expected to attend Sunday's meeting.