Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Hyderabad blasts: A Paki Dog is barking to accomplish Deadly Jihad in Bharat (India).
A Paki Dog is barking to accomplish Deadly Jihad in Bharat (India).
Upananda Brahmachari | Rampur (UP) | 25 Feb 2013 :: To make a dispute over NIA’s prompt initiatives to crack down Hyderabad twin blast, Delhi’s Jama Masjid chief cleric Syed Ahmed Bukhari has said investigation agencies have the tendency to name perpetrators as Muslim for any bomb blasts in the country much before initiation and conclusion of their probes. The most communal Delhi’s Jama Masjid chief cleric Syed Ahmed Bukhari is in the row of the defending Islamist to procure a clean-chit for Indian Mujaheedin and other Islamic Organisations believe in deadly Jihad.
Referring to the recent Hyderabad blasts in Dilsukhnagar on 21 Feb, Bukhari said the National Investigation Agency’s claim that the evidence pointed towards involvement of the Indian Mujahideen in the bombings was baseless. This Islamic maroon is not ready to rely upon any Intelligence Report flashed in the media or the material links and antecedents of the blasts.
“If the investigators have pointed fingers towards the Indian Mujahideen, then let them declare the location of its office and disclose identities of its activists,” said the cleric while interacting with media persons here last evening. Official statements are not supported with evidence, the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid said.
“The government machinery had arrested innocent Muslims after Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blasts,” he said. Sixteen people were killed and over 100 injured when two bombs placed on bicycles went off within minutes of each other at Dilsukhnagar area in Hyderabad on February 21.
Actually, the Chief of Delhi Jama Masjid is trying to influence the matter of investigation of Hyderabad Bast of 21 Feb 2013, on the other-hand he is trying to ratify the Jihad stand of the subversive Muslim Organisations in India.
As a matter of fact, SIMI (Students’ Islamic Movement of India) has its new shape of SIO (Students’ Islamic Organisation). The anti Indian Rajakars and the Muslim Leaguers have re- identified themselves as Indian Mujahideen, Popular Front of India, Jammat E Islami Hind, Peace Party, AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) or so on. They all believe in Jihad and establishment Islam and Shariyat in Bharat. So, they are blatantly violating Indian Constitution and the liberal texture of main stream society in Bharat.
Accepting the views of Bhukhari for arresting IM operators from their office, Govt. should arrest him first from Jama Masjid of Delhi as he the most visible protagonist of Jihad and Indian Mujahideen as well. When the Jihadists from Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan are very much active with Indian Muhahideen, hand to hand, we cant simply waste our time to give them chance to grow up. Finish Brutal Jihad at once in India.
Upananda Brahmachari | Rampur (UP) | 25 Feb 2013 :: To make a dispute over NIA’s prompt initiatives to crack down Hyderabad twin blast, Delhi’s Jama Masjid chief cleric Syed Ahmed Bukhari has said investigation agencies have the tendency to name perpetrators as Muslim for any bomb blasts in the country much before initiation and conclusion of their probes. The most communal Delhi’s Jama Masjid chief cleric Syed Ahmed Bukhari is in the row of the defending Islamist to procure a clean-chit for Indian Mujaheedin and other Islamic Organisations believe in deadly Jihad.
Referring to the recent Hyderabad blasts in Dilsukhnagar on 21 Feb, Bukhari said the National Investigation Agency’s claim that the evidence pointed towards involvement of the Indian Mujahideen in the bombings was baseless. This Islamic maroon is not ready to rely upon any Intelligence Report flashed in the media or the material links and antecedents of the blasts.
“If the investigators have pointed fingers towards the Indian Mujahideen, then let them declare the location of its office and disclose identities of its activists,” said the cleric while interacting with media persons here last evening. Official statements are not supported with evidence, the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid said.
“The government machinery had arrested innocent Muslims after Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blasts,” he said. Sixteen people were killed and over 100 injured when two bombs placed on bicycles went off within minutes of each other at Dilsukhnagar area in Hyderabad on February 21.
Actually, the Chief of Delhi Jama Masjid is trying to influence the matter of investigation of Hyderabad Bast of 21 Feb 2013, on the other-hand he is trying to ratify the Jihad stand of the subversive Muslim Organisations in India.
As a matter of fact, SIMI (Students’ Islamic Movement of India) has its new shape of SIO (Students’ Islamic Organisation). The anti Indian Rajakars and the Muslim Leaguers have re- identified themselves as Indian Mujahideen, Popular Front of India, Jammat E Islami Hind, Peace Party, AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) or so on. They all believe in Jihad and establishment Islam and Shariyat in Bharat. So, they are blatantly violating Indian Constitution and the liberal texture of main stream society in Bharat.
Accepting the views of Bhukhari for arresting IM operators from their office, Govt. should arrest him first from Jama Masjid of Delhi as he the most visible protagonist of Jihad and Indian Mujahideen as well. When the Jihadists from Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan are very much active with Indian Muhahideen, hand to hand, we cant simply waste our time to give them chance to grow up. Finish Brutal Jihad at once in India.
Nigeria Christians Mourn Their Dead After Massacre, Attacks
Nigeria has been hit by deadly violence (file photo).
By BosNewsLife Africa Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos
ABUJA, NIGERIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in central Nigeria could mourn their dead Sunday, February 24, after the massacre of a Christian family while sectarian clashes killed one person and left churches, homes and mosques burnt, officials said.
In one the worst incidents since Thursday, February 21, suspected Muslim attackers used machetes and guns to murder 10 members of the same Christian family in Plateau state, with half the victims under the age of six, the military and government confirmed.
"A [Christian Berom] family of 10 were ... murdered" by Muslim Fulani herdsmen said Pam Ayuba, the governor's spokesman, in published remarks. "Five little children including a two-month-old child were slaughtered."
Members of the mostly Christian Berom ethnic group, who consider themselves the state's indigenous people, have previously accused the military of involvement in violence on behalf of the Fulani.
MILITARY DENIES WRONGDOING
However French news agency AFP quoted a military spokesman in Plateau, Lt. Kingsley Amos, as saying no soldiers were involved in the attack.
"Somehow, some hoodlums and criminals gained access to our old uniforms...but I can assure that none of our people were involved," he said.
Soon after Thursday's massacre, frustration over deep rooted religious tensions emerged around a footballfiend in neighboring Taraba state where riots left at least one person dead, authorities said.
The violence Saturday, February 23, in the central town of Wukari began when Muslim and religious Christian football teams argued over who had the right to a football pitch, Taraba state police spokesman Amos Olaoye said in a statement.
TWO SIDES ATTACK
"While the two sides were arguing, a local hunter returning from the bush was passing and the two sides made for his gun, which resulted in a struggle," he said. "The gun went off, killing one person, and fighting broke off between the two sides."
AFP quoted him as saying that several buildings "were burnt in the violence including places of worship" such as churches, mosques as well as homes.
It was not immediately clear how extensive the damage was as security forces were focusing on restoring "normalcy as well as law and order," Olaoye said.
Analysts say Islamist group Boko Haram, or 'Western education is a sin', has encouraged the sectarian violence.
WIDER DEADLY CAMPAIGN
It has waged a deadly insurgency in north and central Nigeria as part of its efforts to establish an Islamic state, killing hundreds since 2009, and urging surviving Christians to leave.
Hard-line Islamists are also accused of using the airwaves to spread hatred. On Saturday, February 23, Nigeria confirmed it had suspended the licence of a radio station for allegedly encouraging deadly attacks on polio clinic.Suspected Islamic gunmen attacked two polio clinics in the northern city of Kano on February 8, killing at least 10 people, after Wazobia FM broadcast a story reviving claims that the vaccines are part of a Western plot to harm Muslims.
Two journalists and an Islamic cleric were reportedly charged with inciting violence, but the station chief Sanusi Kankarofi denied the allegations, and resigned in protest after his colleagues were charged.
POLIO EMERGENCY REMAINS
Nigeria is among the last three countries still considered to have endemic polio, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to international aid workers.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south, has come under pressure from Christians and rights activists to do more to tackle Islamic extremism.
His government claims it takes the threats seriously by sending additional troops to key trouble spots.
The country of 150 million people and Africa's largest oil producer is divided between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south.
'Dirty' and 'defected' trans individuals should be expelled from homes, encourages Muslim leader
A religious leader in India repeatedly slams the transgender community, known as hijras, saying
A video in which a Muslim leader decries the transgender community has gone viral on YouTube.
The interview, translated from Hindi, shows the founder and president of India's Islamic Research Center (IRC), a non-profit organization that promotes Islamic teachings, answering a question about how the 'other' gender that is neither man nor woman fits in Islam.
Faiz Syed said in his response: 'They are what we call hijra, in our language. They are neither male nor female.'
Hijra, a slang term in Hindu, is the only word to describe a trans individual.
Syed continued, emphasizing that 'They are Allah's creations, expect their are some physiological and hormonal difficulties. They have changes in their bodies, what we call "gene defects" in our language.'
According to his bio on the IRC website, Syed is a university-educated leader with two bachelor's degrees in law and one in computer science. He has reportedly given over 1,000 lectures in topics including humanitarian and Islamic law, and moral, educational, and economic welfare activities. Syed is also the president and director of other Islamic groups including the Al-Huda Educational Foundation.
In the interview, Syed quoted the sayings of the prophet Muhammad, also called the Hadith, to support his position against the hijra community. 'Secondly, they are not bad, but the Hadith says that those who are "dirty", you must get rid of from your home, house and village.
'Because of their defect they are not like, or act like, men or women, and because of that they work day and night sexually.'
Many hijra are forced to work as sex workers to survive, as they are often ostracized from their homes and shunned from typical work in their local communities because they don't fit the typical gender mold.
In many predominantly Muslim countries, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, homosexuality is considered a crime punishable by death. Some countries such as Iran go so far as to encourage sex changes for homosexuals to force them to have a gender-normative sex life.
According to Iranian news services reports, Iran conducts more sex changes than any country in the world, followed by Thailand. This practice offers an option with 'no sin' for people struggling with gender identity in the homophobic country.
The BBC article reads: 'The government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change is recognized on your birth certificate'.
The original video is posted below.
Dr M: Nepotism, cronyism in Cabinet if Anwar becomes PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 ― Nepotism and cronyism will rule the Cabinet if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim assumes the prime minister’s mantle, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad warned today within hours of the opposition leader unveiling the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact’s manifesto for Election 2013.The former prime minister mounted a scathing attack against his ex-protégé, accusing the latter of having made various defamatory statements against his kin as the opposition bloc stepped up its pace in the race to wrest Putrajaya from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).
“The Keadilan party belongs to Anwar Ibrahim,” Dr Mahathir (picture) wrote in his chedet.cc blog, referring to the PR anchor party.
“If he becomes prime minister certainly the Cabinet will be filled with his family and his friends as ministers. Easy to do anything,” he added.
Dr Mahathir also said that Anwar had set up a political party and installed his wife to be its president, his daughter to be its vice-president and a close friend to be its deputy president.
He alleged that when Anwar was his deputy and the finance minister, the latter had given out many contracts to his political supporters and his family.
“The Ministry had displayed during the Umno general assembly a list of those who got contracts while he was in power. In the list are the names of his supporters and family. Not one of my children was listed,” Dr Mahathir said.
The still-influential Umno politician noted that he had never once played favourites when it came to dishing out lucrative government contracts while in power, unlike Anwar, whom he said had previously shown a tendency to pick and choose his family and friends for top political or business jobs.
The 87-year-old appeared particularly defensive of his eldest son Mirzan, whose positions as a one-time board member on Manila-based corporate giants San Miguel Corp and currently in oil company Petron, have frequently been used as targets for Anwar and PR politicians.
“After the defamation thrown against him, my son resigned. Now he is only a director in the oil company Petron.
“If Anwar’s child and wife can be politicians, why can my children not enter into business for themselves without being defamed by Anwar? No more political capital?” Dr Mahathir asked.
In a final challenge to his nemesis, Dr Mahathir dared Anwar to swear an oath on the Quran regarding the latter’s second sodomy case, which has dogged the PKR leader despite his acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court last year.
Dr Mahathir is known to be highly critical of Anwar, whom he had picked and groomed from a firebrand Islamic scholar to be his successor to head the government in the 1990s but sacked in 1998 after sodomy and corruption allegations surfaced.
Anwar, who is touted to be PR’s most likely candidate for prime minister, had earlier today promised the pact will enrich Malaysians regardless of their racial affinity.
Palanivel losing grip on MIC?
It is surely a sign of trouble when all the president's men fail to line up to show support for their president.
PETALING JAYA: Last Friday, MIC strategy director S Vell Paari blew his top. He was fed up with the way the party was being run and how the largest Indian-based party in the country was moving at a snail’s pace despite the looming general election.
The son of former president S Samy Vellu was also frustrated that the party was on the defensive mode most of the time, not speaking up on issues and unable to come out with blazing guns when Indians were criticised.
Instead of using the conventional method of addressing the issue, Vell Paari wrote an open letter to party chief G Palanivel expressing his dismay over how the party was run.
He wanted Palanivel to complain about academician Redzuan Tee Abdullah and Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali – both of whom made disparaging remarks about Indians in public – to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
Vell Paari just wanted MIC to be more vocal, and be seen to be doing good for the Malaysian Indian community as a whole.
Following the scathing open letter, FMT tried to obtain the party’s central working committee (CWC) members to comment on Vell Paari’s letter. The party has 23 elected and nine appointed CWC members.
It was surprising to note that many of those in the CWC, including those aligned to Palanivel, declined to comment.
Two CWC members, who are known to be Palanivel’s hardcore supporters, claimed that they never read the open letter in the first place. Another wanted to read the letter first and then comment later. But that was some 48 hours ago!
Two veteran leaders also aligned to Palanivel, meanwhile, said they would need a day or two to comment.
“I have to see how the other leaders react… I do not want to shoot when it is not my problem,” said one of the leaders who declined to be named.
The Samy Vellu factor
Only veteran leader KP Samy was willing to be quoted. And he went on to hit out at Vell Paari for
channelling his grievances publicly instead of using the party mechanism to air his grouses.
So, the question now is: does Palanivel really enjoy the support of the party’s CWC?
“No, he does not. All those sitting in the CWC are from the previous administration of Samy Vellu. They are all Samy Vellu’s men. In fact, those appointed are also the former president’s men.
“This is the reason why Palanivel does not enjoy support. He should have formed his own CWC,” said a senior party leader when contacted by FMT.
MIC’s internal elections to pick leaders would be held this year after the general election. Its last election was in 2009, when Samy Vellu was still the party supremo.
Samy Vellu, who led the party with an iron fist for 30 years, had ensured that the CWC was made up of his supporters before he vacated his seat in the party. The party practises a unique system where the president is elected at least three months before the election of other top national office- bearers.
This is another reason why party leaders feared speaking out in support of the president.
“Whatever said and done, Samy Vellu still enjoys considerable support in the party. Why anger his supporters by attacking his son?” said a retired MIC leader, who declined to be named.
PETALING JAYA: Last Friday, MIC strategy director S Vell Paari blew his top. He was fed up with the way the party was being run and how the largest Indian-based party in the country was moving at a snail’s pace despite the looming general election.The son of former president S Samy Vellu was also frustrated that the party was on the defensive mode most of the time, not speaking up on issues and unable to come out with blazing guns when Indians were criticised.
Instead of using the conventional method of addressing the issue, Vell Paari wrote an open letter to party chief G Palanivel expressing his dismay over how the party was run.
He wanted Palanivel to complain about academician Redzuan Tee Abdullah and Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali – both of whom made disparaging remarks about Indians in public – to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
Vell Paari just wanted MIC to be more vocal, and be seen to be doing good for the Malaysian Indian community as a whole.
Following the scathing open letter, FMT tried to obtain the party’s central working committee (CWC) members to comment on Vell Paari’s letter. The party has 23 elected and nine appointed CWC members.
It was surprising to note that many of those in the CWC, including those aligned to Palanivel, declined to comment.
Two CWC members, who are known to be Palanivel’s hardcore supporters, claimed that they never read the open letter in the first place. Another wanted to read the letter first and then comment later. But that was some 48 hours ago!
Two veteran leaders also aligned to Palanivel, meanwhile, said they would need a day or two to comment.
“I have to see how the other leaders react… I do not want to shoot when it is not my problem,” said one of the leaders who declined to be named.
The Samy Vellu factor
Only veteran leader KP Samy was willing to be quoted. And he went on to hit out at Vell Paari for
channelling his grievances publicly instead of using the party mechanism to air his grouses.
So, the question now is: does Palanivel really enjoy the support of the party’s CWC?
“No, he does not. All those sitting in the CWC are from the previous administration of Samy Vellu. They are all Samy Vellu’s men. In fact, those appointed are also the former president’s men.
“This is the reason why Palanivel does not enjoy support. He should have formed his own CWC,” said a senior party leader when contacted by FMT.
MIC’s internal elections to pick leaders would be held this year after the general election. Its last election was in 2009, when Samy Vellu was still the party supremo.
Samy Vellu, who led the party with an iron fist for 30 years, had ensured that the CWC was made up of his supporters before he vacated his seat in the party. The party practises a unique system where the president is elected at least three months before the election of other top national office- bearers.
This is another reason why party leaders feared speaking out in support of the president.
“Whatever said and done, Samy Vellu still enjoys considerable support in the party. Why anger his supporters by attacking his son?” said a retired MIC leader, who declined to be named.
NGO backs Vell Paari’s ultimatum
WargaAMAN says he did right in calling for action against Ibrahim Ali and Ridhuan Tee.
PETALING JAYA: A group claiming to represent the interest of Malaysian Indians today declared its support for MIC strategy director S Vell Paari in his threat to leave the party over president G Palanivel’s inaction against insults to the community.
WargaAMAN, which calls itself a coalition of 20 Indian-based NGOs, said the MIC central executive committee (CWC) member was right in calling for a censure of Perkasa president Ibrahim Ai and academic Ridhaun Tee Abdullah for “vicious racist” remarks.
Vell Paari issued his ultimatum last week in the wake of Tee’s publication of an article that disparaged Hindus. In a letter to Palanivel, he repeated a threat he had directed at Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein—that he would quit MIC and call on Indians to support Pakatan Rakyat in the general election.
The letter also recounted Ibrahim’s threats against non-Muslims. Vell Paari complained that BN had not seen it fit to act against the Perkasa chief and was now showing a similar reluctance to punish Tee.
WargaAMAN secretary-general S Barathidasan said his organisation was proud of Vell Paari in his show of courage.
“Vell Paari is very bold and brave,” he said. “He is not afraid of being sacked from his party. He is more interested in the wellbeing of the Indian community.”
Barathidasan also defended Vell Paari against an attack by his CWC colleague, KP Samy.
Samy had commented that Vell Paari’s ultimatum was “unethical”.
“Samy says that Palanivel plans to take the issue up in a cabinet meeting,” Barathidasan noted. “When will this happen? After GE13? After BN becomes an opposition party?”
He said Vell Paari had distinguished himself in standing up for the Indian community. “So far, nobody in MIC has shown such courage.
“Furthermore, we believe that Vell Paari is also campaigning for free and fair elections, in line with Bersih’s demands.”
Barathidasan affirmed that WargaAMAN was non-partisan, saying it would continue to work in the interest of the public instead of for the benefit of politicians.
“We supported Pakatan Rakyat because we wanted to see changes,” he said. “But the BN government, realising that the opposition has a lot of support, has begun to transform.
“We now have BR1M, TR1MA, SARA and BL1M and so on. The people are definitely benefitting from these programmes and this is what we need.”
Meanwhile Samy said it was important that the party concentrated on the impending general election instead of causing distractions for themselves.
“I am defending the image of the party and BN on the whole. In my 40-years in the party, I have not asked for positions.
“I put a lot of effort to make the party lively and ensure it helped the Malaysian Indian community. We do not want this in the run-up o the general election.
“Instead of talking about this, we should be concentrating on the general election. Not only us, all component parties should also do this,” he added.
PETALING JAYA: A group claiming to represent the interest of Malaysian Indians today declared its support for MIC strategy director S Vell Paari in his threat to leave the party over president G Palanivel’s inaction against insults to the community.WargaAMAN, which calls itself a coalition of 20 Indian-based NGOs, said the MIC central executive committee (CWC) member was right in calling for a censure of Perkasa president Ibrahim Ai and academic Ridhaun Tee Abdullah for “vicious racist” remarks.
Vell Paari issued his ultimatum last week in the wake of Tee’s publication of an article that disparaged Hindus. In a letter to Palanivel, he repeated a threat he had directed at Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein—that he would quit MIC and call on Indians to support Pakatan Rakyat in the general election.
The letter also recounted Ibrahim’s threats against non-Muslims. Vell Paari complained that BN had not seen it fit to act against the Perkasa chief and was now showing a similar reluctance to punish Tee.
WargaAMAN secretary-general S Barathidasan said his organisation was proud of Vell Paari in his show of courage.
“Vell Paari is very bold and brave,” he said. “He is not afraid of being sacked from his party. He is more interested in the wellbeing of the Indian community.”
Barathidasan also defended Vell Paari against an attack by his CWC colleague, KP Samy.
Samy had commented that Vell Paari’s ultimatum was “unethical”.
“Samy says that Palanivel plans to take the issue up in a cabinet meeting,” Barathidasan noted. “When will this happen? After GE13? After BN becomes an opposition party?”
He said Vell Paari had distinguished himself in standing up for the Indian community. “So far, nobody in MIC has shown such courage.
“Furthermore, we believe that Vell Paari is also campaigning for free and fair elections, in line with Bersih’s demands.”
Barathidasan affirmed that WargaAMAN was non-partisan, saying it would continue to work in the interest of the public instead of for the benefit of politicians.
“We supported Pakatan Rakyat because we wanted to see changes,” he said. “But the BN government, realising that the opposition has a lot of support, has begun to transform.
“We now have BR1M, TR1MA, SARA and BL1M and so on. The people are definitely benefitting from these programmes and this is what we need.”
Meanwhile Samy said it was important that the party concentrated on the impending general election instead of causing distractions for themselves.
“I am defending the image of the party and BN on the whole. In my 40-years in the party, I have not asked for positions.
“I put a lot of effort to make the party lively and ensure it helped the Malaysian Indian community. We do not want this in the run-up o the general election.
“Instead of talking about this, we should be concentrating on the general election. Not only us, all component parties should also do this,” he added.
Vishwaroopam screening on Thursday
The Lotus Five Star Group will start screening the movie on Feb 28 but did not say how many cuts were made.
PETALING JAYA: Tamil film fans can finally watch Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam this week.
Lotus Five Star Group’s programming manager, P Gopal confirmed this to FMT today.
“A special screening will be held on Wednesday. The movie would be shown nationwide from Thursday (Feb 28) onwards,” he said.
Details on the special screening have not been confirmed yet but he said that the special screening was open to the public.
Gopal was however evasive when asked on the number of cuts in the movie.
“That has been reported in the media. Why ask about that now?” he said.
Vishwaroopam, a Kamal Haasan spy-thriller, was first screened on Jan 25. However, it was suspended the following day due to opposition from Indian Muslim groups that claimed the movie was insensitive to the feelings of the Muslims.
The Home Ministry suspended the movie after receiving protest memorandums from Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) and Federation of Indian Muslim Organisations (Permim).
The suspension did no go down well with the Indian community. Even members of civil societies such as National Laureate A Samad Said questioned the rationale in suspending the movie.
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen described Malaysia as a coward nation in her micro-blogging site.
Following negotiations, Lotus Five Star and the protesting Indian Muslim groups agreed to 16 cuts in the movie.
PETALING JAYA: Tamil film fans can finally watch Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam this week.Lotus Five Star Group’s programming manager, P Gopal confirmed this to FMT today.
“A special screening will be held on Wednesday. The movie would be shown nationwide from Thursday (Feb 28) onwards,” he said.
Details on the special screening have not been confirmed yet but he said that the special screening was open to the public.
Gopal was however evasive when asked on the number of cuts in the movie.
“That has been reported in the media. Why ask about that now?” he said.
Vishwaroopam, a Kamal Haasan spy-thriller, was first screened on Jan 25. However, it was suspended the following day due to opposition from Indian Muslim groups that claimed the movie was insensitive to the feelings of the Muslims.
The Home Ministry suspended the movie after receiving protest memorandums from Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma) and Federation of Indian Muslim Organisations (Permim).
The suspension did no go down well with the Indian community. Even members of civil societies such as National Laureate A Samad Said questioned the rationale in suspending the movie.
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen described Malaysia as a coward nation in her micro-blogging site.
Following negotiations, Lotus Five Star and the protesting Indian Muslim groups agreed to 16 cuts in the movie.
Kesabaran kami ada had
Jangan terus meluku apabila mangsa tunduk dan mangsa pula jangan terus tunduk apabila diluku.
COMMENT
Pada penelitian saya, selewat-lewatnya sejak awal tahun 2008 – menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12 – kebanyakan penduduk kaum India di negara ini sudah mula menyedari dan menggunakan hak mereka untuk bersuara.
Hakikat yang boleh dipertikaikan tetapi tidak boleh dinafikan adalah bahawa di Malaysia, kumpulan-kumpulan minoriti masih menjadi mangsa penindasan, kezaliman, diskriminasi, ketidakadilan dan penipuan oleh pihak yang “ada kuasa”.
Saya berpendirian bahawa golongan minoriti seperti ini amat memerlukan ruang untuk bersuara. Secara lebih khusus, kaum India memerlukan kekuatan untuk berani menuntut apa-apa yang sebenarnya memang menjadi hak mereka menurut peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu (5 Ogos 1957).
Satu-satunya pemimpin Islam yang paling saya kagumi ialah Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. dan seperti diriwayatkan Abu Daud, baginda pernah bersabda:
“Berwaspada! Barang siapa yang menzalimi dan mengasari kelompok minoriti Bukan Islam, menyekat hak mereka, membebankan mereka dengan lebih daripada apa yang mampu mereka tanggung, atau merampas apa sahaja daripada mereka tanpa izin; maka aku akan mengadu terhadap orang itu pada Hari Pembalasan.”
Dalam pada itu, seperti diakui dalam agama Islam, Hindu dan semua agama seluruh dunia, Tuhan akan memakbulkan doa orang yang tertindas atau dizalimi. Dalam hal ini, saya percaya bahawa doa golongan kaum India di Malaysia juga akan didengar dan dimakbulkan-Nya.
Walaupun “maru malarchi” – kebangkitan semula; revival – mula menampakkan bibit selewat-lewatnya pada tahun 1999, semangat reformasi dalam kalangan kaum India yang bermaruah (ingat: yang bermaruah sahaja) semakin hebat menjelang akhir tahun 2007. Perhimpunan Hindraf (25 November 2007) serta Perhimpunan Bersih (10 Julai 2011) menjadi antara bukti nyata.
Kuasa yang ditunjukkan oleh masyarakat awam melalui undi pada PRU-12 menambahkan keyakinan kaum India terhadap kemampuan “makkal sakhti” iaitu “Kuasa Rakyat” atau apa yang saya gelarkan sebagai The Third Force.
Suara dan keberanian kaum India yang tidak rela diperkotak-katikkan dan diperlakukan sesuka hati juga terpancar semasa kontroversi novel Interlok: Edisi Murid sepanjang tahun 2011. Khususnya apabila ada pihak yang bermati-matian mahu mengekalkan novel berkenaan sebagai teks wajib Komponen Sastera Dalam Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Malaysia (Komsas) walaupun terbukti terdapat pelbagai perkara yang menyentuh sensitiviti dan menjatuhkan maruah kaum India.
Akhirnya MIC tunduk pada desakan (pujukan?) pihak tertentu dengan meluluskan percetakan semula novel itu dengan pindaan minimum yang tidak selaras apa yang dijanjikan oleh Menteri Pelajaran tersayang, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin di Dewan Rakyat pada Mac 2011.
Usaha menjahanamkan impian Najib
Untuk rekod, MIC adalah sebuah parti politik di Malaysia yang mengiktiraf sendiri kedudukannya sebagai parti politik tunggal yang kononnya layak mewakili kaum India dalam komponen Barisan Nasional (BN). Mujurlah tidak semua penduduk kaum India berpendirian demikian; khususnya generasi muda yang menolak parti politik berasaskan kaum.
Isu terbaru yang cuba “menguji” tahap kesabaran kaum India adalah sebuah rencana bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” oleh Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (Tee Chuan Seng) yang disiarkan di akhbar Sinar Harian (18 Februari 2013).
Rencana itu secara terang-terangan menggunakan isu kontroversi filem Vishwaroopam (2013) sebagai “alat” untuk Chuan Seng mengutuk, menghina dan menjatuhkan maruah kaum India beragama Hindu di Malaysia. Ringkasnya, lelaki mualaf (Cina-Muslim) itu ternyata sedang cuba menjahanamkan semangat perpaduan, persefahaman, tolak ansur dan saling menghormati yang sedang diperjuangkan oleh Perdana Menteri tercinta, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dalam keadaan amat terpaksa menjelang tarikh PRU-13.
Setiausaha Pemuda MIC Kebangsaan, Sivarraajh Chandran mengeluarkan kenyataan media yang turut disiarkan di media alternatif pada 19 Februari 2013. Beliau menyeru masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan agama memulaukan Chuan Seng dan mana-mana penerbit yang tetap menerbitkan/menyiarkan tulisannya pada masa hadapan.
Kenyataan Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) berhubung perkara sama disiarkan (antara lain) di akhbar Malaysia Nanban pada 21 Februari 2013. Reaksi orang ramai – kaum India dan Bukan Kaum India; penganut Hindu dan Bukan Hindu – juga diluahkan menerusi laman rangkaian sosial seperti Facebook dan Twitter.
Keberanian untuk bersuara mewakili golongan minoriti (kaum India) dalam isu-isu seperti ini mungkin amat kurang dan jarang sebelum tahun 2008. Maka, hakikat yang nyata dan membanggakan adalah bahawa rakyat Malaysia semakin bersatu sebagai “Bangsa Malaysia” sejak PRU-12 dan tidak bersedia membiarkan mana-mana kaum/agama dizalimi, ditindas, dihina dan diperlakukan secara tidak berperikemanusiaan oleh mana-mana pihak; termasuk pemerintah.
MIC yang sebelum ini menjadi “tuan kecil” yang paling berkuasa menentukan nasib dan masa depan kaum India juga terbukti tidak lagi mampu mengatasi “Kuasa Rakyat” – The Third Force – yang sudah berani untuk bersuara mengikut hak dan kuasa yang diberikan secara sah oleh undang-undang dan Perlembagaan Persekutuan.
Terbaru, Pengarah Strategi MIC, Vell Paari mengirim surat kepada presidennya, Datuk G Palanivel untuk mendesak supaya tindakan segera diambil terhadap perbuatan Chuan Seng menghina orang India-Hindu dan Ibrahim Ali (Presiden Perkasa) yang menghasut orang Islam membakar Al-Kitab pada Januari 2013.
Surat terbuka itu turut disiarkan di Free Malaysia Today (22 Februari 2013) supaya mampu dibaca oleh orang ramai. Vell Paari dengan tegas mengatakan bahawa jika tiada tindakan diambil terhadap Chuan Seng dan Ibrahim Ali, maka beliau akan mengetuai gerakan meminta masyarakat India tidak mengundi mana-mana calon BN pada PRU-13 (Tamil Nesan, 23 Februari 2013).
Seperti dinyatakan Vell Paari, apa-apa yang ditulis oleh Chuan Seng dalam rencana bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” boleh dianggap sebagai bertentangan dengan gagasan “1Malaysia” yang dipelopori Najib. Dr Mohd Faizal Musa (Faisal Tehrani) juga berhujah bahawa pendapat Chuan Seng “sangat berlawanan” dengan gagasan Najib (Projek Dialog, 22 Februari 2013).
Sinar Harian akui ada nada perkauman
Tambahan pula dalam keadaan di mana Najib secara bersendirian begitu terdesak untuk mendapatkan undi kaum India dalam PRU-13 sehingga sanggup menabur wang, masa dan tenaga bagi menjayakan Perhimpunan Semenyih (12 Januari 2013), Pesta Ponggal Sayangi Selangor PM Bersama Rakyat (13 Januari 2013), Thaipusam (27 Januari 2013), Ponggal Perpaduan (2 Februari 2013) dan sebagainya.
Sementara itu, susulan bantahan sekumpulan orang di hadapan Kompleks Media Karangkraf, Shah Alam pada tengah hari 22 Februari 2013, penasihat editorial akhbar Sinar Harian, Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali dilaporkan memohon maaf kepada kaum India beragama Hindu atas penyiaran rencana tulisan Chuan Seng.
Agak menarik juga untuk diperhatikan bahawa Abdul Jalil dilaporkan berkata bahawa rencana yang disiarkan itu memang sudah disunting “untuk mengurangkan nada perkauman”. Maka, bayangkan betapa banyak “nada perkauman” yang disuntik oleh Chuan Seng dalam manuskrip asal rencana yang dikirimnya kepada editor. Semoga Sinar Harian tidak cuba “menandingi” Utusan Malaysia sebagai akhbar yang khabarnya dibenci orang ramai.
Sejak lebih 55 tahun lalu, kaum India yang merupakan warganegara sah di sini sudah serik dipanggil “pendatang” dan diminta “balik India”. Apatah lagi apabila kedatangan pendatang asing tanpa izin (PATI) dari India, Pakistan, Bangladesh dan negara-negara lain pula khabarnya dialu-alukan dan diberikan dokumen pengenalan sah; asalkan mereka bersedia mengundi pihak tertentu pada PRU-13.
Biarlah ditegaskan bahawa “kesabaran kaum India ada had” (meminjam nada tajuk rencana Chuan Seng dan Faisal Tehrani). Ada sebuah peribahasa Tamil yang membawa makna “jangan terus meluku apabila mangsa tunduk dan mangsa pula jangan terus tunduk apabila diluku”. Meluku, menyekeh atau menduku merujuk pada perbuatan mengetuk kepala dengan buku jari.
Minoriti yang dianiaya dan dinafikan hak juga sudah berani melaungkan “Tidak!” seperti yang dipaparkan secara penuh simbolik menerusi filem Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Jika ada pihak yang masih menggelar kaum India di negara ini sebagai “pendatang” dan melakukan penindasan, maka bersedialah untuk melihat “vishwaroopam” (bukan judul filem) yang pasti menggerunkan.
Nabi Muhammad pernah bersabda, “Bantulah mereka yang dizalimi dan yang menzalimi.” Para sahabat bertanya, “Kami boleh membantu mereka yang dizalimi tetapi bagaimana membantu mereka yang menzalimi?” Nabi menjawab, “Cegahlah mereka daripada melakukan kezaliman.”
Rasulullah juga diriwayatkan bersabda kepada Muaz bin Jabal, “Takutilah kamu akan doa orang yang dizalimi kerana tiadalah sesuatu hijab (penghalang) antara doanya dengan Allah.”
Maka, kepada Chuan Seng, Ibrahim Ali, Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin Albukhary serta puluhan individu, puak, pertubuhan, akhbar, politikus, penerbit dan golongan etnosentrik yang sentiasa menganiaya mana-mana golongan minoriti serta menjadi pencetus perpecahan dan perkauman, percayalah bahawa minoriti tertindas tidak akan lagi berdiam diri.
Keluhuran Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu melindungi mereka; selain jaminan Nabi Muhammad dan Allah yang sentiasa mendengar doa golongan yang ditindas, dianiaya dan dizalimi. Atau adakah anda mahu menafikannya?
Uthaya Sankar SB tidak menyokong mana-mana parti politik. Beliau sering bersuara mewakili golongan marginal, minoriti dan tertindas.
COMMENT
Pada penelitian saya, selewat-lewatnya sejak awal tahun 2008 – menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12 – kebanyakan penduduk kaum India di negara ini sudah mula menyedari dan menggunakan hak mereka untuk bersuara.Hakikat yang boleh dipertikaikan tetapi tidak boleh dinafikan adalah bahawa di Malaysia, kumpulan-kumpulan minoriti masih menjadi mangsa penindasan, kezaliman, diskriminasi, ketidakadilan dan penipuan oleh pihak yang “ada kuasa”.
Saya berpendirian bahawa golongan minoriti seperti ini amat memerlukan ruang untuk bersuara. Secara lebih khusus, kaum India memerlukan kekuatan untuk berani menuntut apa-apa yang sebenarnya memang menjadi hak mereka menurut peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu (5 Ogos 1957).
Satu-satunya pemimpin Islam yang paling saya kagumi ialah Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. dan seperti diriwayatkan Abu Daud, baginda pernah bersabda:
“Berwaspada! Barang siapa yang menzalimi dan mengasari kelompok minoriti Bukan Islam, menyekat hak mereka, membebankan mereka dengan lebih daripada apa yang mampu mereka tanggung, atau merampas apa sahaja daripada mereka tanpa izin; maka aku akan mengadu terhadap orang itu pada Hari Pembalasan.”
Dalam pada itu, seperti diakui dalam agama Islam, Hindu dan semua agama seluruh dunia, Tuhan akan memakbulkan doa orang yang tertindas atau dizalimi. Dalam hal ini, saya percaya bahawa doa golongan kaum India di Malaysia juga akan didengar dan dimakbulkan-Nya.
Walaupun “maru malarchi” – kebangkitan semula; revival – mula menampakkan bibit selewat-lewatnya pada tahun 1999, semangat reformasi dalam kalangan kaum India yang bermaruah (ingat: yang bermaruah sahaja) semakin hebat menjelang akhir tahun 2007. Perhimpunan Hindraf (25 November 2007) serta Perhimpunan Bersih (10 Julai 2011) menjadi antara bukti nyata.
Kuasa yang ditunjukkan oleh masyarakat awam melalui undi pada PRU-12 menambahkan keyakinan kaum India terhadap kemampuan “makkal sakhti” iaitu “Kuasa Rakyat” atau apa yang saya gelarkan sebagai The Third Force.
Suara dan keberanian kaum India yang tidak rela diperkotak-katikkan dan diperlakukan sesuka hati juga terpancar semasa kontroversi novel Interlok: Edisi Murid sepanjang tahun 2011. Khususnya apabila ada pihak yang bermati-matian mahu mengekalkan novel berkenaan sebagai teks wajib Komponen Sastera Dalam Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Malaysia (Komsas) walaupun terbukti terdapat pelbagai perkara yang menyentuh sensitiviti dan menjatuhkan maruah kaum India.
Akhirnya MIC tunduk pada desakan (pujukan?) pihak tertentu dengan meluluskan percetakan semula novel itu dengan pindaan minimum yang tidak selaras apa yang dijanjikan oleh Menteri Pelajaran tersayang, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin di Dewan Rakyat pada Mac 2011.
Usaha menjahanamkan impian NajibUntuk rekod, MIC adalah sebuah parti politik di Malaysia yang mengiktiraf sendiri kedudukannya sebagai parti politik tunggal yang kononnya layak mewakili kaum India dalam komponen Barisan Nasional (BN). Mujurlah tidak semua penduduk kaum India berpendirian demikian; khususnya generasi muda yang menolak parti politik berasaskan kaum.
Isu terbaru yang cuba “menguji” tahap kesabaran kaum India adalah sebuah rencana bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” oleh Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (Tee Chuan Seng) yang disiarkan di akhbar Sinar Harian (18 Februari 2013).
Rencana itu secara terang-terangan menggunakan isu kontroversi filem Vishwaroopam (2013) sebagai “alat” untuk Chuan Seng mengutuk, menghina dan menjatuhkan maruah kaum India beragama Hindu di Malaysia. Ringkasnya, lelaki mualaf (Cina-Muslim) itu ternyata sedang cuba menjahanamkan semangat perpaduan, persefahaman, tolak ansur dan saling menghormati yang sedang diperjuangkan oleh Perdana Menteri tercinta, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dalam keadaan amat terpaksa menjelang tarikh PRU-13.
Setiausaha Pemuda MIC Kebangsaan, Sivarraajh Chandran mengeluarkan kenyataan media yang turut disiarkan di media alternatif pada 19 Februari 2013. Beliau menyeru masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan agama memulaukan Chuan Seng dan mana-mana penerbit yang tetap menerbitkan/menyiarkan tulisannya pada masa hadapan.
Kenyataan Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) berhubung perkara sama disiarkan (antara lain) di akhbar Malaysia Nanban pada 21 Februari 2013. Reaksi orang ramai – kaum India dan Bukan Kaum India; penganut Hindu dan Bukan Hindu – juga diluahkan menerusi laman rangkaian sosial seperti Facebook dan Twitter.
Keberanian untuk bersuara mewakili golongan minoriti (kaum India) dalam isu-isu seperti ini mungkin amat kurang dan jarang sebelum tahun 2008. Maka, hakikat yang nyata dan membanggakan adalah bahawa rakyat Malaysia semakin bersatu sebagai “Bangsa Malaysia” sejak PRU-12 dan tidak bersedia membiarkan mana-mana kaum/agama dizalimi, ditindas, dihina dan diperlakukan secara tidak berperikemanusiaan oleh mana-mana pihak; termasuk pemerintah.
MIC yang sebelum ini menjadi “tuan kecil” yang paling berkuasa menentukan nasib dan masa depan kaum India juga terbukti tidak lagi mampu mengatasi “Kuasa Rakyat” – The Third Force – yang sudah berani untuk bersuara mengikut hak dan kuasa yang diberikan secara sah oleh undang-undang dan Perlembagaan Persekutuan.
Terbaru, Pengarah Strategi MIC, Vell Paari mengirim surat kepada presidennya, Datuk G Palanivel untuk mendesak supaya tindakan segera diambil terhadap perbuatan Chuan Seng menghina orang India-Hindu dan Ibrahim Ali (Presiden Perkasa) yang menghasut orang Islam membakar Al-Kitab pada Januari 2013.
Surat terbuka itu turut disiarkan di Free Malaysia Today (22 Februari 2013) supaya mampu dibaca oleh orang ramai. Vell Paari dengan tegas mengatakan bahawa jika tiada tindakan diambil terhadap Chuan Seng dan Ibrahim Ali, maka beliau akan mengetuai gerakan meminta masyarakat India tidak mengundi mana-mana calon BN pada PRU-13 (Tamil Nesan, 23 Februari 2013).
Seperti dinyatakan Vell Paari, apa-apa yang ditulis oleh Chuan Seng dalam rencana bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” boleh dianggap sebagai bertentangan dengan gagasan “1Malaysia” yang dipelopori Najib. Dr Mohd Faizal Musa (Faisal Tehrani) juga berhujah bahawa pendapat Chuan Seng “sangat berlawanan” dengan gagasan Najib (Projek Dialog, 22 Februari 2013).
Sinar Harian akui ada nada perkauman
Tambahan pula dalam keadaan di mana Najib secara bersendirian begitu terdesak untuk mendapatkan undi kaum India dalam PRU-13 sehingga sanggup menabur wang, masa dan tenaga bagi menjayakan Perhimpunan Semenyih (12 Januari 2013), Pesta Ponggal Sayangi Selangor PM Bersama Rakyat (13 Januari 2013), Thaipusam (27 Januari 2013), Ponggal Perpaduan (2 Februari 2013) dan sebagainya.Sementara itu, susulan bantahan sekumpulan orang di hadapan Kompleks Media Karangkraf, Shah Alam pada tengah hari 22 Februari 2013, penasihat editorial akhbar Sinar Harian, Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali dilaporkan memohon maaf kepada kaum India beragama Hindu atas penyiaran rencana tulisan Chuan Seng.
Agak menarik juga untuk diperhatikan bahawa Abdul Jalil dilaporkan berkata bahawa rencana yang disiarkan itu memang sudah disunting “untuk mengurangkan nada perkauman”. Maka, bayangkan betapa banyak “nada perkauman” yang disuntik oleh Chuan Seng dalam manuskrip asal rencana yang dikirimnya kepada editor. Semoga Sinar Harian tidak cuba “menandingi” Utusan Malaysia sebagai akhbar yang khabarnya dibenci orang ramai.
Sejak lebih 55 tahun lalu, kaum India yang merupakan warganegara sah di sini sudah serik dipanggil “pendatang” dan diminta “balik India”. Apatah lagi apabila kedatangan pendatang asing tanpa izin (PATI) dari India, Pakistan, Bangladesh dan negara-negara lain pula khabarnya dialu-alukan dan diberikan dokumen pengenalan sah; asalkan mereka bersedia mengundi pihak tertentu pada PRU-13.
Biarlah ditegaskan bahawa “kesabaran kaum India ada had” (meminjam nada tajuk rencana Chuan Seng dan Faisal Tehrani). Ada sebuah peribahasa Tamil yang membawa makna “jangan terus meluku apabila mangsa tunduk dan mangsa pula jangan terus tunduk apabila diluku”. Meluku, menyekeh atau menduku merujuk pada perbuatan mengetuk kepala dengan buku jari.
Minoriti yang dianiaya dan dinafikan hak juga sudah berani melaungkan “Tidak!” seperti yang dipaparkan secara penuh simbolik menerusi filem Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Jika ada pihak yang masih menggelar kaum India di negara ini sebagai “pendatang” dan melakukan penindasan, maka bersedialah untuk melihat “vishwaroopam” (bukan judul filem) yang pasti menggerunkan.
Nabi Muhammad pernah bersabda, “Bantulah mereka yang dizalimi dan yang menzalimi.” Para sahabat bertanya, “Kami boleh membantu mereka yang dizalimi tetapi bagaimana membantu mereka yang menzalimi?” Nabi menjawab, “Cegahlah mereka daripada melakukan kezaliman.”
Rasulullah juga diriwayatkan bersabda kepada Muaz bin Jabal, “Takutilah kamu akan doa orang yang dizalimi kerana tiadalah sesuatu hijab (penghalang) antara doanya dengan Allah.”
Maka, kepada Chuan Seng, Ibrahim Ali, Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin Albukhary serta puluhan individu, puak, pertubuhan, akhbar, politikus, penerbit dan golongan etnosentrik yang sentiasa menganiaya mana-mana golongan minoriti serta menjadi pencetus perpecahan dan perkauman, percayalah bahawa minoriti tertindas tidak akan lagi berdiam diri.
Keluhuran Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan Wasiat Raja-raja Melayu melindungi mereka; selain jaminan Nabi Muhammad dan Allah yang sentiasa mendengar doa golongan yang ditindas, dianiaya dan dizalimi. Atau adakah anda mahu menafikannya?
Uthaya Sankar SB tidak menyokong mana-mana parti politik. Beliau sering bersuara mewakili golongan marginal, minoriti dan tertindas.
Deepak: PI Bala and I on the same team
Deepak Jaikishan said he would approach P Balasubramaniam in the next few days over drinks to discuss the matter of the statutory declaration.
PETALING JAYA: Businessman Deepak Jaikishan today did not rule out the idea of collaborating with former private investigator P Balasubramaniam to reveal “the truth” behind the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.
“It’s a bit too soon for me to say [if we shall collaborate], but we are definitely on the same team. We both want justice. He is a very brave man, and I pray that his endeavours are successful,” Deepak told FMT when contacted today.
He said he would approach Bala, as he is popularly known, for a chat over drinks in the next few days.
“We have a common goal, which is that justice prevails. It’s not easy, what we are doing, as we are accusing higher authorities of committing a criminal act,” said Deepak.
When asked whether he would also call Bala as a witness for his defamation suit against Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Deepak said “yes”.
“Yes. It had never occurred to me before this, but now that you asked, yes, we definitely would like him to come as a witness to the suit,” said the carpet dealer.
Last night, Bala returned to Malaysia after almost five years of having mysteriously fled the country.
Upon his arrival at the airport, he immediately swore that the first statutory declaration (SD) he made in 2008, which implicated Najib in Altantuya’s murder, was the truth.
He claimed that “circumstances” had forced him to retract the allegations made in the first SD, and he would reveal the whole truth “inch by inch”.
Deepak had previously told the media that it was he who persuaded Bala to reverse the first SD, as a favour for Rosmah Mansor, Deepak’s close associate once and the wife of the prime minister.
But despite Deepak’s role in the affair, Bala told reporters last night that he would not actively seek collaboration with the businessman.
“[But] if he [Deepak] comes forward and wants to work with me, I am okay with it. But I won’t go looking for him,” Bala said.
Meanwhile, in a press statement today, Deepak said: “I urge PI Bala to divulge the names of the people involved and why it is that only employees of Najib and Rosmah were involved and on whose orders and ‘main reason’ did they commit this heinous crime on a pregnant Mongolian woman.”
“I also urge our former inspector-general of police [Musa Hassan] to confirm that Najib had called him and interfered in this murder investigation at that time…
“Bala has my complete support and prayers and I hope that the spirit of Altantuya can ‘rest in peace’ once the ‘real murderers’ are found guilty.”
PETALING JAYA: Businessman Deepak Jaikishan today did not rule out the idea of collaborating with former private investigator P Balasubramaniam to reveal “the truth” behind the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.“It’s a bit too soon for me to say [if we shall collaborate], but we are definitely on the same team. We both want justice. He is a very brave man, and I pray that his endeavours are successful,” Deepak told FMT when contacted today.
He said he would approach Bala, as he is popularly known, for a chat over drinks in the next few days.
“We have a common goal, which is that justice prevails. It’s not easy, what we are doing, as we are accusing higher authorities of committing a criminal act,” said Deepak.
When asked whether he would also call Bala as a witness for his defamation suit against Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Deepak said “yes”.
“Yes. It had never occurred to me before this, but now that you asked, yes, we definitely would like him to come as a witness to the suit,” said the carpet dealer.
Last night, Bala returned to Malaysia after almost five years of having mysteriously fled the country.
Upon his arrival at the airport, he immediately swore that the first statutory declaration (SD) he made in 2008, which implicated Najib in Altantuya’s murder, was the truth.
He claimed that “circumstances” had forced him to retract the allegations made in the first SD, and he would reveal the whole truth “inch by inch”.
Deepak had previously told the media that it was he who persuaded Bala to reverse the first SD, as a favour for Rosmah Mansor, Deepak’s close associate once and the wife of the prime minister.
But despite Deepak’s role in the affair, Bala told reporters last night that he would not actively seek collaboration with the businessman.
“[But] if he [Deepak] comes forward and wants to work with me, I am okay with it. But I won’t go looking for him,” Bala said.
Meanwhile, in a press statement today, Deepak said: “I urge PI Bala to divulge the names of the people involved and why it is that only employees of Najib and Rosmah were involved and on whose orders and ‘main reason’ did they commit this heinous crime on a pregnant Mongolian woman.”
“I also urge our former inspector-general of police [Musa Hassan] to confirm that Najib had called him and interfered in this murder investigation at that time…
“Bala has my complete support and prayers and I hope that the spirit of Altantuya can ‘rest in peace’ once the ‘real murderers’ are found guilty.”
Malaysian Election Finally Nears
(Asia Sentinel)
Najib on the hustings
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With the Lunar New Year out of the way and after months - years, in fact - of speculation, it appears that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will finally call national elections, probably for the second week in April, amid speculation that he may have let it go too long.
Under Malaysia's parliamentary system, inherited from Britain's 127-year rule, the prime minister can dissolve parliament any time he feels his chances are good of winning a majority. There has been speculation for two years over when an election would be called. But Najib put it off while he struggled to put his touted Economic Transformation Program (ETP) reforms in place and to let some of the myriad scandals around him cool off.
For the prime minister, there are dangers on several sides. The common wisdom is that he must not just preserve the Barisan Nasional's parliamentary majority in the 222 seat Dewan Rakyat, but must pull more than the 76 parliamentary seats that the United Malays National Organization won under his luckless predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the disastrous 2008 election. He must also preserve more than 125 total seats for the component parties of the Barisan.
If not, his detractors say, he is likely to be blindsided from the right of his own party by forces aligned with ultra-Malay nationalists determined to preserve ketuanan Melayu, or Malay ethnic and cultural dominance and sovereignty. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, a Malay nationalist, is commonly believed to be after Najib's job although UMNO stalwarts deny it. The state political parties in Sabah and Sarawak, whose allegiance has always been slippery, are also said to be ready to opt for the opposition if the vote is close and the price is right.
Najib, an economist, has periodically threatened the ketuanan Melayu philosophy with his attempts to reverse some of the Malay privileges through the ETP's economic liberalization. That has resulted in loud demonstrations led by the ultra-Malay NGO Perkasa and its leader Ibrahim Ali, backed implicitly by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Although there have been no reliable polls, many political observers are predicting the closest election since Malaysia became an independent nation in 1957. Although the latest Merdeka Centre poll puts Najib's approval rating at a strong 62 percent - a figure western politicians would kill for - approval ratings for UMNO, the largest ethnic political party in the ruling coalition, have fallen below 50 percent. The party is widely perceived to be riddled with corruption and cronyism to the point where it is crippling the economy.
One of the biggest jokers in the deck is the presence of some 3 million new voters on the rolls. No one, political sources in Kuala Lumpur say, knows which way they will swing. Younger voters tend to be more liberal and urban ones are turned off by corruption. But Najib has been wooing them assiduously, attending pop concerts, wielding his Twitter account feverishly and setting up a string of Internet sites designed to counter the opposition news sites that gained widespread influence in the 2008 election, to the Barisan's detriment.
Although by law campaigning is prohibited until parliament is dissolved and is supposed to last a minimum of 10 days, both sides have kept up a furious drive against each other for more than a year, with nearly constant campaign meetings throughout the country. Najib's latest salvo, two weeks ago, was to bring the enormously popular Korean entertainer PSY to Penang to perform his famous Gangnam Style dance in the ethnic Chinese stronghold of the opposition Democratic Action Party. With his wife Rosmah Mansour in attendance, Najib asked the enormous crowd if they liked the singer. They roared their approval. Then, when he asked if they liked the Barisan Nasional, he was greeted with a long, loud "Nooooooo!!"
Then last week, Bernama, the state-owned news service, published a confident report on the Economist Intelligence Unit's predictions for the upcoming election, concluding that the respected research organization was predicting a strong victory going away for the Barisan - only to have the independent news Web site Malaysiakini come up with the real EIU report, which said no such thing but instead presented a sober-sided analysis that said the upcoming race would probably be one of the tightest in Malaysian history and that both sides were pouring in enough budgetary promises to imperil the country's finances if enacted.
Najib has long been expected to call the election for sometime around the second week of April after he completes the selection of candidates for Parliament. That is can be a precarious process. In 2008, which was the biggest election debacle since the Barisan took power, Badawi discarded some of the parliament's old bulls in favor of reform candidates only to have the ousted ones turn on him. That was partly responsible for the loss, for the first time, of the Barisan's two-thirds majority in the parliament.
Najib, an UMNO insider told Asia Sentinel, is wary of making the same mistake while at the same time seeking to choose enough reform candidates to mollify voters who have been fed up with a series of scandals big enough to make the word "massive" no longer trite.They include allegations of a US$150 million bribe to UMNO from French submarine manufacturer DCN; the misuse of a RM250 million soft loan by the family of the head of the UMNO women's wing for a National Feedlot Corporation project; an ongoing trial over the possible loss of as much as RM12.5 billion to corruption and mismanagement in the construction of the Port Klang Free Zoner and countless others.
The Election Committee is expected to set the polling date after parliament is dissolved. The Barisan is expected to wait until after April 4 for the elections themselves. Good Friday falls on March 29, Easter on March 31, and Qingming, the Chinese grave-sweeping holiday, on April 4, when Chinese families travel back to their hometowns, making an election holiday irritating at a time when Najib must seek to pull every Chinese vote he can get.
While Najib has promised a vast range of economic and other perks for civil servants and the rural poor in his budgets, the three-party Pakatan Rakyat led by Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat has campaigned on eliminating corruption, bringing greater transparency to the public bid process and dismantling the rent-seeking cartels and monopolies set up to protect the crony capitalists whose sway goes back to the 22-year reign of former Prime Minister Mahathir.
Along the way Anwar has had to endure renewed charges of having forced homosexual sex with a then 22-year-old aide. Acquitted of the charges a year ago by a Kuala Lumpur court, he was faced with an appeal of the decision by the prosecution. The case is still hanging over Anwar's head, making its way through the appeal process. Supporters of the 65-year-old Anwar have long alleged that the charges were trumped up by Najib and his wife.
Manifesto Rakyat – Pakatan Harapan Rakyat
Download/Muat turun Manifesto Pakatan Rakyat:
Malaysia adalah negara berpotensi besar. Rakyatnya yang bersaudara gigih berusaha. Negara dibina atas landasan agama dan akar budaya diikat oleh muafakat Perlembagaan.
Namun, cita-cita kita direncat oleh elit kekuasaan. Rasuah dan ketamakan membarah. Rakyat dibiarkan dengan kepayahan hidup.
Setiap daripada kita berhak mendapat yang terbaik. Pendidikan berkualiti, negara berkebajikan, peluang saksama dan pentadbiran beramanah menanti kita.
Demi kita, demi rakyat, bersama-sama ubah sekarang untuk melakar masa depan Malaysia.
Pakatan Rakyat
Manifesto oleh Pakatan Rakyat di Shah Alam pada hari Isnin, 25 Februari 2013
Hobbism and the Problem of Authoritarian Rule in Malaysia
by R. Rueban Balasubramaniam*
When
Malaysia gained independence from British rule in 1957, it embraced a
‘supreme’ written Constitution that included an extensive bill of rights
that protects the right to life and liberty, the right to due process,
the principle of equal protection before law, as well as civil and
political rights.1 This constitutional framework seemed
conducive to a culture of constitutionalism where organs of government
are under a legal duty to uphold constitutional norms that might be
enforceable by judges through judicial review, which would
systematically orient political power to serve the rights and interests
of legal subjects. As such, the constitutional framework seemed aptly
designed for the aspiration to realize the ideals of democracy and the
rule of law.
Unfortunately,
this aspiration has gone unrealized. A major source of this problem is
political. Malaysia has a Westminster system of government where the
executive is derived from the majority party in Parliament.2
But unlike Great Britain, where the Westminster system has led to a
robust democracy, Malaysian politics is ethnocratic and authoritarian.
The same political party, the United Malay National Organization
(‘UMNO’) has held power since 1957. UMNO is committed to an ethnocratic
political paradigm that favours the Malay ethnic majority.3
Over time, the UMNO-led government has been able to control Parliament
so that it has been able to limit civil and political rights and to
curtail constitutional checks on its power.4 This has allowed
the government to pursue ethnocratic and authoritarian rule and to
subvert the ideals of democracy and the rule of law.5
The
political factors that contribute to the problem of authoritarian rule
in Malaysia raise vexing questions about whether democratic politics can
flourish in a society afflicted by deep ethnic cleavages. Likewise,
they raise difficult questions about institutional design, especially in
relation to an attempt to create a Constitution that might be a focal
point for a way to encourage either integration or accommodation to
overcome such cleavages.6 These are important questions to address in the Malaysian context.
These
questions are crucial but I think there is a more fundamental problem
that underlies Malaysia’s seemingly stalled constitutional project.
There is reason to think that officials have been working under the grip
of an inherently authoritarian conception of legal authority that has
led them to derail Malaysia’s constitutional project. Until this problem
is appreciated, there is a danger that even the best effort to
construct an institutional framework that might better produce a
meaningful democracy that operates within a commitment to the rule of
law will not succeed. Put another way, this problem is a legal one as
much, if not more, than it is a political one.
In
this paper, I argue that Malaysia’s problem of authoritarian rule is in
part due to the influence of Hobbism upon official thinking about legal
authority. As I explain below, Hobbism is a conception of legal
authority that captures the major ideas in Thomas Hobbes’s legal and
political philosophy.7 Hobbes is widely thought to provide an
authoritarian conception of law as an answer to the problem of
destabilizing social disagreement. However, I should clarify that I do
not intend Hobbism to be an interpretation of Hobbes’s philosophy; the
aim here is not an exegesis on Hobbes work. Rather I use Hobbism, as a
heuristic that captures a pervasive pattern of thought amongst officials
that has led them to make practical judgments about the law that have
been damaging to democracy and the rule of law while proving congenial
to the rise of authoritarian rule.8 It is worth
understanding the nature of Hobbism because it sheds light on how
Malaysian officials have been drawn into a way of thinking about the
role of law as an antidote to the problem of political instability and
how this way of thinking has led to authoritarian consequences.
[continued]
Please click here to access the entire article.
Dr Rueban holds the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
He
earned his LLB (Second Upper Honours) from the University of London,
his Masters in Philosophy (specialising in law) from the Australian
National University, and his Doctorate in Juridical Science from the
University of Toronto. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the
Centre for Ethics at Trinity College, University of Toronto.
Dr
Rueban specialises on the rule of law, focusing on the Malaysian
legal-political system. At present, he is developing a theory of the
Malaysian Constitution that advocates social compromise as the way to
achieve social stability in Malaysia (and similar regimes). His
project: (1) sets out the core values that animate the Malaysian
constitutional project, (2) describes how the Constitution should be
interpreted, and (3) includes concrete proposals for meaningful
constitutional reform.
*This
article was originally published in the Hague Journal on the Rule of
Law. If citing from this article, please use full citation information:
Ratna
Rueban Balasubramaniam, “Hobbism and the Problem of Authoritarian Rule
in Malaysia” (2012) Volume 4, Number 2 Hague Journal on the Rule of Law,
pp. 211-234.
1Article 4 (1) reads
as follows: ‘This Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation and
any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with this
Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void’. Part
II of the Constitution sets out a bill of rights protecting the right to
life, liberty, and due process, the principle of equality before law, a
ban on slavery, a ban on retrospective legislation, as well as a list
of civil and political liberties. Part IX lays out provisions relating
to the judiciary, including provisions safeguarding the “judicial power”
of the courts to determine matters of law as well as provisions giving
the highest court, now known as the Federal Court, an advisory
jurisdiction on constitutional matters. As we shall see, some of these
provisions have been amended to reduce the power of the courts to decide
constitutional issues.
2 I use the term ‘government’ to refer to the executive.
3
For an explanation of the rise of ethnocratic rule in Malaysia, see
Geoffrey Wade, ‘The Origins and Evolution of Ethnocracy in Malaysia’
(2009) Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series No. 112.
4
The Constitution has been amended over 50 times since the creation of
the Constitution. In attacking this trend, it has been argued that “the
Constitution is treated in a somewhat cavalier fashion” because these
amendments have often been geared toward short-term political gain, see
H. P. Lee, Constitutional Conflicts in Contemporary Malaysia, 1995, p. 119.
5 Malaysian
politics has been variously described as “semi-authoritarian,”
“semi-democratic,””soft-authoritarian” or “pseudo-democracy” to capture
the fact that the Malaysian government, while not predatory of its
citizens, practices selective accountability. For a recent analysis of
the state of Malaysian politics, see Thomas B. Pepinsky, ‘Turnover
Without Change’ 18 Journal of Democracy (2007), p. 113.
6
For a leading examination of the link between what political science
says about institutional design for divided societies and constitutional
theory, see Sujit Choudhry ed., Constitutional Design for Divided Societies: Integration or Accommodation?, 2008, especially pp. 5-40.
7 Hobbism
is a term coined by David Dyzenhaus to capture the authoritarian
reading of Hobbes’ work so my account of Hobbism draws heavily from his
work, see David Dyzenhaus, Hard Cases and Wicked Legal Systems: Pathologies of Legality,
2nd edn., 2010, pp.205-09. In Dyzenhaus’ view, Hobbes is not a Hobbist
and in fact creates the basis for a democratic conception of legal and
political authority, see David Dyzenhaus, ‘Hobbes and the Legitimacy of
Law’, 20 Law and Philosophy (2001), p. 1. Though some object that
the term “Hobbist” is perhaps awkward and jarring (sometimes because it
makes them think of Hobbits), I will stick with it. The term is useful
precisely because it is jarring and allows me to distance myself from
Hobbes’s specific views about law and politics (as I am not convinced
that Hobbes is Hobbist) and because the term now has a place in legal
philosophy as a conception of legal authority associated with a
particular mode of legal reasoning and a broader conception of truth in
law and politics as matters of “plain-fact.” This “plain-fact”
conception of truth holds that truth in law and politics turns on
publicly accessible facts, especially historical facts. Elsewhere, I
develop this idea by drawing on a mix of Dyzenhaus’s account of
plain-fact legal reasoning discussed in the book cited above and Ronald
Dworkin’s account of the “plain-fact” view of law, outlined in Ronald
Dworkin, Law’s Empire, 1986, pp. 6-11. There, I argue that the
influence of plain-fact truth in law and politics has stalled debate
between ethnocrats and liberals about the fundamental principles of
political morality that inform the Malaysian legal-political order.
Under the influence of plain-fact thinking, they do not explicitly
engage each other at the level of normative considerations of value and
are distracted by the tendency to look to historical fact. Each supposes
that history somehow provides an objective basis by which to adjudicate
their debate. However, the result is that each side makes circular
arguments about history that presuppose the truth of their particular
political commitments thus leading to a stalemate. see R. Rueban
Balasubramaniam, “Malaysia’s Blocked Social Contract Debate” in Andrew
Harding & Amanda Whiting eds., Law and Society in Malaysia: Pluralism, Islam, and Development (under review).
8
For an argument as to why Hobbism carries an inherently authoritarian
pragmatic tendency, see David Dyzenhaus, ‘Why Positivism is
Authoritarian’ American Journal of Jurisprudence (1992), pp. 83-112, p. 86.
Najib Announces RM28 Million Allocation For Farmers And Breeders
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun
Razak announced an allocation of RM28 million as a one-off contribution
to assist small-scale farmers and breeders in the country.
The good news was announced by the Prime Minister in conjunction with the launching of the Menara LPP and 40th anniversary celebration of the agency, here Monday.
The allocation was an immediate response from Najib to meet the request of the small-scale farmers and breeders who were previously described as lagging behind compared to the large-scale farmers and fishermen who had received aid as announced by the government.
The government had previously announced the granting of aid to the fishermen including the cost of living assistance of RM200 per month which benefited 55,000 registered fishermen.
In assisting the large-scale farmers, the government continued the granting of existing subsidy and incentive amounting to RM2.4 billion, besides introducing for the first time the Padi Takaful Insurance Scheme.
This was mentioned by LPP Chairman Datuk Zainal Dahalan in his speech which requested that the incentive should also be granted to the small-scale farmers and breeders numbering 800,000 people nationwide.
The allocation is expected to be channelled as an incentive to the Area Farmers Organisation (PPK) including for the purchase of chemical fertilisers, oil palm barrels, pesticide containers and pest spraying tools amounting to an estimated RM20 million.
The balance is for meeting the costs of advanced courses and programmes for the 'Kumpulan Kor-Tani'.
The Kumpulan Kor-Tani, which was formed in April 2011 as the group that would take over from the current farmers and breeders in the country, now has 6,000 participants.
Earlier, Najib said the government had never neglected the agricultural sector because it was one of the important sectors that could not be left out in the injection of funds.
In fact, he said that in the 2013 Budget, RM5.8 billion was channelled as incentives for the small-scale farmers, breeders and fishermen to boost the capacity of the sector.
"The agricultural sector should be perceived as a thriving sector instead of a wilting and backward sector.
"But there must be efforts to turn the sector into a modern and dynamic one that should contribute towards the achievement of our objective to become a developed nation with a high income," he said.
Najib said the agricultural sector would not progress without quality human capital, who had an open mind to acquire new knowledge and capable of using innovative methods to achieve higher productivity.
"When we have new ideas, we will be able to bring the farmers closer to the market, if there are problems of logistics, middlemen, or transportation, they can be resolved more effectively for the benefit of the group," he said.
Citing the example of the establishment of the Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) and the planting of rock melons using autopots carried out at Seri Perdana as the transformation of new ideas, Najib said the projects had not only proved to have yielded higher returns for the farmers, but could also make the National Agro Food Policy more successful.
"The rock melon planting project on six acres of land at Seri Perdana using the autopot system had yielded RM500,000 annually with the profits being donated to charity bodies," he said.
Meanwhile, Najib said the launching of the new Menara LPP hoped to inject a new spirit and work culture for its occupants besides coming out with new inputs that could boost the agency in line with current development.
The construction of the 11-storey Menara LPP began in 2008 and it was fully completed in 2011.
The good news was announced by the Prime Minister in conjunction with the launching of the Menara LPP and 40th anniversary celebration of the agency, here Monday.
The allocation was an immediate response from Najib to meet the request of the small-scale farmers and breeders who were previously described as lagging behind compared to the large-scale farmers and fishermen who had received aid as announced by the government.
The government had previously announced the granting of aid to the fishermen including the cost of living assistance of RM200 per month which benefited 55,000 registered fishermen.
In assisting the large-scale farmers, the government continued the granting of existing subsidy and incentive amounting to RM2.4 billion, besides introducing for the first time the Padi Takaful Insurance Scheme.
This was mentioned by LPP Chairman Datuk Zainal Dahalan in his speech which requested that the incentive should also be granted to the small-scale farmers and breeders numbering 800,000 people nationwide.
The allocation is expected to be channelled as an incentive to the Area Farmers Organisation (PPK) including for the purchase of chemical fertilisers, oil palm barrels, pesticide containers and pest spraying tools amounting to an estimated RM20 million.
The balance is for meeting the costs of advanced courses and programmes for the 'Kumpulan Kor-Tani'.
The Kumpulan Kor-Tani, which was formed in April 2011 as the group that would take over from the current farmers and breeders in the country, now has 6,000 participants.
Earlier, Najib said the government had never neglected the agricultural sector because it was one of the important sectors that could not be left out in the injection of funds.
In fact, he said that in the 2013 Budget, RM5.8 billion was channelled as incentives for the small-scale farmers, breeders and fishermen to boost the capacity of the sector.
"The agricultural sector should be perceived as a thriving sector instead of a wilting and backward sector.
"But there must be efforts to turn the sector into a modern and dynamic one that should contribute towards the achievement of our objective to become a developed nation with a high income," he said.
Najib said the agricultural sector would not progress without quality human capital, who had an open mind to acquire new knowledge and capable of using innovative methods to achieve higher productivity.
"When we have new ideas, we will be able to bring the farmers closer to the market, if there are problems of logistics, middlemen, or transportation, they can be resolved more effectively for the benefit of the group," he said.
Citing the example of the establishment of the Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) and the planting of rock melons using autopots carried out at Seri Perdana as the transformation of new ideas, Najib said the projects had not only proved to have yielded higher returns for the farmers, but could also make the National Agro Food Policy more successful.
"The rock melon planting project on six acres of land at Seri Perdana using the autopot system had yielded RM500,000 annually with the profits being donated to charity bodies," he said.
Meanwhile, Najib said the launching of the new Menara LPP hoped to inject a new spirit and work culture for its occupants besides coming out with new inputs that could boost the agency in line with current development.
The construction of the 11-storey Menara LPP began in 2008 and it was fully completed in 2011.
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