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BE A KALKI TO DESTROY ALL EVILS…. LET’S ALL BE VIRTUAL HINDU FUNDAMENTALISTS.

Let’s All be Hindu Fundamentalists.

by Maria Wirth.

Religious fundamentalists are on the rise and that is bad for our societies. Most people will agree on this. Yet few examine…

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Let’s All be Hindu Fundamentalists.

by Maria Wirth.

Religious fundamentalists are on the rise and that is bad for our societies. Most people will agree on this. Yet few examine who religious fundamentalists are. Obviously, such persons would want to stick to the fundamentals of their religion. They want to live a life that is advocated in their holy books and would please their God. Now, since religious fundamentalists pose a problem, does it mean that the fundamentals of religions are bad for our societies? Let’s look at the three biggest religions:

Concerning Christianity, fundamentalists believe that God has revealed himself in the Bible and sent his only begotten son to earth to save all mankind. They believe in the first commandment: ‘You shall have no other gods before me’. Therefore, all humanity has to believe in the God of the Bible and his only son, Jesus Christ. Those who do not do so, will end up in hell. “Go out into the world”, is a central tenet of the Christian faith and fundamentalists consider it as their duty to convert as many ‘heathens’ as possible to Christianity by whatever means.

Concerning Islam, fundamentalists believe that Islam is the only true religion and Allah the only true God who wants the whole world to submit to Him. Those who do not become Muslims will go to hell. It is a central tenet and keeps recurring in the Quran. Fundamentalists see it as their duty to make all of humanity accept Islam and often take literally commandments in the Quran like “Strike terror in the hearts of unbelievers.”

Concerning Hinduism, fundamentalists believe that Brahman (other names are allowed and in use) is the one true God. However, Brahman is not a personal God who saves those who believe in Him and damns all others. Rather, Brahman is the most subtle conscious essence that permeates everything and everyone, never mind, which religion he follows or whether he is an atheist. “Atman is Brahman” or “one’s own Self is God”, the Vedas proclaim.

Now, all religions claim that there is only one Highest, one ‘true God’ in English or one ‘Allah’ in Arabic or one ‘Brahman’ in Sanskrit. And of course there is only one Highest/ God – the almighty, all knowing presence that is responsible for the existence of the universe. How can it be otherwise? Hindus, however, often don’t understand that Christians as well as Muslims are really convinced that their one true God, respectively Allah, saves only the brothers and sisters of their own faith and sends all others as heathen or infidels into hell. This conviction is indeed difficult to understand for humans with a normal reasoning capacity. Yet if one grows up hearing repeatedly that only one’s own faith is true and other people are bad because they don’t accept this, it may actually make sense. It happened to me as a child – it made sense that only we Christians go to heaven, because we have been chosen by God…

So we have a situation in the world where Christianity and Islam, each one over a billion strong, rival with each other: “Our God alone is true! If you don’t believe it, you go to hell.” And the other group counters, “No. Our God alone is true! And if you don’t believe it you go to hell.”

One could laugh it off if it were not so serious. Fundamentalists stick to this belief – and unfortunately, the official clergy of both religions uphold it, as well. It is naturally a cause for great friction in the world.

Hinduism (or Sanatana Dharma, as it used to be called) does not take part in this one-upmanship. It is ancient. It was there long before Christianity or Islam appeared on the scene. In Hinduism, Brahman is not a male entity who watches over us from somewhere. It is inside everyone, conscious, living and loving. It will always give another chance until everyone realises his true being and merges in Brahman, which may take many lives. The Hindu scriptures proclaim, “Humanity is one family”. “Brahman permeates the smallest as well as the biggest.” “Thou art That.” “Brahman is not what your mind thinks but That by which the mind is capable to think.” “See God in everyone.” “Respect nature.”

And they lead us in prayer: “May we be protected together, may we be nourished together, may we

work together with great vigour, may our study be enlightening, may no obstacle arise between us.” “Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides.” “May everyone be happy”, and so on.

Many Hindus, too, don’t know these fundamentals of their religion and believe it is all about rituals, worshipping their favourite aspect of God to get their wishes fulfilled and celebrating festivals. They don’t realise that Hinduism is the only religion that is all inclusive. It does not set one group of people against all the others. It is also not opposed to science and does not only allow using one’s intelligence but encourages to do so.

Maybe that is the reason why in the west, Hinduism is sometimes even missing when the world religions are listed, as for westerners, a religion is apparently not a religion if it is not based on unverifiable dogmas, especially the one that sets it apart from other religions and which is so harmful for a harmonious living together of all humanity. Is it not about time for us in the 21th century to scrap such unverifiable, harmful fundamentals that set up one group of people against another group?

The best option is to follow the Hindu fundamentals. So let’s be Hindu fundamentalists who see God in everyone, also in animals and in nature. Our world would benefit.

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Concerns over online Qur'an teaching as ex-Pakistan militants instruct pupils

Religious websites and instructors enjoy mini-boom reading Qur'an online as British Muslims tap into distance teaching

With his track record as a member of the political arm of a banned…

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Religious websites and instructors enjoy mini-boom reading Qur'an online as British Muslims tap into distance teaching

With his track record as a member of the political arm of a banned terrorist organisation, Mian Shahzib is unlikely to ever be given a visa to enter Britain.

But that does not stop the jovial 33-year-old from giving British children religious instruction every day from the comfort of his home in Pakistan.

He spends hours each night sitting under a fluorescent light in the courtyard of a small mosque in Lahore, peering into a laptop as children first from the Middle East, then Europe and North America spend half an hour after school talking to him over a faltering Skype line. "Put on your cap and wash your hands," he told a 12-year-old boy sitting in a large office chair in his parents' home in Edinburgh.

After checking the boy had memorised various prayers to get him through the day, including a special blessing for exiting and entering the toilet, he got down to business, helping the boy read aloud the classical Arabic of a few verses of the Qur'an.

The fact that a hardcore Islamist and long-term follower of the UN-proscribed Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) has daily access to children in the west is likely to fuel concerns about religious radicals spreading their message.

Shahzib's website, Easy Qur'an Memorising, makes no mention of his history and is one of hundreds of such online companies, some of which advertise on satellite channels broadcasting to the Pakistani diaspora. They are part of a little-known outsourcing boom fuelled by parents of Pakistani origin turning to Qur'an teachers in Pakistan. "It's just like a call centre where you are saving a lot of money by getting someone overseas to do it much more cheaply," said Fawad Rana, a property developer in Solihull who has used Qur'an teachers for his two sons for the past three years.

Rana makes an online payment of £30 a month to Faiz-e-Quran, one of the larger online religious education companies, which gets his children three half-hour sessions a week.

"And there's the convenience factor – the last thing kids want to do is spend half an hour travelling to the nearest mosque and then not even getting 10 minutes of one-on-one tuition," he said.

Although Faiz-e-Quran say it takes care to scrutinise and monitor all the teachers it employs, the industry is increasingly dominated by one-man operations. After several years working on his business, Shahzib now has about a dozen students aged 12 to 18 scattered all over the world. It's a long way from his past role as an activist with JuD, a Pakistani Islamist organisation known for its holy war against Indian rule in the contested region of Kashmir.

The organisation is on the UN's list of sanctioned organisations because of its alleged association with al-Qaida and is considered a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group behind the 2008 terrorist attacks on Mumbai.

As a young man, Shahzib helped prepare young JuD militants before they crossed the line of control that marks the unrecognised border between Pakistani and Indian-held Kashmir. His job was to motivate them with religious teachings and to fill their heads with tales of Indian soldiers raping Muslim women. He was briefly arrested after falling out with his old mentor, Hafiz Saeed, the JuD leader, who lives openly in Lahore but who is subject to a US reward of $10m (£6.36m) for information leading to his arrest. Shahzib believes Saeed has bent to demands from Pakistan's security establishment to rein in militancy in Kashmir.

"I told him to his face that he had betrayed the jihad," he said. These days he still follows the "philosophy" of JuD, even if he is not an active member.

He supports the fight against foreign forces in Afghanistan. But he does not think the struggle should be taken to the streets of Britain. "It is completely wrong to attack soldiers in Britain," he said. "If a young man in the UK wants to support jihad I support that, but come to Afghanistan to fight, not the UK."

The Guardian was told of other online tutors with radical backgrounds or who are members of extreme or sectarian organisations, but it is impossible to know how widespread the phenomenon is in a completely unregulated industry.

Sultan Chaudri, the owner of Faiz-e-Quran, said his company is at pains to scrutinise all 13 teachers who work for him to ensure radicals are not employed. "All the problems we are seeing in Pakistan and Afghanistan is because these young children get sent to madrasas where no one knows what sort of education they are getting or what kind of indoctrination is taking place."

When Chaudri, a retired colonel, started his business four years ago his marketing team had to assure parents that there would be no such risk with online teaching.

"They used to say we are not going to get education from a maulvi [Islamic scholar] in Pakistan because he is going to teach bad things to my child," he said. "Parents realise now that there is no risk because they can see the lessons right in front of their own eyes."

Inspired by a call-centre model of global outsourcing, Chaudri's staff work in shifts from an office in Lahore.

In a country plagued by power shortages his office uses three generators and subscribes to four different internet providers managed by a duty IT supervisor. Five clocks show the time in all the areas where his 200 students live.

Outsourced Qur'an teaching started about six years ago and there are now a handful of big players. Although there are no reliable figures on how many children around the world are being taught by Pakistan-based teachers everyone seems to think it is growing fast.

"We were recommended it by a cousin in America, and we've passed it on to lots of our friends," said Rana. "When we first found out we just thought, wow, what a wonderful service they are providing."

According to Chaudri, the business is fragmenting, with teachers striking off on their own to establish "one computer academies", often poaching customers from companies such as Faiz-e-Quran.

"They are so dishonest," he said. "In the last four years I have seen so many teachers that have run away with so many students."

For young men who have only had a religious training and often struggle to find regular employment, the prospect of earning decent wages teaching Qur'an reading online is extremely attractive.

Chaudri does not allow his staff to use a webcam when teaching. Instead, the teachers in Lahore simply share a page of text from the Qur'an which the student, who will rarely be able to understand the Arabic words, then attempts to read.

"It is not good to let them see into the houses," he said. "I have seen that after 10 days the teachers will fall in love with the lady of the house, or the daughter of the house; they will send letters saying 'I love you very much.'"

Also, he wants to spare his clients from having to look at the unkempt religious young men who work for him. "They don't take care of their beard. They are not very pleasant to look at."

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SHOCKING: “I buy live human beings for N30,000 and sell the parts for up to N100,000″ – Arrested Islamic teacher (PICTURED)

A self-proclaimed Islamic cleric and native doctor has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for selling human parts.

Akewadola and other suspects (Photo: Punch)

60-year-old Gazali Akewadola, was…

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A self-proclaimed Islamic cleric and native doctor has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for selling human parts.

Akewadola and other suspects (Photo: Punch)

60-year-old Gazali Akewadola, was said to have killed innocent people and used their parts to perform rituals.

Police sources claim they arrested Akewadola after five suspects who were initially detained had revealed his location in their confessional statements.

Akewadola from Owode Yewa, Ogun State has since made confessions of his own following his arrest by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad defending his act as a means to cater for his eight children. He also reportedly disclosed that he began making money buying heads at the cost of N3,000 but the price went up to N8,000 so he decided to start buying human beings and then dismembering the corpses which he would use for various purposes.

He also confessed to eating some of the parts while the other parts were used in making charms for his customers with a full live human being cost between N30, 000 and N40, 000.

“I am an Islamic teacher and a cleric and I own an Islamic school in Owode, Yewa. I am also married with eight lovely children.

“I am also a native doctor. I cure people of ailments and help those who want to become rich quick. I use human parts to prepare charms and concoctions for them.”

According to reports, he was asked if he could sell the parts of his children, but he replied: “God forbid! I do ritual because the money I make from sales is used for the well-being of my children. Also, if I had killed my children and sold them, it could have aroused suspicion and my relations might expose me but if the people I use for the ritual are brought from far away, it is safer for me and my business.”

“It is cheaper to buy a live human. You get a lot of parts from it and it is more powerful because the efficacy of the charm or concoction you prepared with fresh parts cannot be compared with the ones you prepared with parts you got from the grave.”

“For instance, a live human being will give you blood. There is charm you can prepare with it. The same body will give you hairs from private parts, head and moustache. You can also cut out private parts. Each part of human being is useful. Even the meat and intestine, liver, heart, eyes, lips, tongues can be used for pepper soup.

“If you buy full human being for N30, 000 or N40, 000 and dismember it, you can end up getting N100, 000 or more because you get more than ten parts and can yield good money.”

When asked why he ate human parts, he said, “It tastes so good and better than animal meat especially when taken with hot drink, or wine or beer but the most essence of eating it is to assure those who patronise us see that it is eatable and sweet, and of spiritual and physical benefits. It can cure serious illness and can make one get rich quick.”

The suspect, who was not remorseful for his crime, said his only regret was that he had not become as rich as he wanted to be. “My regret is that I did not become rich even after selling human parts. I even found it difficult to feed my family sometimes,” he said.

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Allow the police to instill fear into criminals

By P Dev Anand Pillai

A lot has been said about the need to implement the IPCMC but no one has taken the trouble to see the other side of…

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By P Dev Anand Pillai

A lot has been said about the need to implement the IPCMC but no one has taken the trouble to see the other side of the coin.

I was just passing by the housing estate of Taman Sentosa in Klang, which is famous for all the wrong reasons and I was not surprised at what I saw.

It has been almost a month after the elections, and most of the areas around the housing estate have already been cleaned up by the Klang Municipality but despite this good effort by the local council, it was not surprising to see road signs in the vicinity of Taman Sentosa defaced with numbers of criminal gangs who control and roam the area.

Even the signpost in front of a surau is not left alone, the number ‘08' has been written on all these signboards as boundary markers of these gangs.

This is the progress that we see after decades of policies trying to see what can be done to rid the lower strata of the lndian community from continuously supplying manpower for these gangs which terrorise residents around the whole of Klang and its surrounding areas.

If the police catch one of these gang members, it should be payback time from the police to these hoodlums who think that they run the districts that they demarcate and terrorise.

But is the police supported on this task?

No one seems to talk about the number of victims of snatch thieves, armed robbers who stop their victims and beat them with motorcycle locks, helmets and anything that they can get their hands on before robbing them of their valuables.

There are many of these victims who are patients of the outpatient department of the general hospitals and the health clinics around the area.

But their plight is not highlighted by the media nor even mentioned by those who champion the rights of those who get beaten up in the lockups of police stations.

If the police are allowed get information from their informants on the whereabouts of these gang members and an arrest can be made, then the police should be allowed to give these gangsters a taste of their own medicine.

If they are unable to take the beatings, then perhaps it is their fate. This of course does not mean that anyone of a particular race should be deemed a menace to society and be eliminated!

But nevertheless, some fear should be instilled in this thugs that they too can be culled like sacrificial goats that await their fate like what can be seen happening on a weekly or monthly basis in plantation Hindu temples around the country.

The police should be allowed to act freely on reports by members of the public on these thugs so that this country can be a safe place again for all to live, work and play.

The common morning victims will be housewives who walk to the market for their daily purchase of fresh produce to prepare meals for their families, morning walkers, joggers, cyclists, office workers awaiting transport, pensioners, car owners who walk to their vehicles from their offices, those who frequent petrol kiosks to fill up and buy necessities, are all favourite targets for these thugs.

Do these victims get justice? Have their plight ever been taken up by political parties from both side of the divide?

If one asks the police, there will be hundreds of reports like this on a daily basis. But what is the use of these reports, if these thugs get away easily for all the trauma and losses that they have caused their victims?

Even if one is caught and hammered or culled by the cops in their lockups, isn't justice served - though in a very unlikely way?

Many of those who champion the rights of these morons who go around bullying people do not know the agony of being robbed and harmed until they themselves become victims one day.

The police should be allowed to act freely without any outside pressure or political interference so that this societal menace will fear hurting people.

Unless and until such fear is instilled, these criminal pests will continue to fester at a rapid pace.

The district magistrate courts are full of the next of kin of these gang members who wait patiently for their sons, sons in law, husbands and boyfriends to come from these lockups to be charged for their crimes.

This charade is not effective. It doesn't dampen their resolve and they become bolder and stronger when they come back to regain their activities after time spent being in gaol.

The police have got to be tougher with these criminals and not be bothered about what politicians, and champions of causes have to say when they get these individuals dead or alive!

Though we see one race being the main target of such acts where they end up being dead, can we blame the police when most of the criminals who cause such hurt and trauma and even death to their victims come from one particular race?

Therefore when the police get their man, they vent their anger.

Can we blame the police?

We want the police to do their job, know the law, be professional and make the streets safe for all of us but are we making it conducive for them?

We want safe streets, we want to be able to come home at 2am in the morning and not be worried of being followed or robbed midway.

We want our valuables and our children to be safe.

We want our hard earned money to be with us till we come home and put it in a safe place.

But yet we don't seem to agree on how these idiots who roam the streets and do this damage to society should be punished.

The police should be allowed a free hand to deal with this menace till the underworld hears the message from the police loud and clear.

If governmental policy through their schooling and parental care has failed to shape and mould these hoodlums to become good citizens, then the obvious solution is to allow the police to play their part.

The police can only police if society allows them.

If society protects these individuals who cause harm and trauma to all and expects the police to do their job, then we have got the whole equation wrong.

If the politics are stopped and police work is allowed to be carried out, these criminals will be taught a lesson but what we have today is the police becoming highly sensitive of politicians and champions of causes and in the process losing to these criminals.

I want to see the heyday of the police force again, where criminals shudder at the thought of the police coming their way.

I want to see the policeman proud of his duty and not in fear of the criminals that he is supposed to hunt down.

To see that, we should allow the police to do their job.

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Dharmendran's wife: 'Where is the fourth man?'

MIC and MCA must buck up!

MIC MPs should team up with their Pakatan counterparts to improve the lot of Indians while MCA should rescind its stupid decision to stay out of the cabinet
COMMENT

Although…

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MIC MPs should team up with their Pakatan counterparts to improve the lot of Indians while MCA should rescind its stupid decision to stay out of the cabinet
COMMENT

Although MIC did not achieve magnificent victories in the 13th General Election, its lawmakers are still part of government, thus they can do a lot to help the Indian community.

Appended below is the list of MIC MPs:

1 G Palanivel (Cameron Highlands MP, Natural Resources & Environment Minister)

2 S Subramaniam (Segamat MP, Health Minister)

3 P Kamalanathan (Hulu Selangor MP, Deputy Education Minister)

4 M Saravanan (Tapah MP, Deputy Youth & Sports Minister)

However, the Indian voice in Parliament is still more from Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) side as shown below:

1 N Surendran (PKR, Padang Serai MP)

2 Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (PKR, Sungai Siput MP)

3 G Manivannan (PKR, Kapar MP)

4 Kasthuriraani Patto (DAP, Batu Kawan MP)

5 M Kulasegaran (DAP, Ipoh Barat MP)

6 V Sivakumar (DAP, Batu Gajah MP)

7 Charles Santiago (DAP, Klang MP)

8 Gobind Singh Deo (DAP, Puchong MP)

9 Karpal Singh (DAP, Bukit Gelugor MP)

Although MIC has said that it captured 60% of the Indian vote, it still has less seats than DAP’s Indian MPs! Even if one were to say that Gobind and Karpal are Sikhs, it only shows that DAP and MIC have an equal number of Indian MPs at four each, but DAP is the only party which has put Sikh MPs in Parliament.

Okay, that was a digression but what all these simply means is that MIC’s Indian MPs should work together with Pakatan’s Indian MPs to improve the lives of the marginalised Indians especially in terms of education.

Free tuition classes must be provided for those who cannot afford it and brilliant Indian students must be given free university education. No one must be left behind because only through education can a society progress. Then we can see the number of unemployed Indians being reduced as more of them become gainfully employed in the private as well as public sectors. Those who are not academically-inclined can be sent to vocational schools or skills-training centres so that they can acquire useful commercial/trade skills.

Currently the PR-helmed Selangor state government has provided free tuition to poor Indian students. These efforts are well and good and should be increased constantly so that more Indians can benefit from this programme. Pakatan’s microcredit scheme has also helped Indians to set up small businesses after training them on how to start up and manage a business. This microcredit scheme has become so successful that it has already been adopted by other parties.

“Never mind that so long as the rakyat who are in need can benefit from it,” said PKR’s strategy director, Rafizi Ramli commenting on the same.

MCA leaders should wise up

DAP’s Batu Gajah MP, V Sivakumar recently challenged MIC to list out the names of the 1,500 students who have been said to have been given scholarships by the BN federal government but so far no one has responded to the challenge. Listing out the names of the 1,500 students is a good move so that Indians can know who is the future hope for the community.

Now that MIC’s P Kamalanathan is the Deputy Education Minister, he can easily obtain grants and funds for Indian students to be sent abroad for further studies and this can certainly uplift the Indians.

In addition to that, Hindraf’s P Waythamoorthy as a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department can surely do a lot more to assist the Indians with red MyKad to obtain a blue one. He has asked for five years to do this so Indians can evaluate his performance five years from now.

He and the MIC lawmakers together should also voice out their concern for the Indians who had died in custody.

All Indian lawmakers whether they are in BN or PR should do their best to bring up Indian issues in Parliament. But the onus is still more on the MIC men as they are allocated funds by the BN federal government whereas Pakatan’s lawmakers have had their funds withheld. So the best that the Pakatan MPs can do is to raise Indian issues in Parliament and provide legal aid for those who need it.

As for MCA, they are stupid to stay out of the cabinet. They have seven MPs and 11 state assemblymen and they too can do a lot for the Chinese community if they were to take up ministerial posts. Therefore at this point in time it is not necessary to list down their names here as they are still in oblivion. MCA leaders should wise up and act to improve the lot of the poor urban Chinese and the poor Chinese in the small towns instead of staying egoistically conceited.

It is time for them to rescind their stupid decision to stay out of the cabinet. This method of punishing the Chinese voters will only make the Chinese more furious with them.

MIC leaders on the other hand have chosen the wiser and better path by participating in the cabinet. Now there will be Indian voices in government and in opposition and thus Indian voices will be heard louder and Indians can derive benefit from both sides of the political divide working for their well-being.

Time now to put aside all animosity and work together for the common good of the electorate. For isn’t this the reason why these people wanted to go into politics in the first place?

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Council stops Batu Caves cable car project

A Selangor government task force finds that facilities around the temple were built without approval.

PETALING JAYA: The Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) has ordered the Subramaniar temple to stop work…

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A Selangor government task force finds that facilities around the temple were built without approval.

PETALING JAYA: The Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) has ordered the Subramaniar temple to stop work on the Batu Caves cable car project that it announced early this year.

Selayang municipal council (MPS) chairman Azizi Mohd Zain told FMT today that the temple authorities had failed to comply with the council’s demand for building plans for facilities built around the temple since the 1980s.

“We have issued the temple committee a stop work order after an independent task force appointed by the state government reported to the Selangor Economic Action Council (MTEN) last month that the buildings in the vicinity of the temple were built without permits,” Azizi said.

“Even the Murugan statue constructed at the foot of the temple steps was placed there without approval.”

The stop-work order on the cable car facilities was prompted by the task force’s findings.

The Subramaniar temple in Batu Caves is a major Hindu spiritual and tourist attraction centre for tens of thousands of people from all over the world during the Thaipusam religious celebration.

Last January, temple committee chairman R Nadarajah announced that a cable car project was planned for the benefit of the elderly and disabled.

He said then that MPS had given the green light and that the project and was scheduled for completion next January.

The project, worth RM10 million, was contracted to the Calcutta-based company Damodar Ropeways and was supposed to take off by March.

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MIC polls next month

Branch elections will start on July 12 instead of in December

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC’s internal elections will commence next month instead of December, as decided barely two months ago by…

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Branch elections will start on July 12 instead of in December

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC’s internal elections will commence next month instead of December, as decided barely two months ago by its central working committee (CWC).

Party president G Palanivel made the surprising announcement at a press conference today, saying the CWC decided on the re-scheduling at an emergency meeting this morning.

The party’s highest decision-making body decided that branch elections would be held between July 12 and Aug 4, divisional elections in September and October and the presidential election on Sept 22.

The nomination date for the presidential election is Sept 1.

Elections for the other top national posts, including that of deputy president, will be held in November.

MIC held its last elections in 2009, when S Samy Vellu won the presidency uncontested. He relinquished the post in 2010. Palanivel, then his deputy, became acting president.

Fresh elections were due in 2012, but the party decided to postpone them in order to prepare for the 13th general election.

Soon after the May 5 general election, the party announced that it would begin conducting internal elections in December. This would have meant that polling for the top posts could be held only in 2014. Opponents of the decision said they feared that the party was going against its constitution, which requires fresh elections every three years.

A branch leader subsequently lodged a complaint to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the Home Ministry said last week that the ROS would come out with a verdict soon.

“ROS met me twice and advised me to complete the party elections before Dec 31 this year,” Palanivel told reporters.

He also announced that the next term would be his last as party president since he was already 64 years old.

The CWC today has also discussed amending the party constitution to restrict those holding top national positions to two terms.

“We will restrict the term,” Palanivel said. “A leader can only hold the same national position for two terms. We will amend the party constitution and table it at the CWC for further discussions.”

He also said that the party had withdrawn show-cause letters issued to six MIC grassroots leaders for criticising the party through the media.

The six are RS Maniam (Kota Rajah), G Jeyakumar (Gombak division), M Veloo (Teluk Kemang division), TH Subra (deputy chairman of Sungai Petani division), S Kalimuthu (Tasek Permai Baru branch chairman) and S Ramesh Kumar (an ordinary member of the Mersing Kiri branch).

The CWC also withdrew the show-cause letter it issued to M Asojan, secretary of Johor MIC.

However, it decided to issue a show cause letter to Petaling Jaya Selatan division chief V Subramaniam, better known as Barat Maniam, for personal attacks against party vice president M Saravanan in the media.

Palanivel also said the number of MIC branches had increased from 3,700 to 3,988.

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Karuna’s family turns to IGP

The deceased police detainee's family wants Khalid Abu Bakar to act against the policemen involved in assaulting P Karuna Nithi.

KUALA LUMPUR: P Karuna Nithi’s family submitted a memorandum to…

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The deceased police detainee's family wants Khalid Abu Bakar to act against the policemen involved in assaulting P Karuna Nithi.

KUALA LUMPUR: P Karuna Nithi’s family submitted a memorandum to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar urging him to take action against the officers who inflicted a slew of injuries on the deceased.

The 42-year-old lab technician died at the Tampin police station on June I after the Seremban Magistrate’s Court imposed a jail term on him for domestic violence.

Karuna died before his family could post the RM4,000 bail. The post mortem report stated that he died of liver complication but also found a total of 49 injuries on his body.

Speaking to reporters outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters this morning, Karuna’s elder brother P Elam Sezhian, 45, said his brother had no prior criminal records and should not have been treated like a criminal when in custody.

“It is a huge loss for me. My brother was not a criminal, nobody knows him better than I do.

“He admitted his mistake and was sentenced to jail, he got what he deserved. Why did the police have to beat him up in the lockup when he was supposed to be sent to jail instead?”

“We were there in court when his case was heard. He looked fine and we couldn’t see any injuries on him. But after the autopsy report, 49 injuries were found,” he added.

Elam urged Khalid to investigate Karuna’s case immediately and take action on the officers involved.

“The IGP must help us, we still have faith in the system. Now he has to prove that he is doing his part.

“Let us see the CCTV recordings in Karuna’s lockup, the police can’t hide this from the people. There is no reason to set up CCTVs in the first place then,” he added.

Police chief jumped the gun

PKR Public Complaints Bureau director S Manickavasagam, who accompanied the family, said Negeri Sembilan police chief Osman Salleh commited a blunder in giving a statement before the autopsy report was out.

“Osman told the press there were no injuries on Karuna’s body even before the autopsy was performed. On top of that, he blamed the opposition for lying to the public,” he said.

“Now who’s the liar? It was very irresponsible of him to give a statement to the public before the autopsy report was released. He should admit his mistake and resign,” he added.

Manickavasagam urged Khalid to take action on the officers involved, including Osman, or it would set a bad example to the rest.

Also present were Port Dickson state assemblyman M Ravi and NGOs such as Malaysian Indians Progressive Association (MIPA), Majlis Arus Perjuangan (MAP) and Tamilan Uthavum Karangal.

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