Court complaint lands Uthayakumar in death row

Instead of getting better treatment after complaining to the courts, Hindraf de facto leader P Uthayakumar is now being treated worse in Kajang Prison, claims Hindraf.

"After attending court on Sept 24, 2013, P Uthayakumar is now being further punished by now being hauled to the death row chambers," said RN Rajah, the deputy secretary of Hindraf that is aligned with Uthayakumar.

He said that Uthayakumar is now denied his plastic chair initially given to him to ease his suffering from a prolapsed disc.

"His legs have began to swell again," he said in a press statement today.

Uthayakumar (right), who is diabetic, on Tuesday had complained of ill-treatment during a case management at the Kuala Lumpur High Court of his appeal against his sedition sentence passed in June.

The court's registrar Nooraini Yusof had then said that she would write to the prison authorities to look into Uthayakumar's medical needs.

"Uthayakumar is now put in a 10 feet by 10 feet cell with a two feet by 10 feet squatting toilet and bath area without even a separating partition for bathroom privacy.

"He is being detained with 5 others like sardines," said Rajah, adding that the the other prisoners had full view of Uthayakumar naked when taking a shower or easing himself.

"Why this level of indignity on P. Uthayakumar, Malaysia's only political prisoner in jail?" he asked, likening the conditions to a "Nazi concentration camp".

Marriage between Muslim and non-Muslim illegal, says Jakim

(Bernama) - Any marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is disallowed and is not recognized in this country and action can be taken by the state Islamic religious authorities, said Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha.

He said Islamic family laws state no Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman and no Muslim woman can marry a non-Muslim man.

“A marriage between spouses of different religions is completed prohibited and against the principle of beliefs of the Shafie sect (Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah) in Malaysia,” he said in a statement here today.

He was commenting on a Universiti Malaya study on the issue of liberalism in Muslim marriages with non-Muslim spouses not having to convert from their religions.

Two days ago, Universiti Malaya Academy of Islamic Studies, Department of Akidah and Islamic Thought Associate Prof Dr Khadijah Hambali told religious authorities in the country to carry out specific measures to curb the phenomenon.

Malaysia most corrupt report — proof that Najib and Low have failed, says opposition

Corruption has become endemic in Malaysia, say opposition politicians in response to a report just
released by Ernst & Young which ranked Malaysia as among the most corrupt nations in Asia.

They are also not surprised at Malaysia's ranking, saying this was evidence of the failure of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his minister Datuk Paul Low (pic).

Low, the former president of Transparency International-Malaysia, was recruited by Najib as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department after the 13th general election to aid the government's efforts to combat corruption.

"This is like a slap on Paul Low's face, especially since he recently insisted he was not merely an accessory in the government," said DAP’s Bukit Mertajam MP, Steven Sim.

He added that all the talk of fighting corruption was rhetoric.

The report, titled Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey Report Series 2013, said Malaysia, along with China, had the highest levels of bribery and corruption found anywhere in the world.

It also listed Malaysia as among the countries most likely to take shortcuts to meet targets when economic times are tough.

Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari (pic) agreed with Sim and felt that the report was proof that corruption had become endemic in Malaysia.

Saying that the findings were "hardly surprising", Zairil added that the report was consistent with past surveys such as the Global Financial Integrity report, which named Malaysia as one of the countries with the highest amount of illicit capital flight.

"This will definitely hamper not only our ability to attract investment, but it also means that there are real structural issues that inhibit economic efficiency.

"Corruption means money is wasted, and this contributes to our deteriorating financial position, in light of mounting public debt and increasing deficit," he warned.

Zairil cautioned that if the menace was not addressed, the consequences would be severe.

He noted that, currently, the negative outlook rating by Fitch was a clear indication that something was amiss, adding that if the country's sovereign credit rating was downgraded, it would result in higher costs of borrowing, thus impacting the entire country.

In July, global ratings agency Fitch Ratings revised Malaysia's sovereign credit rating outlook from stable to negative as the possibility of addressing public finance weaknesses had deteriorated after GE13.

"The solution in fighting corruption is down to political will. It requires no infrastructure investment as it is nothing radical," said Zairil.

He added that this included making the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission truly independent, as the current scenario was that only the small fish were caught while the major perpetrators escaped.

"For example, until today, no one has been convicted for the Port Klang Free Zone fiasco, when it entailed RM12 billion of public funds. The National Feedlot Corporation scandal is another case in point," said Zairil. - September 27, 2013.

Dr M backs tough PCA laws

The country needs that kind of harsh law as the people are not that developed or educated to appreciate it, says former prime minister.
UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the country needs harsh laws like those proposed under the amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) 2013, saying it will be good for the people.

“This country for the time being will need that kind of harsh law. You see what happened when you remove the law,” said Mahathir, referring to the rise in crime rate recently.

The amendments to PCA, which was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday and to be debated on Monday, was roundly condemned by human rights lawyers and activists who called it the return of the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA).

PKR supreme council member Latheefa Koya even described the PCA amendments, which allows for detention without trial for up to two years, as “ISA 2.0”.

Mahathir said the PCA amendments were needed because “people are not that developed or educated to appreciate the law”.

“The law is for the good of the people. If you abuse the law then you have to pay the price,” he said.

On Wednesday, DAP chairman Karpal Singh said at the parliament lobby that he found the Bill – if passed would allow detention without trial and denying a detainee to right to a judicial review – absurd as it would grant a three-men board the discretion to detain a suspect, provided with evidence.

Karpal was commenting on proposed sections 7B and 7C of the Bill which provided that the board can detain a person who has committed two or more serious offences without trial, if an inquiry report informed that there was sufficient evidence.

Another section of the Bill also provided that a suspect would not able to file for a judicial review as the board’s decision cannot be challenged in court.

Following the tabling of the amendments on Wednesday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has come under fire for reneging his promised reforms while abolishing preventive laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance before the general election.

Najib had said that removing the detention without trial laws were part of his reformation programme.

Government ministers had defended the proposed PCA amendments as necessary to curb the high level of gangsterism and criminal activities.

Too many universities

On a different note, Mahathir then commented on international consultancy firm McKinsey & Co which was paid RM20 million in consultancy fees to draft the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

“Even I can become a local expert, too, but they did not appoint me,” he said sarcastically.

Commenting on the nation’s poor university rankings, he said: “This is due to the hastiness in establishing universities. In turn, we lack professors and lecturers.

“Although they are qualified, they lack something, somewhere,” he said, alluding to the standard of educators.

The three stars: Chin Peng, Najib and Dr M

If communism is so bad, why does the Malaysian government entertain China, whilst demonising the CPM and mistreating Malaysians of Chinese origin?
COMMENT

It is communism which bonds the late secretary-general of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) Chin Peng, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno Baru president, Najib Tun Razak.

Members of CPM cadres wear a jungle green uniform complete with a cap sporting a badge of three red stars. These three stars signify the three main races in Malaysia – Chinese, Indian and Malay, much like Najib’s ‘1Malaysia’.

Chin Peng preached communist ideology, but the Malaya he envisioned was a country where the races were equal, unlike the Ketuanan Melayu concept of the Umno Baru elite, where Malays reign supreme.

Over the last few days, Malaysians have found a reason to rejoice. Former prime minister, Mahathir has recovered from a bout of amnesia, which marred his performance at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Project IC, in Kota Kinabalu.

Last week, during a press conference, at the International Youth Centre in Cheras, Mahathir reminded Malaysians that Chin Peng wanted to make Malaysia a communist state.

Amazingly, Mahathir remembered Chin Peng, but it is hardly surprising that he was critical of the communist leader. He is keen to deflect criticism as a prime minister who does not honour agreements.

Both Mahathir and Najib are conscious of their public image. Neither men like being known as untrustworthy. The timing is critical as Mahathir has an election to manage, in which he will back his favourite contender; his son, Mukhriz.

Mahathir tried to project the image of a government that was magnanimous and would help rehabilitate former communist guerrillas. When the 1989 Hadyai treaty was signed, guerrillas voluntarily surrendered and their arms and stockpiles of weapons were destroyed.

However, Chin Peng was barred from entering Malaysia and when he died, his ashes are also prevented from being interred at his family grave near Lumut, for fear that a memorial to honour Sitiawan’s former son would be built.

Mahathir had no intention of honouring the peace treaty. His word is as good as Najib’s “Janji di tepati”.

Mahathir criticised Chin Peng for his communist ideology, but failed to note that Malaysia has become a closet dictatorship, in which the sons of past prime ministers, are groomed, in exactly the same manner as the North Korean communist dynasty.

At least, in a communist state, the financial and social status of peasants is elevated to that of the middle classes, and the upper classes are brought down to the financial and social status of the middle classes.

Everyone is made (almost) equal. In communism, production is controlled by the state and the state owns everything.

In Malaysia’s dictatorship, most of the wealth is in the hands of Umno Baru politicians, their cronies and the government controlled GLCs. In Sabah and Sarawak, the wealth from these oil and timber rich states is inaccessible to the ordinary folk.

The communist threat

Chin Peng may have wanted a communist state but in 2001, it was Mahathir who declared Malaysia an Islamic state. He tried to convince Malays that the Islam preached by Umno Baru was more acceptable than PAS’s brand of conservative Islam. He erased Tunku Abdul Rahman’s secular vision of Malaysia.

If Malaysia was democratic, as Mahathir claims, the rakyat would have been able to throw off the yoke of oppression in GE13, when 51% of the electorate, voted for the Opposition. Yet, the nation is still saddled with the oppressive regime of Umno Baru.

After World War II, countries were rebuilding and Malaya’s riches from rubber and tin, were needed to fund the reconstruction of Britain. In war-scarred Malaya, factories were rebuilt, estates started producing and mines resumed operations. The output was twice what it had been before the war but workers wages were still depressed.

Food was in short supply and the suffering of the people was compounded by the discovery that Japanese war-currency was useless. Malayans were destitute.

Chin Peng’s efforts to obtain better conditions and wages for the workers were futile. He encouraged strikes which turned nasty. His excuse was that he was fighting for the people. At least, he did not commit treason by giving ICs and citizenship to illegal foreigners.

Some people might wonder what Malaysia would be like as a communist state, and make comparisons with the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC).

The economic output of the PRC helps keep the economies of many countries alive. PRC nationals form the highest numbers of tourists to many destinations around the world. Singapore is attracting PRC nationals to work and live on the island, to the detriment of its own citizens. The rate of millionaires and billionaires being formed in PRC is high.

If communism is so bad, why does the Malaysian government entertain the PRC, whilst demonising the CPM and mistreating Malaysians of Chinese origin?

Malaysian schoolchildren are not taught that British forces funded, trained and supplied arms to Chin Peng during World War Two. The combined effort was to liberate the country from the Japanese aggressors. A few years after WWII, the communists waged war on the British because the CPM wanted to free Malaysia from British colonial rule.

Chin Peng’s role in the struggle for independence is not recognised. He is not even mentioned for helping to speed up the process of attainment of Merdeka, although Tunku Abdul Rahman acknowledged that his meeting with Chin Peng, in Baling in 1955, led straight to Merdeka.

Mahathir and this government find it convenient to use “the communist threat” to intimidate Malaysians, but only when it suits them.

Despotic dictatorship

When Najib felt threatened by Bersih’s call for free and fair elections, former IGP Hanif Omar supported Najib’s allegations of a coup attempt and said that he recognised communists inciting violence, from the video footage of the Bersih 3 march.

In the PRC, corrupt officials are swiftly investigated, and if found guilty, are executed with a bullet in the back of the neck. The family is charged for this bullet.

In Mahathir’s Malaysia, corrupt officials don’t believe they have done anything wrong, abuse taxpayers’ monies for personal gain, spirit millions of ringgits out of the country and any investigation against them, dies an early death.

Despite criticising Chin Peng for being a communist who would oppress the people of Malaya, it is Mahathir who reneged on deals and acted in a thoroughly undemocratic manner.

He allegedly used bribery, blackmail and corruption, to maintain his stranglehold on power, whilst oppressing the rakyat with a despotic dictatorship, which masquerades as a democracy.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.

In a league of banana republics

The retrogressive PCA Bill has put us in a position where people run the risk of being detained without trial and where our society will never be at peace with itself.
COMMENT

By Kua Kia Soong

The amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) which allows detention without trial is symptomatic of a failed transformation programme by the Najib government to bring the country into the league of nations that follow the rule of law.

No other country that espouses adherence to democracy and human rights uses detention without trial laws to tackle crime.

The reasons why this situation has come about and why the government has been helpless in implementing the Independent Police Complaints & Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) perhaps point to more sinister factors involving skeletons in government leaders’ cupboards.

And the reason why organised crime has become so intractable in recent years points to rotten apples in the police barrel.

We have had some hints of that recently. You will remember that after he retired, the former IGP Musa Hassan had revealed political influences on the police force to release certain individuals. This IGP’s former aide de camp, Noor Azizul Rahim in turn retaliated by accusing Musa of wrongdoings and silencing critics.

I can’t think of any other reasons for the impunity enjoyed by the police despite the annual human rights violations relating to detentions without trial, deaths in police custody and deaths through police shootings. After all, the IPCMC was one of the recommendations by the Royal Commission on the Police in 2005.

Suaram’s Human Rights Report 2012 show that deaths in police custody and deaths through police shootings continue unabated: Deaths in police custody cases show 7 in 2010, 25 in 2011 and 9 in 2012; deaths through police shooting cases show 18 in 2010, 25 in 2011 and 37 in 2012.

Between 2000 and 2012, there were in total 209 deaths in police custody cases; between 2007 and 2012, there were 298 deaths through police shootings.

Tackling the problem of crime

The government and the police with the assistance of the mainstream media have recently made a big play of the proliferation of gangs and gangsters inflicted crimes in the country, blaming it on the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) which was intended for emergency purposes to save the life of a nation.

Unfortunately, the EO was a convenient way for the police to rope in anyone they didn’t like. This included respected members of parliament like Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, the MP for Sungai Siput, who was detained without trial with five other PSM leaders in 2011 as well as suspected thiefs and illegal lottery runners.

The government, police and the mainstream press have not asked the pertinent question: how did cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and others tackle their triad problems without relying on detention without trial?

We have a Societies Act that is obsessed with cracking down on any organisation that is not pro-BN and that is why Suaram chose to register under the Registrar of Companies.

In places like Hong Kong, their Societies Ordinance and an Organized & Serious Crimes Ordinance have been specifically enacted to tackle the triad problem. The former outlaws triads in Hong Kong and imposes stiff prison terms and penalties for any person convicted of professing or claiming to be an office bearer or managing or assisting in the management of a triad.

Hong Kong also established an Independent Commission against Corruption in 1974. The agency targeted brazen corruption within police ranks linked with triads, provided heavier penalties for organized crime activities and authorized the courts to confiscate the proceeds of such crimes.

Hong Kong, as a British Colony, had the reputation of being one of the most corrupt cities in the world with a cosy association between law enforcement agencies and organized crime syndicates.

Nearly all types of organized crimes, vice, gambling and drugs, were protected. Within three years, they had smashed all corruption syndicates in the government and prosecuted 247 government officers, including 143 police officers.

Their success has been attributed to: (i) having an independent anti-corruption agency, free from any interference in conducting their investigation; (ii) strong financial support; (iii) having wide investigative powers, empowered to investigate all crimes which are connected with corruption but with an elaborate check and balance system to prevent abuse of such wide power; (iv) being highly professional in investigations, including video recording of all interviews of suspects; (v) a strategy that includes prevention and education.

Although Hong Kong is not totally free of violent crime, it is a comparatively safe place to live in. Comparable communities in developed Asia, like Japan, Korea and Singapore, also have markedly lower crime rates than most Western societies. (South China Morning Post, Feb 22, 2013)

Failure to solve poverty

Social dislocation, inequality and poverty are known factors in crime.

The destruction of the rubber plantation communities, growing inequality and marginalisation through racial discrimination has driven many into crime.

Poverty and crime are clearly feeding on each other, and the government has to make this a priority in its professed transformation plan.

They should not be indulging in their usual wasteful exploits of spying on dissidents, harassing NGOs, detaining dissidents without trial, breaking up peaceful assemblies and such distractions from the serious work of tackling organised crime.

This retrogressive PCA Bill has put us in the league of banana republics in which people run the risk of being detained without trial and where our society will never be at peace with itself.

Kua Kia Soong is Suaram’s advisor.

‘No S’wak tribe burns down own homes’

Meanwhile the Murum natives have mounted two more roadblocks in a bid to stop ongoing construction works in the hydroelectric dam project.

KUCHING: A lawyer aiding the affected Penans in Murum has rebutted claims by the Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) that burning down abandoned longhouses in Long Wat was part of the local community’s “recycling” culture.

“We Penans indeed dismantle our old longhouses when we move to new ones, and recycle all the materials. But we never burned them down, “ said Abun Sui Anyit.

He further added: “The burning of the longhouse in Long Wat was most likely done by the sub-contractors for the clearing and dismantling works there.

“How can people accuse us of burning the longhouse when that is against our own customs?”

Speaking to FMT here following SEB’s widely reported justification for allegedly burning down longhouses in Murum following the impoundment of the dam, Abun said “no tribe in Sarawak practiced burning their own house”.

“No tribe or ethnic group in Sarawak practices the abominable culture of burning their very own longhouses!

“Even when they move to a new longhouse, the old longhouse would be respectfully stripped of its timber for recycling purposes. Nothing goes to waste and nothing is destroyed by fire.

“For the authorities to suggest that the Penans burned their own longhouse is a complete and utter fabrication!” he said.

Abun said the Penans condemned the use of burning methods used by SEB’s sub-contractors to clear the area.

Seven longhouse villages are involved in SEB’s relocation program under its Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the natives affected by the Murum Hydroelectric Project.

“Let the incident in Long Wat be the last one. We do not want the same thing to happen in the other (old) longhouses. Let we Penans ourselves dismantle them and recycle the materials ourselves,” said him.

More blockades

Meanwhile, Abun also told FMT that the Murum natives had mounted two new blockades in their effort to stop the ongoing construction works in the hydroelectric dam project.

“I was informed this morning that there are now two additional blockades on the road towards the dam project. There are more people there now, not only Penans but also Kenyah from the longhouses not yet relocated.

“So altogether, there are three blockades now in three separate places. They want to make sure that the (construction) works won’t proceed, and to make sure the government and SEB will come over and talk with them, listen to them and heed to their demands,” said Abun.

On Monday, SEB expressed its concern about the ‘irresponsible act of spreading lies and the attempts to create panic among the public by certain NGOs in relation to the Murum HEP’.

The statement also mentioned the presence of Penan representatives from the affected Murum area with whom SEB said they are currently in discussion with on a range of matters including faster relocation to the new longhouses and compensation packages.

New ISA-like law a shame to nation

The introduction of new laws resonating on the same frequency of the much hated ISA irk former detainees.

PETALING JAYA: Two former ISA detainees today lashed out at the government for ‘re-introducing ‘ an ISA-like law back into the country.

Suaram advisor Dr Kua Kia Soong and veteran political activist Hishamuddin Rais, who both served prison sentence in the Kamunting detention camp, expressed their anguish by describing the move as ‘shameful’.

Talking to FMT, Kua defined the government’s decision as the most shameful day for the nation and lack of political will from the Home Ministry.

“It is a shameful day for all of us. We needed a barbaric act just to solve our crime problems, which to me is totally unacceptable,”

“Developed countries solved their crime problems with integrity and proper methods but we, instead of learning from them, imposed an act which is clearly an abuse of human rights.

Kua who is also an academician said that the move to re-introduce ISA-like law has vividly showed that the vision for national progress uttered by Barisan Nasional’s government is failing.

“The government has to rely on this kind of act; it shows that the national progress is a failure,”

“If other countries like Hong Kong can have an independent anti corruption commission to investigate criminal offense cases, why can’t we do the same?”

“Why do we need to rely on anti-human rights law,” he said.

Slick Najib

Meanwhile, Hishamuddin Rais said that Najib Razak’s absence in parliament showed how slick he is in resolving national issues.

“He is not in parliament when the law was presented thus opposition party members could not pose questions to him,”

“I do hope that foreign journalists in New York, where he is right now, can ask him what happened to his transformation program,” said the renowned activist.

Hishamuddin stressed that the new law will receive negative backlash from the rakyat as they had called for a more transparent system prior to the general election.

“The rakyat will oppose this new law, that is for sure,” he said.

'Anti-Hindu' ASI renamed the Shankaracharya Hill to Takht-e-Suleiman

Shankaracharya Temple, Srinagar

According to this Tribune news report, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has summarily renamed the Shankaracharya Hill to Takht-e-Suleiman overlooking the Dal Lake in Srinagar.  If this was not enough, the ASI has also presented a distorted version of the history of the Shankaracharya Hill on the tourist information plaque, a move which has justifiably outraged the Kashmiri Pandits. From that news report:
        “It is a matter of great concern that ASI has given the name Takht-e-Suleiman (Throne of Solomon) to it, replacing the earlier plaque. How have they come to this conclusion warrants an answer,” said Predhuman K Joseph Dhar, an expert on ancient Kashmir history. He said recently a European historian visited the place and expressed surprise over information provided to the people.
Of course, there is no question that this move is politically motivated because it has no basis in history.  One wonders what is the connection between Suleiman/Solmon and Adi Shankara.
Even a layman in India knows that Adi Shankara travelled in all four directions in India and established Mutts in prominent places in each direction. That apart, he consecrated several other major and minor temples and other places of worship like in Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, Kollur in Karnataka, and in Sharada in Pak-occupied Kashmir.
Kashmir indeed has a hoary history as one of the finest centres of learning in the world. In its heydays, it attracted scholars and philosophers from all parts of India. In the annals of the Hindu tradition, Kashmir was almost synonymous with “Sharada Desha” or “Sharada Peetha” or the Pedestal of Goddess Sharada (or Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning). A conclusive evidence of this exalted status of Kashmir can best be gleaned from the famous verse in praise of Saraswathi as

Namaste Sharada Devi Kashmirapuravasini ||
I bow to you, Goddess Sharada,
the One who Resides in the Kashmira country ||

This verse is so commonplace recited and heard by millions of Hindus daily across the world that hardly anybody gives a second thought at the rich historical heritage that’s embedded in it. And the credit for establishing Kashmir as the Sharada Peetha, to make it part of the nation’s cultural and spiritual DNA goes to Adi Shankara.
And it is this hoary heritage that the ASI has sought to destroy unceremoniously by renaming the Hill after some Suleiman based on a spurious history. Needless, in the process, real history has been made an unfortunate victim. From the same report,
    “While the plaque informs the people that the roof of the temple was constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1644 AD, there is no mention of King Gopadhari, who constructed the temple, King Lalitaditya, who renovated it several hundred years before the arrival of Islam in the 13th century, and Dogra rulers, who placed the lingam of Lord Shiva, which was destroyed at the orders of Jehangir’s wife Noor Jehan,” said Dhar
As for the spurious history,
     Talking about the name Takht-e-Suleiman, New York-based historian and author of “Jesus in Kashmir- The Lost Tomb’, Suzanne Olsson, said at one time Kashmir was controlled by Jews and Suleiman referred to Solomon, King of Israel and one of the greatest Jewish rulers, known for his wisdom and riches. “In ancient times, there was a considerable influence of Hebrew people in Kashmir. Several places have names similar to Jewish places. But historically, it is referred to as Shankaracharya Hill,” Olsson said.
One wonders whether Suzanne Olsson even understands how she contradicts her own assertion. If Jews had indeed controlled Kashmir, why don’t we have a single piece of evidence to show for it? And second, she doesn’t quite explain why despite the Jewish control, the Hill was revered and renowned as the Shankaracharya Hill? And why doesn’t Rajatarangini, the most definitive account of Kashmir’s history mention the presence–let alone control–of Jews even once? And why haven’t the galaxy of scholars and litterateurs from Kashmir–Kalhana, Abhinavagupta, Anandavardhana, Kshemendra, et al–mention Jewish influence? The truth is the Suzanne Olsson happens to be the latest purveyor of the phony theory that Jesus visited/lived in Kashmir. Two definitive sources are sufficient to puncture Suzanne Olsson’s motivated claim about Jesus in Kashmir. The first is by the redoubtable Koenraad Elst, and the second by a Buddhist monk and scholar named Shravasti Dhammika who takes a close look into various Suzanne Olssonsesque myths about Jesus’ visit and stay in India.
All kinds of scholars making all kinds of fantastic assertions have existed since time immemorial. However, it is regrettable that the ASI, a body of the Government of India, chose to put out one such fantastic claim as the official history of a place based purely on political consideration. This does disservice not just to Hindus but to the nation’s precious heritage as a whole. More importantly, it is a dangerous portent. As we’ve seen in the case of the St. Thomas Church of Mylapore how an existing Hindu place of worship was appropriated by Christian missionaries through deceit and declared as one of the sites of Christian piety.
Given this, what is the guarantee that the “Takht-e-Suleiman” will not become a dargah or mosque some time in the near or distant future and thereby erase another living place of Hindu heritage permanently?

Why jailed human rights leader can’t make appeal – he has to wait for a judge

Human rights leader P. Uthayakumar (pic), who was jailed four months ago for sedition, has become a victim of justice delayed.

He is unable to appeal against his conviction and sentence because the trial judge has yet to write the grounds of judgment.

His lawyer, M. Manoharan, said Uthayakumar's appeal in the High Court will not be heard unless sessions judge Ahmad Zamzani Mohd Zain provides the written grounds.

"A trial judge is supposed to prepare the grounds of judgment within eight weeks once a notice of appeal is filed," he said.

Uthayakumar filed his notice of appeal on June 6, a day after the 30-month jail sentence was meted out to him.

Manoharan said he had written on three occasions to the judge's secretary, urging that the written judgment be expedited but never received a reply.

"My client is languishing in jail, and he is not well. The sessions judge must provide the written judgment as soon as possible," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Uthayakumar was found guilty on June 5 of publishing seditious remarks on the Police Watch website over a letter to former British prime minister Gordon Brown in 2007.

The former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee was sentenced just hours after younger brother and activist P. Waythamoorthy was appointed senator and deputy minister in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration following the May 5 general election.

Uthayakumar had refused to put up a defence or mitigate before the sessions judge, claiming that it was in protest of how Indians in Malaysia were treated.

He also did not seek bail pending his appeal.

On Tuesday, he was taken from the Kajang prison to attend a case management hearing before Kuala Lumpur High Court deputy registrar Nourani Yusuf. However, the case management was adjourned to October 24 because there was no judgment.

"This is the second time a case management was held for the appeal. We hope the judgment will be ready for us to proceed further," Manoharan said.

Lawyers who appeared for Uthayakumar also brought to attention his medical condition and the court allowed treatment for diabetes and a back injury.

About 20 supporters were present at the court. Uthayakumar smiled broadly as he entered the registrar's room, raising his fist to his supporters.

He was allowed to speak with his mother, G. Kalaivani, and wife S. Indra Devi.

Meanwhile Rajpal Singh, who co-chairs the Bar Council's criminal committee, said Uthayakumar’s lawyers should have brought the matter to the attention of the director of the Kuala Lumpur Courts.

"We will also raise the issue of trial judges who are late in providing judgments," he said when contacted. – September 27, 2013.

Man gunned down in car near house of slain gang member

Not the real picture.

JOHOR BARU: About a dozen people who had gathered in the house of a slain gang 04 member to chant prayers were shocked when a friend who had come to attend the prayers was gunned down about 10 metres from the house.

The incident occurred at about 8.25pm when the victim, K. Anand, 29, from Kedah had come to the house of D. Selvam, 35, known as "Teratai Boy Johor" who was shot dead in Malacca on Sept 12.

It is learnt that the victim, a businessman, together with another man had come for the 16th day prayers when two men on a motorcycle came up to their car in Jalan Teratai 32 in Taman Johor Jaya before firing at least four shots.

It is learnt that the victim, who was the driver, died on the spot while the friend managed to escape.

Sources said that the car was parked in an alley about five to 10 metres away from Selvam's house.

About a dozen people who had gathered for the prayers immediately rushed to the car soon after hearing gunshots.

Anand does not have a criminal record.

Sri Alam OCPD Supt Roslan Zainuddin when contacted confirmed the case but declined to elaborate on investigations.

On Sept 12, Teratai Boy, who had 10 criminal records against him was shot dead by police along with another man in Cheng Malacca.

Selvam was involved in criminal cases in Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Penang in the past two years.

Meanwhile Anand's uncle who only wanted to be known as Rajan said that the victim was supposed to get married in two months time.