Imam rapes his student

Isiaka Salimonu confesses to raping Yetunde because she had poor grades

By Jewel Stephen

A 15-year-old Junior Secondary School Student of Educational Legacy College, Ibadan, has been raped by a teacher because she had poor grades.

Isiaka Salimonu, 43, who teaches Arabic, allegedly promised to give Yetunde holy oil for prayers to improve her academic performance, and raped her when she came for the oil. Salimonu is also an Imam and regularly conducts Friday Jumat prayers in the local mosque.

The suspect, who is being quizzed at the State Criminal Investigation Department(SCID) Iyaganku Ibadan, has reportedly owned up to the crime.

"On December 15, 2011, when I collected my report card, he was in the mosque, and he called me and asked for my report card and I gave him," said Yetunde. "He said my performance was poor and that he was going to help me, by giving me some charms which would help me perform better academically. He asked me to wait for him at Ikumapayi Junction Bus Stop but I refused to go there."

The teacher did not give up. When school resumed on January 5, 2012, he sent somebody to call her. "He asked me why I didn’t go to the place he told me last time to wait for him or at the mosque, to collect the charm he promised me," said Yetunde. "He told me to wait for him at a bus-stop at about 4.00p.m. and I waited as directed. He came and told me the charm was in his friend’s house. I followed him and when we got to the house, we didn’t see his friend. He knocked on the door but nobody responded.

Later, he told me to follow him to collect the charm; and he took me to a small hut and asked me to remove my clothes. I refused, but he forcibly stripped me naked and thereafter, raped me. I started shouting for help. That was about 5.00p.m. I was angry and left. He gave me N2,000 but I rejected it. I also rejected the holy oil. When I got home, I reported the matter to my elder brother and it was later reported at the Olodo Police Station.

The suspect, whose daughter is a classmate of the victim, said he been wooing Yetunde since September last year. "I always noticed her whenever I was conducting Jumat for them every Friday," he said. "I have confessed to the police that I raped her. It was the devil that pushed me into this."

The state's police spokesperson, Femi Okanlawon, confirmed that the suspect has confessed to the crime and said he would be prosecuted.

The father of the victim, Adegbola, said he was shocked that a religious leader could rape his daughter. "I took my daughter to Adeoye General Hospital for treatment and the hospital confirmed that she was actually raped," he said.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the State CID, Funmilayo Egbemi, said investigation was still going on in the matter. She said the suspect would appear in court soon.

Quitting Quetta: Abductions spark exodus of Balochistan’s Hindus

Officials say kidnappings for ransom have increased during the last four years.

KARACHI: Over 50 members of the Hindu community across Balochistan have been kidnapped in the last four years, compared to seven instances of kidnapping during former president Pervez Musharraf’s nine years, said Basant Lal Gulshan, the human rights and minorities affairs minister for Balochistan.

“Among those are two assistants from my own pharmacy, abducted two days ago,” the minister said.

The alarming rise in kidnapping of Hindus across the province was confirmed by Balochistan Chief Secretary Ahmed Bakhsh Lehri while speaking to The Express Tribune.

Out of a total of 72 people kidnapped in the past few months, 24 were Hindus, Lehri said.

Of them, 21 have been either released or recovered through the efforts of the community itself, he added.

The chief secretary admitted that the incidence of kidnapping has increased under the present government, compared to the Musharraf era.

Over the edge

Why this particular community though?

Because it is perceived to be financially well-off but weak, said Gulshan.

Settled Hindus are mostly traders and businessmen, and the community comprises two-thirds of the province’s total minorities’ population of 300,000, he said.

Most of them live in Baloch-settled districts of Sibi, Nasirabad, and Bhag and Dhadar in Bolan district, added Lehri. He put the total community’s number at 45,000 though.

Most of the kidnappings, however, take place in Kalat which is home to a major Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Kali, said the chief secretary.

Those abducted are then taken to neighbouring Khuzdar, a tribal district bordering Sindh, which has limited police presence, he said. The district has Levies force but they are too ill-equipped to confront kidnappers, he added.

Contrary to popular perception, the abductors are not separatists, the chief secretary maintained. These are common criminals, mostly unemployed men, who demand a high ransom for the Hindus, he added.

The constant targeting has pushed the community, quite literally, over the edge.

Around 50 Hindu families have moved from Quetta to Karachi in the last two months, said Gulshan, adding that more than 150 families across the province have moved out in the last few years. Most of them went to India on a visit visa, but have not returned, he added.

The exodus may still be reversible. Most have left their business behind under caretakers or managers, and not sold them off, Gulshan said.

Targeting others

Hindus are not the only targeted minority on their way out though.

Zoroastrians, almost negligible in the first place, no longer live in the province, said Tahir Hussain, vice chairperson for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Balochistan chapter.

The community had its share of targeting. Faridoon Abadan, a former provincial minister for minorities and owner of Quetta Distillery Ltd, was kidnapped over 10 years ago and is yet to be recovered.

His wife, Nilofer, was the first woman to be kidnapped in the province last February, but returned home after paying Rs30 million in ransom. The family is now moving out.

The targeting does not stop at religious minorities. After several high-profile targeted attacks, the Hazara community is quitting the province as well.

“Around 16,000 people from the Hazara or Persian-speaking community left Quetta last year,” Hussain said.

Their plight gained national prominence when a ferry, carrying asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, capsized off the coast of Indonesia. Around 55 young men from the Hazara community from Quetta were among those who drowned.

(With additional input from Qaiser Butt in Islamabad)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2012.

Indonesian embassy seeks new moratorium following fresh maid abuse claims

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The Indonesian embassy here has recommended that its government suspend the placement of maids in Malaysia following fresh abuse allegations, barely months after a two-year moratorium was lifted to alleviate the shortage of domestic workers locally.

The New Sunday Times (NST) quoted Indonesian embassy Information, Social and Cultural Affairs Minister-Counsellor Suryana Sastradiredja as saying that the embassy has recommended an indefinite suspension although the maids began their compulsory training earlier this month.

“We received reports that two maids were physically abused by a senior government official and his wife,” Suryana told NST, adding that the two victims were also not paid their salary.

“The official did not respect the agreement made between the leaders of our nations,” Suryana said. He declined to name the official but said that the two maids were recruited eight months ago during the moratorium period.

He said that one of the maids sought shelter at the embassy on Friday night, while the other has already returned home at the request of the official’s wife.

Asked whether a police report had been lodged, Suryana said the embassy was still considering whether it should do so as the allegations involve a high-ranking official.

“Diplomatic channels will be used. We will send a note to the Malaysian Home Ministry on Monday and wait for a reaction. The Malaysian government should act accordingly.”

Suryana said the continuation of the agreement to send maids here would depend on the punishment meted out.

The Indonesian government banned its people from working as maids in Malaysia in June 2009, following numerous cases of maids being abused by Malaysian employers.

Indonesia officially withdrew the moratorium on the sending of maids to Malaysia on December 1 last year.

Human Resources Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam even said in February that the government was optimistic that the first batch of Indonesian maids would arrive in Malaysia this month.

He said at the time that a total of 121 Malaysian employment agencies were working with their Indonesian counterparts on the placement of maids from the republic to Malaysia.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met in Bali at the end of last year as part of efforts to resolve the issue amicably.

In an NST editorial today, the newspaper’s group managing director Abdul Jalil Hamid said that the embassy’s remarks raised the question of “how committed” Jakarta is to honouring its bilateral agreement with Putrajaya over the lifting of the moratorium.

The newspaper is seen as a reflection of the Najib administration’s stance as Abdul Jalil was Najib’s media strategist before becoming an editor.

“Jakarta should not unilaterally delay the lifting of the ban on sending maids to Malaysia.

“There are some 400,000 Malaysian families on the waiting list for Indonesian maids. Such unilateral action by Jakarta to prolong their agony is totally unacceptable,” said Abdul Jalil.

Indian support will tip the balance, says Palanivel

The MIC president is confident of the growing support of the Indian community in Penang for BN.

GEORGE TOWN: MIC president G Palanivel is confident of the growing support of the Indian community in Penang for the Barisan Nasional (BN), which would tip the balance in favour of the coalition in the coming general election.

“We want the Indians to come back to the BN fold. Even if we win one seat, we can help strengthen the BN’s position in Penang.

“MIC has been working hard day and night in Penang to regain the support of the people for the BN,” he told reporters after presenting awards to outstanding pupils in the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah 2011 here today.

Palanivel, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said what was important for the MIC was to wrest two seats in Penang and help the BN win other seats.

On the MIC candidates in the next general election, he said they would be announced after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak dissolved Parliament.

“Wherever I go, they ask ‘who are the MIC candidates?’ How can I answer you now? It’s not the right time to announce the candidates, but it is the right time to work hard to garner the support of the Indian community.

“We will introduce the candidates after Parliament is dissolved and the names are endorsed by the BN,” said Palanivel.

- Bernama

13-year-old claims abuse in police lock-up

The school dropout claims that he was assaulted by the police when he was detained for alleged theft.

BAHAU: A 13-year-old boy charged with jewellery theft on Friday has claimed that he was physically abused by the police while under detention.

S Sunther, from St Helier Estate here, claimed that he was assaulted by police personnel at the Jempol police station following his arrest on Feb 26 over his alleged role in stealing his neighbour’s jewellery.

The school dropout was charged with the theft at the Bahau Magistrates’ Court on March 2 and has been released on a RM3,800 surety. He is due to report back to the Juvenile Court on May 2 when his plea will be recorded.

He only informed his family of the alleged assault in the hands of the police after his court appearance on March 2.

“He told me that he was beaten with a rubber hose and there are injuries on his eyes and body,” his father AK Selvam told FMT today.

Selvam said that he immediately lodged a police report on the same day, March 2, asking for a thorough investigation into the allege assault on his son.

This incident has also caught the attention of Negeri Sembilan MIC chief T Rajagopalu and MIC’s Jeram Padang state assemblyman VS Mogan.

Rajagopalu told FMT that he was also unhappy with the fact that a juvenile was held in a police custody for five days.

“He is just 13-years-old. The police should have taken him to court as soon as possible. I have raised this matter with the state police chief Osman Salleh,” he said.

The MIC leader also said that the party made arrangements to send Sunther to Bandar Seri Jempol Hospital for treatment. He was later referred to an eye specialist in Kuala Pilah district hospital, he added.

“Yesterday (Saturday) we had to send him to Bandar Seri Jempol Hospital again as he was complaining of vomiting,” said Rajagopalu.

Home minister alerted

Meanwhile Mogan told FMT that he had informed Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein via twitter of the incident, and that the minister had responded by saying that he would ask IGP Ismail Omar to look into the matter.

Both he and Rajagopalu also gave assurance to Selvam that the state MIC would provide legal assistance to the family on the matter.

In another development, state police chief Osman was quoted in the Negeri Sembilan edition of Sinar Harian as urging the public not to speculate on the case as investigations were still under way.

“If the allegation is true, we will take action against anyone who is guilty,” Osman was quoted as saying.
He also said that Sunther had infact complained of pain in his eye while in custody, following which he was sent to Bandar Seri Jempol Hospital for treatment.

“He received out-patient treatment. According to the doctor, he was suffering from eye infection. He had not informed the doctor that his eye was hurt as a result of any assault.

“No x-ray was done at that point of time and there was no sign of bleeding,” said Osman.
The police chief also said that Sunther had not mentioned anything about being assaulted to the magistrate.

India's Delayed Trilateral Highway

New Delhi’s highway plan to draw Southeast Asia into its orbit hits snags
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government is attempting to resuscitate the 1,360 km India-Burma-Thailand Trilateral Highway – an ambitious US$700 million undertaking launched in 2004, but which stands crippled by financial and political bottlenecks.

The long-stalled highway was a major topic of discussion when Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made a state visit to New Delhi last month. Both Yingluck and Singh said it is urgent to rejuvenate the project and bring it to fruition as soon as possible. Interestingly, while New Delhi dithers on the highway project, China, India’s competitor for primacy in Asia, is pushing ahead with ambitious plans to lead the Trans-Asian Railway, a UNESCAP project to create an integrated freight railway across Europe and Asia on which 20 countries agreed in 2006.

Three major rail routes are planned, from Yunnan in Southeast China to Singapore through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia; from Urumqi to Germany through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey; and from Heilongjiang in northeast China to southeastern Europe via Mongolia and Russia.

It is not tough to see why India and Thailand would like to get the highway project moving. For India especially, the Trilateral Highway, launched under the auspices of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation, is crucial to Singh’s Look East aspirations. (The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation was signed in Vientiene, Laos in 2002, by six member countries – India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, for cooperation in tourism, culture, education and transportation linkages.)

By augmenting its links with its Asian neighbors, the project would help New Delhi feel strategically less vulnerable, especially in the face of China’s growing regional influence. The highway, analysts say, would also provide New Delhi with substantive economic linkages at a time when traditional markets in Europe and the US are wrenched by uncertainty.

“The Trilateral Highway will also go a long way in assisting New Delhi to forge a vital link between its neglected and insurgency-ridden northeast region and Southeast Asia,” said international policy expert Dr Pratham Kochchar. “This will usher in economic prosperity into India’s northeast and help transform the region into a regional trading hub.”

As the highway would also connect the Indian city of Moreh with Mae Sot in Thailand through Bagan in Myanmar, all three stakeholders would experience a surge in commerce with Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries as well, Kochchar said. Industry estimates suggest that seamless connectivity with the Asian Highway Network through the trilateral project would ratchet up India’s trade with ASEAN to about US$100 billion in the next five years.

“Trade between India, Myanmar and Thailand is currently sea-bound, which not only makes exchanges slow but also prohibitively expensive,” said a top official at the New Delhi’s Center For Policy Research. “The trilateral highway will whittle down costs stupendously, ushering in economies of scale and commercial prosperity for the beneficiaries.”

If the highway is of such monumental importance, then why is it not up yet? What are the bottlenecks that plague this pioneering project?

Finance has apparently been the big issue. While India and Thailand have upgraded some of the link roads, politically turbulent and financially-constrained Myanmar has not been able to fulfill its share of commitments. In fact there’s even been sporadic friction between the three stakeholders due to Myanmar’s demand that India and Thailand pay for road construction in its territory too.

Regional security concerns also bedevil the highway project. Illegal trade, drug trafficking and insurgencies thrive on the India-Myanmar border. New Delhi is also sensitive about China’s de facto control over Myanmar’s Kachin state bordering the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as its territory. India fears the Trilateral Highway might inundate its side of the border with illegal migrants and Chinese weapons compromising its security interests.

In fact such has been the level of skepticism about the project that there is concern that the highway could create more problems than prosperity. According to Tanvi Pate of the Institute of Peace & Conflict Studies, “the project also raises concern on its final destination -- i.e. the Myanmar-Thailand border – which hosts ethnic insurgent camps.” According to Pate, Myanmar has accused Thailand in the past of harboring groups like the Karen National Union and the Chin National Liberation Front while Thailand has been concerned about the access the highway might provide to illegal immigrants and narcotics from ASEAN countries. Due to these insecurities playing on the stakeholders’ minds, the project is still languishing, the scholar suggests.

The element of regionalism has been another spoiler, analysts say. The swift integration of the Greater Mekong Sub region has relegated work by other regional umbrella organizations to the sidelines. The GMS countries have been focusing more on upgrades and construction of new highways under the Asian Highway Project which has seen investment of US$2.7 billion.

The East West Corridor, the North-South Economic Corridor and the Southern Economic Corridor are the three major projects already being implemented by the GMS states. The upgrade of these highways and ratification of Cross Border Transport Agreement have since quadrupled the intra-GMS trade. Given this overarching narrative, the GMS nations currently don’t feel the need to make any political or capital investment on any other initiative.

However, Indian officials are convinced that enhanced connectivity through the highway initiative will open up avenues for cooperation with the neighboring states and provide effective mechanisms for dealing with cross border problems which have hitherto remained unresolved. India has already emphasized the historical and cultural links with the neighboring Southeast Asian countries for years and now must accord salience to physical connections like the trilateral highway project.

As Pate suggests, political and financial will remains a key to rejuvenating the moribund project and India needs to strive to create this will. In the event this does not work, then India could unilaterally shoulder the financial responsibility for the highway.

After all, US$700 million seems more like an investment than an `expense’ considering the host of tangible benefits that would come New Delhi’s way once the project is completed.

(Neeta Lal is a New Delhi-based senior journalist)

Forgive and forget, the Umno Way

Gomen Man - The Malaysian Insider


MARCH 4 — This is the Umno way: Forget all debts and don’t bring up mistakes. And this enlightening statement is coming from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the then-agriculture minister who approved the now-infamous National Feedlot Centre project.

This is a most self-serving and irresponsible statement, not to mention dangerous.

Is this what we are supposed to teach our children? Just say sorry and all will be forgiven. There is no need to show remorse, make restitution or pay a price for breaking the law.

How about the common Malaysian? Just say sorry and there will be no need to be punished for cheating, theft, robbery, murder, criminal breach of trust, etc.

Muhyiddin’s statement is very much in keeping with the ridiculous stuff that we keep having to put up with. Don’t bring up my past transgressions even though I have not owned up to it because it is in the past.

OK, let’s for a minute accept his ridiculous proposition. Let’s not bring up the RM250 million fiasco called the NFC or implicate Shahrizat Jalil’s family in it.

Stop talking about the RM850 million court judgment that, because of the government’s intervention, Tajuddin Ramli does not have to pay to Danaharta.

Don’t make fun of the government transformation programme and ETP just because the figures used by Pemandu are intellectually dishonest.

Stop going on a witch hunt for the people behind the RM2.5 billion losses just suffered by MAS and the cost escalation to nearly RM5 billion for a low cost terminal in KLIA.

Don’t bring up the RM500 million commission paid to certain individuals for the Scorpene submarine deal.

And since we are in such a forgiving mood, we should also include the rakyat and not hold anyone accountable for any transgression. As long as they give a blanket apology, everything is OK.

This, in essence, is what Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Apology Shows Humility - Muhyiddin

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- The action by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in apologising on behalf of Barisan Nasional (BN) for its mistakes, including its dismal performance in the 2008 general election, reflected the party's humility, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin, who is also BN deputy chairman, said the crucial thing now was to look ahead, especially in the next eight years, towards making Malaysia a developed country by 2020.

"What is said by the Prime Minister shows humility. As human beings, we have weaknesses. The government, under Barisan Nasional, we know, also has weaknesses, and possibly several mistakes.

"Generally, during the 54-year period, no one can deny the fact, despite the weaknesses, we have made huge progress in the fields of socio-economy, culture, education, international relations and various others," he told reporters after opening the 2012 World Kidney Day at Dataran Merdeka, here today.

Yesterday, Najib extended an apology to the people on behalf of the Barisan Nasional (BN) for the coalition's mistakes in the last general election, which cost it several electoral seats and states, including Kedah.

Muhyiddin said he believed the people were beginning to understand the government's move in introducing various transformation programmes, as well as the 1Malaysia concept, which were aimed at rectifying weakness and improving efforts that had been carried out so far.

"Like the national transformation, it encompasses everything, economy, government, politics, rural and the new approach taken by the prime minister and the BN government.

"The people can now see the impact which is very effective and this has given a new hope," he added.

He said the people's understanding and acceptance reflected a new confidence among them on the capability of the BN government.

He said the dismal performance in the 12th general election was a lesson to BN.

Malaysians struggle as household debt soars

s not just household debt as a percentage of GDP that we should be concerned about, but household debt compared to disposable income is even more crucial. Take a look at the yellow bar to see where we stand.

Figure 3: Comparison of household debt/GDP and household debt/disposable income. Source: Yong, 2010; Endut and Toh, 2009; Bank Negara, 2010. - Graph: Penang Monthly

While our household debt as a percentage of GDP of 78 per cent may not be exceptionally high, our household debt to disposable income of 140 per cent is worrying.
Household debt to disposable income for selected countries:

• UK – 176% (2007)
• Malaysia – 140%
• US – 130% (2008)
• Japan – 120%
• Singapore – 105%
• Korea – 101%
• Germany – 95%
• France – 93%
• Italy – 70%
• Thailand – 53%
• Indonesia – 38%

Source: Penang Monthly; OECD Factbook 2010/Finfacts Ireland; CAP/Malaysian Insider
Now you know why many Malaysians don’t feel so well off, with this level of household debt. About half our disposal income goes to servicing debt.
What are some of the factors driving the high household debt/disposal income ratio?

• High growth in consumer-driven spending
• Low interest rates encourages borrowing
• East credit by banking institutions due to financial liberalisation (translating into fat profits for the banks?!)
• Rising house prices especially in KL and Penang where the average house price to average income ratios are much higher
• and of course, low income/wages

Below is another graph showing the rising household debt to GDP ratio over the last few years. Household debt now stands at 78 per cent of GDP.

Household debt/GDP. Source: Endut and Toh (2009); Bank Negara (2010; Chua (2010). Graph: Penang Monthly

Afghan Asylum Seeker Allegedly Beaten to Death in Indonesia Detention Center

A 28-year-old Afghan asylum seeker was allegedly beaten to death by guards in an Indonesian detention center Monday night.

The man, identified in various news reports as Taqi Naroye, reportedly escaped from the Pontianak detention center in West Kalimantan on Sunday.

He was caught by local residents and returned to the detention center the next evening. In total, six men had escaped from the center.

According to West Kalimantan’s immigration chief, Ahmad Hasaf, Taqi was returned to the center in good health.

But that night, the 28 year old was allegedly savagely beaten by guards, according to local police reports.

A local resident told reporters that he could hear Taqi screaming in pain until 2 a.m. Tuesday. His heavily battered body was dropped off at Soedarso hospital on Tuesday morning. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

The guards previously told investigators that Taqi was beaten by an angry mob. But police disagree.

“It was not caused by a mob attack but the guards who abused the victim until he died,” Comr. Puji Prayitno, Pontianak crime unit chief told the local news portal Harian Equator on Wednesday.

Indonesian police have determined the cause of death as blunt force trauma, ABC News reported.

Two of the four guards working the night shift during Taqi’s beating have been taken in for questioning by local investigators.

Police have not named a suspect.

The Kalimantan center was recently renovated with funds from the International Organization for Migration.

The UN refugee agency was “deeply saddened” by the death and issued a press release Friday urging Indonesian authorities to investigate the killing.

“We call on the Indonesian authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation that will shed light on this incident,” the statement read.

PM must curb violence or be seen as complicit, say groups

Christians mark 400 years of Malay Bible as ‘Allah’ case drags on

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — The opportunity to use the word “Allah” in a non-Muslim context remains a struggle for Christian Malaysians as they mark 400 years since the Bible was first published in the Malay language.
Christian scholars are huddling at a seminary in Seremban today, on the 400th anniversary of the Alkitab, in a conference that could shore up the Catholic Church’s case after it won, in 2009, the right to use the Arabic word to refer to God in its newspaper, The Herald.

The Malay version of the Bible embossed with the words ‘Christian Publication’ and a cross appeared from 2005 following a Home Ministry agreement with local distributors. — Picture by Choo Choy May

While Putrajaya has allowed churches nationwide to import the Malay-language Bible — first translated in 1612 — government lawyers refuse to withdraw their appeal against the Catholic Church’s suit. Organised by the Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM) and the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), the two-day conference kicked off this morning at 10 with an examination of the historical and theological perspectives on the translation of the Alkitab as well as the legal aspects concerning its print and distribution here.
The day-long closed-door conference will see speakers representing, among others, the BSM, local Christian think-tank Kairos Research Centre and the United Bible Societies, the world’s biggest Bible translator, publisher and distributor organisation with 146 members across 200 countries and territories.
Among the highlights of the conference is an exhibition of the Alkitab, first published in 1612 with the Malay translation of the Gospel of Matthew.
A similar public discussion will take place at the Trinity Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya tomorrow, STM spokesman Reverend Lim Kar Yong told The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
However, he stressed that the event was strictly for Christians.
Despite the Catholic Church winning a High Court decision on December 31, 2009 to publish the word “Allah”, its weekly paper The Herald has been blocked from doing so the past three years pending the Home Ministry’s appeal.
The case has been languishing in the Court of Appeal since.
But the controversy spilled over into the rights of Malaysia’s Christian population at large as shipments of Malay-language bibles catering to the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Bumiputera Christians were also blocked or confiscated last year.
It was turned into election fodder in the run-up to last year’s Sarawak polls as Christians there make up nearly half of the state’s total population.
And despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s historic meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome last July to establish diplomatic relations between Muslim-majority Malaysia and the Vatican, there has been little progress in resolving the “Allah” dispute.
Christians form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million-strong population.
The Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim God.
Christians, however, have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.

Arutchelvan, student activist hauled up by police

PSM sec-gen Arutchelvan and Mohd Khalid are being investigated under the Sedition Act for speeches made at an ABU ceramah on Jan 23.

KAJANG: PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan and second year UiTM law student cum activist Mohd Khalid Ismath were called up by the police and questioned for about 40 minutes today over speeches they made at an Anything But Umno (ABU) ceramah on Jan 23 in Beranang.

According to the police, they are being investigated under section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948. Both gave their statements at the Kajang district police headquarters today.

“They recorded the entire ceramah on Jan 23. If there was something seditious, they could have handed the clip to the prosecution and charge us,” said Arutchelvan.

Arutchelvan, who is also Kajang municipal councillor, added that he had not uttered anything that can be deemed as seditious and the whole excercise “was a waste of time.”.

“I didn’t touch on race, religion or the royalty. Maybe it is seditious for those in power because I called for Umno to be ousted,” he added.


He also revealed that the report against them was made by the police and when he requested for a copy, they refused.

Khalid, 22, was accompanied by his lawyer Farhana Abdul Halim when he reported to the district police headquarters.

“I spoke on issues relating to students’ problems, the burden of young people and the stiffling of academic freedom,” said Khalid.
ABU co-founder Haris Ibrahim, who was at the police station today, criticised the use of the Sedition Act against Arutchelvan and Khalid.

“Even if one speaks the truth, it is no defence in sedition. In other countries there are no sedition laws because they allow people to freedom to express.
Asked whether this would hamper the ABU campaign, Haris said: “We will continue with our ceramahs. People cannot be challenged,” said Haris.

Bkt Gasing temple committee to defy stop work order

Kapar MP S Manikavasagam hits out at state exco member Jeyakumar for issuing a stop work order on the temple after initially giving the go-ahead last year.

PETALING JAYA: A PKR leader expressed disappointment with Selangor state exco Dr Xavier Jeyakumar for his contradictory stand on Bukit Gasing Sivan temple land issue.

Kapar MP S Manikavasagam said Jeyakumar- also from PKR – must act in the interest of the public instead of indulging to the whims of a few individuals.

Jeyakumar, in a letter dated Jan 31, directed the temple committee to stop demolition work on the temple, contradicting his earlier stand that the committee may proceed with it. The temple committee wants to demolish the temple’s old building to build a new structure.

The reason given in the letter was that work must be stopped because of a court case pending between the new temple committee and its former trustees.

The temple was closed for three years when the Petaling Jaya Town Council (MBPJ) declared that land on which it was located was unsafe due unstable soil structure.

Last year, the state government gazetted the land to the temple committee and allowed them to retain the temple at its current site on condition a single storey structure is built to replace the current two-storey temple building.

“Jeyakumar is singing a different tune after he met Indrani Samy Vellu, the chairperson of the former trustees’ committee,” said Manikavagam.

“As a state exco, he should have heard views from all sides, including the public before coming to a decision to issue the stop work order,” he added.

“Can the former trustees of the temple be trusted? Do not forget that they were the ones who kept mum when the temple was ordered to be closed by MBPJ four years ago,” he said.

Manikavasagam said that he will lodge with report in Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) against the old trustees.

Meanwhile, the temple’s current committee member M Maharathan said the demolition work will continue inspite of the directive from Jeyakumar to cease operations.

“We will not adjourn our work in the interest of the public.”

He revealed that he was the one who filed a case against the former trustees to get them to return all properties belonging to temple.

“However, the case pending in court has nothing to do with temple building. It is weird for Jeyakumar to use it as an excuse to issue the stop work order,” he said.

“I do not care about politicians or about politics. I just do not want to be deprived of my right to attend religious functions. No one has the right to shut down temples,” he added.

Malay unity at its best

Yes, it is not easy to turn the Malays against the Chinese any longer, not like in 1969. It is easier to turn the Chinese against the Malays. By doing so the Malays would merajuk (sulk). They may not take up arms like they did in 1969. That may be too much to expect from present day Malays. But the Malays suffer from an illness called cepat kecik hati (feel hurt too easily).
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was soon after the March 2008 general election. Umno was holding a meeting in Subang Jaya to discuss the election ‘disaster’. All the key Umno ‘activists’ were going to be there, many veterans or children of veterans of May 13.
I invited half a dozen of my Chinese and Indian friends to follow me to the meeting. ‘Why the hell would we want to attend an Umno meeting?” they asked me. “To learn, of course, to learn.”
Speaker after speaker took the rostrum. The crowd was stirred. “What happened in the March general election was exactly like what happened in May 1969,” said one renowned Umno activist, son of one of the architects of May 13. “Therefore, what happened in March 2008 also needs the May 13 solution.”
You do not need to be a standard six student to understand what that meant. However, considering that many of you who post comments in Malaysia Today do not get what is being said even when it is sticking up your arse, maybe I should spell it out lest you start huffing and puffing off tangent.
On 11 May 1969, the opposition almost toppled the ruling party and grabbed or checkmate a few states. Two days later, the ruling party counter-checkmated the opposition by triggering race riots.
On 8 March 2008, it was history being repeated, déjà vu. Hence, the same ‘solution’ will be required to ‘solve’ the 8 March 2008 disaster.
Unknown to most Malaysians, a few attempts were made to arouse the sentiments of the Malays like what they successfully did in 1969. But this time around the Malays were not aroused like in 1969 so the effort failed.
An example would be like what happened in Penang when some Indian-looking Malays held an anti-Chinese demonstration against Lim Guan Eng in front of Komtar in Penang and the white skullcap wearing Malays faced them and dared them to cross the line.
The 500 Indian-looking Malays did not dare take on the 1,000 white skullcap wearing Malays. There were no Chinese in sight. It was Indian-looking Malays versus white skullcap wearing Malays. And the white skullcap wearing Malays were there in defence of Lim Guan Eng, a Chinese.
So it looks like the race card no longer works in this day and age like it did back in 1969. A new strategy would be required. Instead of trying to turn the Malays against the Chinese, which will not work, why not let the Chinese whack the Malays? If we try to tell the Malays that the Chinese are the enemy, the Malays will not buy that. But if the Chinese whack the Malays then in time the Malays will get sick and tired and turn their back on the opposition.
The Chinese are more aggressive than the Malays. Even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad thinks so when he lamented that the Malays are too passive and should be more aggressive like the Chinese. So, instead of trying to work up the Malays against the Chinese, why not work up the Chinese against the Malays?
When provoked, the Chinese react very strongly with foul language and all. Malays, being more feudalistic (another thing about the Malays which Dr Mahathir is pissed about) have been ‘trained’ since when they were toddlers to kowtow to authority. Even the Friday prayer kutbah (sermons) keep reminding the Malays that they must kowtow to authority. So the Malays are not as militant as the Chinese who kicked out their feudal lords a long time ago.
The Malays are also more forgiving. They can whack you for ten years but once you turun padang and go visit them at home, they become very honoured and immediately become your strong support. You also need to just hold the chief for the rest to follow -- again, the herd mentality, as Dr Mahathir said. Even Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s First Prime Minister, agrees with this. ‘Pegang kepala cukup. Yang lain akan ikut,” said the Tunku.
But Malays have two idiosyncrasies. One is ‘Melayu pantang di cabar’ (it is taboo to provoke a Malay). The other is the amuk syndrome. Is not the English word amok taken from the Malay word mengamuk? That’s because Malays appear to be the only race that has a penchant for doing this (the result of the legend of Hang Jebat, a Malay hero).
Malays also have a proverb that goes: biar mati anak, jangan mati adat. Malay culture and traditions must be upheld even if the child needs to be sacrificed.
And what else does the Malay hold dear and will kill or die for? What else? Islam of course! If the Malays can be made to feel that Islam is being compromised, challenged, insulted, etc., then they will rise in anger as they do even if they are not Malays like in Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. A challenge against Islam is a challenge against God and hence you must die or else I will die trying to kill you. That is my duty as a Muslim.
Take all these ingredients and mix them into a bowl and what do you get? What you get would be a fruitcake. And we need fruitcake Malays if we want to turn the Malays against the Chinese.
Yes, it is not easy to turn the Malays against the Chinese any longer, not like in 1969. It is easier to turn the Chinese against the Malays. By doing so the Malays would merajuk (sulk). They may not take up arms like they did in 1969. That may be too much to expect from present day Malays. But the Malays suffer from an illness called cepat kecik hati (feel hurt too easily).
Hey, I can believe that. I am only part Bugis, part Orang Asli and part Welsh and even I get kecik hati with many readers of Malaysia Today when I read the comments they post. Even I, who can claim to be not pure Malay, have many times considered just closing down Malaysia Today and tell the lot of you to go to hell or go screw yourselves. What more the Malays from the kampongs?
Today, PKR, PAS and Umno are united on the Erykah Badu ban. They are also united on the view that apostasy needs to be combated. So the Malays can, if they want to, set aside their political differences and unite under a common cause. You just need to find that cause. And there are enough causes out there to latch on to. The rest would be clever engineering.
And this is something the Chinese do not understand. The Chinese are prepared to compromise. They can accept a bad government in the interest of cari makan (rice bowl). They can accept ABU even if we replace a bigger devil with a smaller devil and even if both are devils but merely differ in degree. They can accept the lesser of the two evils as long as the lesser evil is to their interest.
The Malays, as Tun Dr Mahathir lamented, are too passionate, sentimental and emotional (which makes them better lovers, of course -- and am I not passionate, sentimental and emotional in the way I write?). The Malays, according to Tun Dr Mahathir, are not pragmatic like the Chinese. And this is why the Malays fail while the Chinese succeed, argued Tun Dr Mahathir.
Sun Tzu said: to win the war you need to know your enemies. Raja Petra Kamarudin wants to add to what Sun Tzu said: to win the war you also need to know your friends.
The question is: which one is your friend and which one is your enemy? Your enemy is not the 51% Malay voters who voted Barisan Nasional in March 2008. Your enemy is certainly not the 49% Malay voters who voted Pakatan Rakyat in March 2008. Your enemy are those who walk in the corridors of power in Putrajaya and the 2,500 Umno delegates who attend the Umno general assembly to elect their party President who then becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Today, many Malays already feel kecik hati. If Raja Petra can become kecik hati what more the other Malays? And this can only mean one thing: Umno is succeeding. Umno did not succeed in turning the Malays against the Chinese. Umno succeeded in making the Malays become kecik hati because they feel the Chinese have now demonstrated that they are not real friends of the Malays.
That, my friends, is called realpolitik. And would Umno be able to rule Malaysia for 55 years if they did not understand realpolitik? Can those of you who entered the scene only in 2007 be better than those who have been playing this game since 1957? I fear not, my friend.

Indian NGO lodge police report against Anwar over racist remark

Malaysian Digest) - A police report was lodged today against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in relation to the dissemination of a video on YouTube that showing him insulting the Indians.

The report was lodged a non-governmental organizations (NGO) called Alternative Action Team (AAT).

Its president Kalaivanar (pic) said the opposition leader had insulted the Indians in one of his talk during the Bagan Pinang by-election in 2009.

“Indians in this country are very offended by his remarks. So, today we ask the police to take stern action against him,” said Kalaivanar when met by reporters at the Dang Wangi police station.

“His speech was so racist and could threaten the multiracial harmony in the country. I want the police to record his speech and bring him in court in accordance with existing laws,” he added.

Time to Hartal the mainstream media

By Haris Ibrahim,

Reading Steadyaku47′s ‘The Chinese must stop blaming the Malays’ and RPK’s ‘Malay unity at its best’  day before yesterday left me greatly troubled.

Chinese blaming the Malays for everything that’s gone wrong in the country?

Malays ‘kecik hati’ because they feel the Chinese are not real friends of the Malays?

I do spend time on the ground and I have to say I don’t get this sense.

If anything, most people, and this necessarily includes the Chinese, are now more aware than ever before that it is the elite Malays in UMNO, their cronies and their cohorts in BN who have enriched themselves and in the process singularly left this nation in near ruins.

And that the majority of Malays, like most of the nation, are the victims of, first, 22 years of misrule by Mahathir and now, more plunder under Najib.

This is the sense I get, both from the rural and urban Chinese that I get to speak with.
Chinese blaming the Malays?

No.
Melayu kecik hati with the Chinese?

I read RPK’s piece again yesterday morning to see if I had missed anything.
Umno succeeded in making the Malays become kecik hati because they feel the Chinese have now demonstrated that they are not real friends of the Malays.

RPK’s exact words.
Not that the Chinese are not real friends of the Malays, but that UMNO has succeeded in making the Malays feel that way.

The two, in my view, are not the same.

I tried calling RPK yesterday evening but could not get through.

So I called a senior journalist, asked if he had read RPK’s piece and what he made of it.
He said RPK had hit the nail on the head, but had perhaps stated it rather clumsily.

According to him, the UMNO-controlled media might be sowing concerns amongst its Malay readers and viewers with its spin on how DAP, which is painted as a Chinese party, will be the principle benefactor if Pakatan comes to power.

How PAS, to keep DAP and the Chinese in Selangor happy, sacked the defender of Islam, Hassan Ali.
And on and on and on.
The message in the spin is subtle.
But, it seems, effective.
We need to counter this.
And fast.

Anwar Ibrahim visits Kerala mosque

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Opposition leader of that country, paid obeisance at the majestic Malik Dinar Juma Masjid here on Thursday.

Mr. Ibrahim visited the historic shrine at Thalangara locality around 3.30 p.m. and was accorded a warm reception by K. Mahmood Haji, president of the Juma Masjid, along with other prominent personalities from the town.

Dattu Abdul Aziz, former Cabinet Secretary of Malaysia, and other leading personalities from that country accompanied Mr. Ibrahim.

Mr. Ibrahim, who was on maiden visit to the town, said he had visited Kozhikode and Malappuram during his previous visits to Kerala.

Parti pemerintah guna kekuatan samseng, parti alternatif guna kekuatan pemikiran

By Aspan Alias -The Malaysian Insider

2 MAC — Budaya samseng pula yang mula menular dengan cepat didalam Umno sekarang. Kejadian mengganggu majlis-majlis anjuran Pakatan Rakyat kini selalu diganggu dan dicemari dengan kekacauan yang dilakukan oleh kumpulan samseng upahan untuk menggagalkan majlis anjuran Pakatan Rakyat. Dunia dan negara sekarang sudah masuk ke alaf baru dan manusia kini menuju kemajuan dengan etika dan cara kehidupan yang bertamaddun.

Seorang yang dididik dengan baik dari keluarga yang baik dia akan menjadi lebih berhemah jika bersalah-salahan pendapat dan pandangan dan akan sentiasa menghormati orang lain seperti yang dituntut oleh agama dan budaya, apatah lagi kita orang Melayu yang beragama Islam ini. Seseorang yang beriman dan halus jiwanya akan memujuk hati dan nafsunya sendiri untuk tidak berbuat apa yang tidak baik dan ditegah oleh adat dan agamanya.

Sebaliknya sebahagian dari kita orang-orang Melayu khususnya orang-orang kuat Umno (OKU), bertindak diluar adat dan adab bangsanya serta agama mereka dengan membina budaya samseng dan budaya ini adalah budaya orang-orang zaman batu dahulu. Ini bertambah berluas-luasa akhir-akhir ini dengan mengganggu majlis-majlis yang dianjurkan oleh pihak Pakatan Rakyat.

OKU-OKU tempatan akan menggunakan cara yang amat biadab dengan mengganggu dan memukul orang lain semata-mata kerana tidak bersetuju dengan majlis yang dianjurkan oleh pihak yang kian hari kian mendapat sokongan ramai itu. Ada kalanya kumpulan OKU ini akan menyerbu didalam majlis ceramah anjuran PR dan mereka akan terus beramai-ramai kehadapan pentas untuk mengganggu majlis PR itu.

Apa semuanya ini? Kemana kah perginya adab dan tatasusila Melayu yang berhemah dan bertamaddun yang selama ini menjadi “attribute” asas orang Melayu itu? Kenapa kah bangsa kita sudah sampai ketahap ini untuk mengekalkan kuasa? Kalaulah dari dulu kita tahu yang Melayu dan rakyat yang bersokongkol dengan pihak yang memerintah tidak dapat menerima demokrasi, kenapa dari dulu kita memulakan negara kita dengan sistem demokrasi.

Kenapakah ada pihak hanya menerima demokrasi jika dapat kemenangan dan memperkayakan budaya samseng apabila dirasakan yang kemenangan yang diperolehi selama ini tidak akan berulang lagi? Jika kuasa itu merupakan perjuangan yang “ultimate” kenapa tidak menjaga mandat dan kepercayaan rakyat selama ini dengan jujur? Kenapa melakukan perkara-perkara yang tidak elok didepan mata rakyat tanpa segan silu? Kenapa begitu tamak dan berkehendakkan kepada semua perkara?

Jika benar Umno dan pimpinan tidak mahu terlepas dari kuasa tentunya ia memerlukan pengorbanan. Pimpinan parti pemerintah ini wajib berkorban nafsu dan itu wajib. Pimpinan wajib melawan segala nafsu yang ada didalam diri masing-masing dan itu pun perjuangan yang perlu yang dituntut oleh agama kita. perjuangan menentang hawa nafsu kita itu merupakan perjuangan sepanjang hayat… dari lahir sehingga ke akhir kalam. Elakkan dari segala kemungkaran politik dan ekonomi serta perjuangan untuk diri sendiri yang keterlaluan.

Obsession Umno untuk berkuasa tidak mengenal batas dan sempadan. Setelah tidak berjaya meyakinkan orang ramai untuk terus menyokongnya, Umno sedang menggunakan tektik samseng dan ia sangat menjijikan orang ramai. Segala usaha dilakukan untuk mendapat sokongan tetapi sokongan tidak juga kembali. Maka menggunakan cara samsenglah yang tinggal untuk memaksa rakyat menyokong mereka.

Jika cara samseng ini masih tidak dapat meyakinkan rakyat untuk bersama Umno lagi, cara apa pula yang akan diambil pula selepas itu? Jawabnya saya rasa, tidak ada lagi selain dari menerima kekalahan dan penolakan rakyat secara menyeluruh.

Kepimpinan yang merelakan budaya samseng ini tidak akan dibenarkan berterusan dilakukan. Rakyat tidak mahu melihat kepimpinan ala Robert Mugabe di Zimbabwe atau secara Idi Amin dari Uganda suatu ketika dahulu. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

Palanivel Says Young Indian Voters Support MIC

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel has expressed confidence that young Indian voters will support the party in the next general election.

"There are many types of young voters, a small group of whom we're not certain whether they support us or not, but the majority of them are with us. I've no doubt about it," he told reporters opening the office of Koperasi Suria Malaysia Bhd in Bangsar, here, today.

Palanivel, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said young Indians must put their trust in the government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"They can't put their trust elsewhere. We've done a lot and everything that we do is in the right direction for them and their future," he said.

Asked where he would stand in the next general election, Palanivel said he had not made any decision on the matter but stressed that efforts to gain support from the people were more important now.

"I'll decide where to contest at the right moment. A lot of people have invited me to contest in their place but the main objective now is bringing back the Indian votes.

"The overall picture is more important, not mine alone. So, it doesn't matter where I'll stand. The main thing is to bring back the support," he said.

On MIC candidates, Palanivel said: "Some people tell me that they're potential candidates, some people declare they're winnable. Ultimately, I'll make the decisive choice. We still have months to go, the main thing (now) is our preparation."

More rowdy behaviour

Another commotion on 1 March, when three Kajang municipal councillors and several others tried to attend the ground-breaking ceremony of SRJK (C) Bandar Sungai Long, Selangor, minutes before PM Najib arrived. 

Read Ms Batik’s commentary in Aliran.
It used to be that some people were paranoid of yellow. Now lime green is capable of making some people uneasy.

'BN supporters roughed us up at Najib function'

Kajang municipal councillor Lee Kee Hiong and several others claimed that they were assaulted outside SRJK (C) Bandar Sungai Long, Selangor, minutes before Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's arrival there for the school's groundbreaking ceremony today.

Lee, a DAP leader, said she went there with an entourage of some 20 former and current municipal councillors and residents, wearing green shirts, but were stopped by a man in a black shirt after security checks were made by police at the scene.
At the time, somebody there shouted to her group, “Boss said you may not enter,” to which a member of Lee's group said she responded that they were only there for the food.
They were then charged at by about 30 to 40 people, who she claimed were BN supporters, who surrounded and roughed up four in her group, pinning them to the ground.

Lee said police at the scene tried to break up the fight, but were "powerless to stop the large group" of attackers.

"Since (entering politics in) 1993, this is the first time I felt protected by the police," Lee told Malaysiakini when contacted after the incident.

She feared that the situation could have been a lot worse had the police not stepped in.
Lee (in green T-shirt) said that when the thugs she described as "BN supporters" started their attack, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar appeared and shouted, "Why are you here to cause trouble?"

One in her group replied, “We received a brochure. It says, 'all are invited.' We just want to eat, why not?"

Five bruised

An individual, who Lee alleged was an aide of Noh's, pushed her, causing her to lose her balance and injuring herself in the process.

Police eventually escorted Lee and her group, some of whom suffered bruises from the attack, out of the venue.
One member of the group, Lee said, lost a pair of spectacles while another lost a shoe in the fracas, but both of these were later recovered.

She said the five only suffered bruises, but the group was in a state of shock.

"They will undergo a medical examination and a press conference on the matter will be held tomorrow," she added.
Lee added they wore green shirts simply to show their support for Himpunan Hijau 2.0.

"However, we didn't plan to do anything at the ceremony. We just wanted to eat and then leave," she said.

Lee further explained that they received a brochure at their house that said all were invited to attended the ground-breaking ceremony.

Malaysiakini tried to contact Noh tonight but failed to reach him.

Speaking at the function later, Najib announced that two toll booths along the Grand Saga Highway would be taken off, effectively halving the charges for commuting in both directions.

Beginning midnight tonight, the Batu 9 toll booth on the Kuala Lumpur-bound route and the Batu 11 toll booth on the Kajang-bound route would cease operations, he said.

Najib also handed over a RM4.5 million cheque to the school for the construction of 36 classrooms, which will accommodate 1,500 pupils.
He also said that the 5.9-acre piece of land that the school would be built on, was worth RM20 million.

Grim fate of Hindu minorities in Pakistan: Hindu Girls Abducted and Forced into Muslim Marriages. Who Cares?

PAKISTAN: Abducted and forced into a Muslim marriage – IRIN Report.

KARACHI, 27 February 2012 (IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Networks) – Sixteen-year-old Ameena Ahmed*, now living in the town of Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, does not always respond when her mother-in-law calls out to her.

“Even after a year of `marriage’ I am not used to my new name. I was called Radha before,” she told IRIN on a rare occasion when she was allowed to go to the corner shop on her own to buy vegetables.

Ameena, or Radha as she still calls herself, was abducted from Karachi about 13 months ago by a group of young men who offered her ice-cream and a ride in their car. Before she knew what was happening, she was dragged into a larger van, and driven to an area she did not know.

She was then pressured into signing forms which she later found meant she was married to Ahmed Salim,

Hindus marking a ritual occasion feel increasingly threatened in Pakistan. Perhaps performing the last rituals for Hindus in Pakistan. Photo: Tariq Saeed/IRIN.

25; she was converted to a Muslim after being asked to recite some verses in front of a cleric. She was obliged to wear a veil. Seven months ago, Ameena, who has not seen her parents or three siblings since then and “misses them a lot”, moved with her new family to southern Punjab.

“The abduction and kidnapping of Hindu girls is becoming more and more common,” Amarnath Motumal, a lawyer and leader of Karachi’s Hindu community, told IRIN. “This trend has been growing over the past four or five years, and it is getting worse day by day.”

He said there were at least 15-20 forced abductions and conversions of young girls from Karachi each month, mainly from the multi-ethnic Lyari area. The fact that more and more people were moving to Karachi from the interior of Sindh Province added to the dangers, as there were now more Hindus in Karachi, he said.

“They come to search for better schooling, for work and to escape growing extremism,” said Motumal who believes Muslim religious schools are involved in the conversion business.

“Hindus are non-believers. They believe in many gods, not one, and are heretics. So they should be converted,” said Abdul Mannan, 20, a Muslim student. He said he would be willing to marry a Hindu girl, if asked to by his teachers, “because conversions brought big rewards from Allah [God]. But later I will marry a `real’ Muslim girl as my second wife,” he said.

According to local law, a Muslim man can take more than one wife, but rights activists argue that the law infringes the rights of women and needs to be altered.

Motumal says Hindu organizations are concerned only with the “forced conversion” of girls under 18. “Adult women are of course free to choose,” he said.

“Lured away”

Sunil Sushmt, 40, who lives in a village close to the city of Mirpurkhas in central Sindh Province, said his 14-year-old daughter was “lured away” by an older neighbour and, her parents believe, forcibly converted after marriage to a Muslim. “She was a child. What choice did she have?” her father asked. He said her mother still cries for her “almost daily” a year after the event.

Sushmat is also concerned about how his daughter is being treated. “We know many converts are treated like slaves, not wives,” he said.

According to official figures, Hindus based mainly in Sindh make up 2 percent of Pakistan’s total population of 165 million. “We believe this figure could be higher,” Motumal said.

According to media reports, a growing number of Hindus have been fleeing Pakistan, mainly for neighbouring India. The kidnapping of girls and other forms of persecution is a factor in this, according to those who have decided not to stay in the country any longer.

“My family has lived in Sindh for generations,” Parvati Devi, 70, told IRIN. “But now I worry for the future of my granddaughters and their children. Maybe we too should leave,” she said. “The entire family is seriously considering this.”

*not her real name

Courtesy: IRIN. (updated on 02/03/2012).


How many Hindus are grasping in Pakistan in front our vacant look? SHAME.

Minority MPA says young Hindu girls subjected to gross injustice in Pakistan

Islamabad, Mar 1(ANI): A minority Member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly (MPA) Pitanber Sewani has said that the Hindu girls are subjected to gross injustice in the country, and reminded the government not to force Hindus in Sindh to follow the course of Baloch nationalists who are fighting "a war for their rights".

In a fiery speech Sewani said the Hindu girls are first kidnapped and then converted to Islam after being subjected to forced marriages with Muslim boys.

Sewani moved a resolution against the post-marriage conversion of Hindu girls. He urged the government to take concrete steps to end forced marriages.

Pointing to a recent incident in Mirpur Mathelo, he said a Muslim boy going by the name of Naveed Shah had allegedly kidnapped a 16-year-old Hindu girl Rinki Kumari at gunpoint and forcibly married her.

"These people kidnapped her at gunpoint a few days ago and presented her in a lower court after her marriage with Naveed Shah. We have no objection if a Hindu girl marries a Muslim boy of her free will. But Hindus will not tolerate forced marriages," The Express Tribune quoted Sewani, as saying.

Sewani said that he dreaded a situation where Hindus might decide to leave Sindh.

"Around 20 to 25 forced conversions take place every month in Sindh. If this situation continues, the Hindus will have no choice, but to resist," he said.

"Today, we are fed up with the Baloch resistance movement, tomorrow we may be irritated by Hindus as well," he added.

Sewani also urged the chief justice to take sou motu action on forced marriages, killings and kidnappings of Hindus in Sindh." (ANI)

Court upholds police ban on gay festival in Malaysia

Gay pride parades in Asia becoming more commonplace, except Malaysia.

Kuala Lumpur (dpa) – A Malaysian court on Thursday rejected a petition by gay rights activists to review a police ban on its arts and music festival in Kuala Lumpur.

High Court Judge Rohana Yusuf said the police were entitled to order the ban on the festival called Seksualiti Merdeka, meaning sexuality independence, which was to have been held in November.

The police banned the festival on safety grounds after Muslim groups threatened to disrupt the event which aimed to promote dialogue about gay issues.

The organizers challenged the ban in the court in January.

Pang Kee Teik, one of the organizers of the event, lamented the decision of the court.

“When the police’s arbitrary powers cannot be reviewed in court, we are allowing the police to get away with abuse of power,” he said in a statement.

He said he would continue to fight for the rights of homosexuals, transgenders and bisexuals.

“We want to remind them that they too have family members and friends who can be helped by the work that Seksualiti Merdeka does,” he said.

Exco: Pemimpin PAS akan turun ke Kedah

NIAT all set for bigger battle

After the removal of the controversial Interlok novel, the movement is now focussing on revamping the education system for the betterment of the Indian community.

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Interlok Action Team (NIAT), which played a major role in forcing the government to withdraw the controversial novel from schools, is now planning to take the battle to the next level.

Speaking to FMT, the movement’s chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim said NIAT would devise a new strategy to revamp the education system for the betterment of the Indian community.

In view of this, he said, the acronym NIAT would now stand for National Indian Advancement Team.

The philantrophist complained that the Malaysian education system was controlled by a single race and this was unfair to the non-Malays.

“The entire educational system has become rotten from head to toe because of a single race’s dominance and politcal stooges in high posts,” he added.

Thasleem, however, stressed that NIAT was not anti-Malay but rather opposed the racial monopoly of the education system.

“The standard of our universities has dropped because of vice-chancellors, deans and senior academic staff who are appointed due to political links and not academic excellence,” he added.

As for Tamil schools, Thasleem said despite the syllabus being the same with national and Chinese schools, Tamil schools fared poorly in the UPSR examination compared to the other two.

He said this was because Chinese schools were well financed while national schools came under the government’s care.

“So Tamil schools are the ones that are always disregarded,” he said. “Much has been said and written about the plight of Tamil schools in Malaysia. Now it’s time to start acting.”

‘NIAT will the national body’

Outlining NIAT’s immediate plans, Thasleem said the movement would collect the details of all 523 Tamil schools nationwide.

From this, NIAT would do a meticulous analysis and submit a recommendation to the Education Ministry to take action.

“NIAT will invite all the NGOs who are willing to cooperate with us on this matter,” he said adding that an official meeting would be held this evening at Wisma Tun Sambanthan here.

“We are going to focus not only on the education system, but also issues like better school buildings, better training for teachers, overcoming the shortage of teachers and increasing the enrolment of students in Tamil schools,” he added.

Thasleem said there were numerous independent organisation working on the development of Tamil schools, but there had been no significant progress.

“To overcome this, NIAT will act as the national body and all the smaller organisations can submit their reports to us, and we will send a proper paper to the ministry,” he added.

Fully-residential school needed

Meanwhile, Thasleem said that NIAT would also focus on the performance of Indian students in secondary schools.

“For the Malays, there is the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) while the Chinese have secondary schools financed by businessmen. But what about the Indian community?” he asked.

Citing socio-economic factors as the main reason behind the poor performance of Indian secondary school students, Thasleem said a fully residential secondary school for the Indian community was the best answer.

“In 1974, MIC forwarded a memorandum to the Education Ministry calling for a special residential school. Now, 38 years have passed but nothing has happened.

“This is a clear example of institutionalised racism implemented by the past leadership of Umno,” he said, adding that he had sent a letter to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak regarding this.

Ibrahim Ali tanding atas tiket Umno?

"JIka Najib pilih Tok Him (Ibrahim) bertanding atas tiket Umno, kita terima," katanya.

PASIR MAS: Umno bahagian sedia memberi laluan kepada Datuk Ibrahim Ali bertanding atas parti itu dalam pilihan raya umum ke 13, kata seorang AJKnya.

“Kalau Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak) setuju, kita akan terima. Asal calon boleh menang, kita boleh terima.

“JIka Najib pilih Tok Him (Ibrahim) bertanding atas tiket Umno, kita terima,” katanya.

Perdana Menteri akan mengadakan program bersama rakyat di Pasir Mas, petang esok.

Beliau berkata, ahli parlimen bebas Pasir Mas itu lebih sesuai bertanding di atas tiket Umno kerana presiden NGO Perkasa itu pernah menjadi ahli Parlimen Umno sebelum ini.

Pada tahun 1990, Ibrahim memenangi parlimen Pasir Mas atas tiket parti Semangat 46 pimpinan Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Dipecat

Pada tahun 2006, beliau ketika itu ketua Umno Pasir Mas dipecat dari parti ekoran tindakannya bertanding atas tiket pilihan raya kecil negeri Pengkalan Pasir.

Pada pilihan umum lalu, PAS memberi beliau peluang atas tiket parti dan mengalahkan calon BN, Datuk Abdul Rahim Rahman.

Beliau, bagaimanapun mengisytiharkan sebagai ahli parlimen bebas selepas itu atas alasan tidak sesuai dengan dasar PAS.

Kata AJK Umno itu, jika Ibrahim sayang orang Pasir Mas, beliau perlu bertanding atas tiket Umno.

Bagaimanapun, usaha menghubungi Ibrahim gagal kerana panggilan telefonnya tidak berjawab.

Railway land controversy: Dubious land transfers

Lawyer P Uthayakumar revealed that there was 'no record' of a transaction between Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Sentul) Berhad to Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation.

KUALA LUMPUR: Three land transactions involving Kampung Railway in Sentul were conducted within a span of an hour on Sept 24, 2002.

Describing the transactions as dubious, lawyer P Uthayakumar said: “The Land Office records indicated that three transactions happened within an hour on Sept 24, 2002.”

In the first transaction, Federal Land Commissioner transferred the land to Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd at 10.08 am.

At 10.31 am, Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd transferred the land to Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Sentul) Berhad.

The third transaction was a fund mortgage from Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd to Aseam Bankers at 10.52am.

Speaking after a case management hearing involving Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (subsidiary of YTL Corporation) and 100 over residents of Kampung Railway today, Uthayakumar said there was however “no record that shows the transfer from Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Sentul) Berhad to Sentul Raya.”

Uthayakumar is representing 101 residents of Kampung Railway. Sentul Raya is represented by their counsel, B Thangaraj.

Another group of 23 people are intervenors represented by Rashid Zulkifli.

Earlier during the hearing in the chambers, senior assistant registrar Norhatim Abdul Hamid said the next hearing would be on April 4 under presiding High Court judge Justice Zabariah Yusof.

On Tuesday, a group of Kampung Railway residents sent a protest memorandum to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). They said the case in court was detrimental to their ongoing negotiations with YTL Corporation and DBKL.

Malay unity at its best

Yes, it is not easy to turn the Malays against the Chinese any longer, not like in 1969. It is easier to turn the Chinese against the Malays. By doing so the Malays would merajuk (sulk). They may not take up arms like they did in 1969. That may be too much to expect from present day Malays. But the Malays suffer from an illness called cepat kecik hati (feel hurt too easily).
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was soon after the March 2008 general election. Umno was holding a meeting in Subang Jaya to discuss the election ‘disaster’. All the key Umno ‘activists’ were going to be there, many veterans or children of veterans of May 13.
I invited half a dozen of my Chinese and Indian friends to follow me to the meeting. ‘Why the hell would we want to attend an Umno meeting?” they asked me. “To learn, of course, to learn.”
Speaker after speaker took the rostrum. The crowd was stirred. “What happened in the March general election was exactly like what happened in May 1969,” said one renowned Umno activist, son of one of the architects of May 13. “Therefore, what happened in March 2008 also needs the May 13 solution.”
You do not need to be a standard six student to understand what that meant. However, considering that many of you who post comments in Malaysia Today do not get what is being said even when it is sticking up your arse, maybe I should spell it out lest you start huffing and puffing off tangent.
On 11 May 1969, the opposition almost toppled the ruling party and grabbed or checkmate a few states. Two days later, the ruling party counter-checkmated the opposition by triggering race riots.
On 8 March 2008, it was history being repeated, déjà vu. Hence, the same ‘solution’ will be required to ‘solve’ the 8 March 2008 disaster.
Unknown to most Malaysians, a few attempts were made to arouse the sentiments of the Malays like what they successfully did in 1969. But this time around the Malays were not aroused like in 1969 so the effort failed.
An example would be like what happened in Penang when some Indian-looking Malays held an anti-Chinese demonstration against Lim Guan Eng in front of Komtar in Penang and the white skullcap wearing Malays faced them and dared them to cross the line.
The 500 Indian-looking Malays did not dare take on the 1,000 white skullcap wearing Malays. There were no Chinese in sight. It was Indian-looking Malays versus white skullcap wearing Malays. And the white skullcap wearing Malays were there in defence of Lim Guan Eng, a Chinese.
So it looks like the race card no longer works in this day and age like it did back in 1969. A new strategy would be required. Instead of trying to turn the Malays against the Chinese, which will not work, why not let the Chinese whack the Malays? If we try to tell the Malays that the Chinese are the enemy, the Malays will not buy that. But if the Chinese whack the Malays then in time the Malays will get sick and tired and turn their back on the opposition.
The Chinese are more aggressive than the Malays. Even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad thinks so when he lamented that the Malays are too passive and should be more aggressive like the Chinese. So, instead of trying to work up the Malays against the Chinese, why not work up the Chinese against the Malays?
When provoked, the Chinese react very strongly with foul language and all. Malays, being more feudalistic (another thing about the Malays which Dr Mahathir is pissed about) have been ‘trained’ since when they were toddlers to kowtow to authority. Even the Friday prayer kutbah (sermons) keep reminding the Malays that they must kowtow to authority. So the Malays are not as militant as the Chinese who kicked out their feudal lords a long time ago.
The Malays are also more forgiving. They can whack you for ten years but once you turun padang and go visit them at home, they become very honoured and immediately become your strong support. You also need to just hold the chief for the rest to follow -- again, the herd mentality, as Dr Mahathir said. Even Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s First Prime Minister, agrees with this. ‘Pegang kepala cukup. Yang lain akan ikut,” said the Tunku.
But Malays have two idiosyncrasies. One is ‘Melayu pantang di cabar’ (it is taboo to provoke a Malay). The other is the amuk syndrome. Is not the English word amok taken from the Malay word mengamuk? That’s because Malays appear to be the only race that has a penchant for doing this (the result of the legend of Hang Jebat, a Malay hero).
Malays also have a proverb that goes: biar mati anak, jangan mati adat. Malay culture and traditions must be upheld even if the child needs to be sacrificed.
And what else does the Malay hold dear and will kill or die for? What else? Islam of course! If the Malays can be made to feel that Islam is being compromised, challenged, insulted, etc., then they will rise in anger as they do even if they are not Malays like in Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. A challenge against Islam is a challenge against God and hence you must die or else I will die trying to kill you. That is my duty as a Muslim.
Take all these ingredients and mix them into a bowl and what do you get? What you get would be a fruitcake. And we need fruitcake Malays if we want to turn the Malays against the Chinese.
Yes, it is not easy to turn the Malays against the Chinese any longer, not like in 1969. It is easier to turn the Chinese against the Malays. By doing so the Malays would merajuk (sulk). They may not take up arms like they did in 1969. That may be too much to expect from present day Malays. But the Malays suffer from an illness called cepat kecik hati (feel hurt too easily).
Hey, I can believe that. I am only part Bugis, part Orang Asli and part Welsh and even I get kecik hati with many readers of Malaysia Today when I read the comments they post. Even I, who can claim to be not pure Malay, have many times considered just closing down Malaysia Today and tell the lot of you to go to hell or go screw yourselves. What more the Malays from the kampongs?
Today, PKR, PAS and Umno are united on the Erykah Badu ban. They are also united on the view that apostasy needs to be combated. So the Malays can, if they want to, set aside their political differences and unite under a common cause. You just need to find that cause. And there are enough causes out there to latch on to. The rest would be clever engineering.
And this is something the Chinese do not understand. The Chinese are prepared to compromise. They can accept a bad government in the interest of cari makan (rice bowl). They can accept ABU even if we replace a bigger devil with a smaller devil and even if both are devils but merely differ in degree. They can accept the lesser of the two evils as long as the lesser evil is to their interest.
The Malays, as Tun Dr Mahathir lamented, are too passionate, sentimental and emotional (which makes them better lovers, of course -- and am I not passionate, sentimental and emotional in the way I write?). The Malays, according to Tun Dr Mahathir, are not pragmatic like the Chinese. And this is why the Malays fail while the Chinese succeed, argued Tun Dr Mahathir.
Sun Tzu said: to win the war you need to know your enemies. Raja Petra Kamarudin wants to add to what Sun Tzu said: to win the war you also need to know your friends.
The question is: which one is your friend and which one is your enemy? Your enemy is not the 51% Malay voters who voted Barisan Nasional in March 2008. Your enemy is certainly not the 49% Malay voters who voted Pakatan Rakyat in March 2008. Your enemy are those who walk in the corridors of power in Putrajaya and the 2,500 Umno delegates who attend the Umno general assembly to elect their party President who then becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Today, many Malays already feel kecik hati. If Raja Petra can become kecik hati what more the other Malays? And this can only mean one thing: Umno is succeeding. Umno did not succeed in turning the Malays against the Chinese. Umno succeeded in making the Malays become kecik hati because they feel the Chinese have now demonstrated that they are not real friends of the Malays.
That, my friends, is called realpolitik. And would Umno be able to rule Malaysia for 55 years if they did not understand realpolitik? Can those of you who entered the scene only in 2007 be better than those who have been playing this game since 1957? I fear not, my friend.

Bumi / non-Bumi? Or one people, one nation, all equal? You decide

by Haris Ibrahim,

I started this blog on 14th April, 2007.

And this blog bears testimony that my politics has, during this time, been about striving to end the inequalities and consequent injustice inflicted on almost 40% of our people by reason of UMNO / BN’s race-based, ethnocentric divide and rule of the country.

This includes the bumi / non-bumi classification.

UMNO / BN will not give up on these divides.

And I’m not just talking about the leaders in UMNO.

In late 2010, I attended a talk by Bernard Dompok in Assumption Church, PJ.

In the course of his presentation, he mentioned the word ‘bumiputra’ twice.

During Q&A, I asked him whether, given Najib’s 1Malaysia, he would not lead the way in dsimantling the bumi / non-bumi divide by pronouncing his refusal to be categorised as a bumi?

I do not remember his exact words, but he responded to the effect that Malaysians by far and large may not as yet be ready to abandon the benefits that go with being classified as bumi.

In reality, it is the BN leaders, their cronies, and bumis who have benefited from this classification that wish to see this divide continue.

The majority of those classified as bumi have only had crumbs tossed from the BN banquet table, for which they are expected to be eternally grateful.

What of the non-BN political party leaders?

Through all of 2007 and the better part of 2008, I blogged that I wished Anwar would give me a reason to trust him enough to run this country.

Then, in August 2008, in my ‘Dear Anwar’ post, I had written that whilst I still did not trust Anwar, 3 things had moved me to ‘take a chance’ with him.

I want to reproduce here what I had said in that post of the third thing that had moved me to take a chance with Anwar leading this nation.

“…on 5th August, I heard you deliver your ceramah in Bentong, Pahang.


I have attended many of your ceramah but, quite frankly, this was the first time that I heard you speak with humility, particularly your appeal to any who might feel inclined to go to Permatang Pauh to help in your election campaign.


What particularly touched me and my family who were present, something that has also got the mention of G. Krishnan in his blog today, was when you said :


‘Anak Melayu, anak kita, anak Cina anak kita, anak India, pun anak kita. Mengapa harus kita bezakan?”


Succinctly, you had articulated that which I have felt for such a long, long time and which, without more, sums up the spirit of anak Bangsa Malaysia that I hope one day will be definitive of us as a people of this nation.


It is this last matter that I have mentioned, irrational as it may seem to many, that has most moved me to ‘take a chance”.

I will hold Anwar to this.

In the last few weeks, speaking at several ABU ceramah, I have time and again denounced UMNO’s claim to defend the special rights of the Malays.

There is no such thing as special rights of the Malays.

There is no such creature called bumiputra known to our constitution.

These are concepts and statures contrived by UMNO to divide us, rule us, and then bleed us to death.

Again and again, I have asked at these ceramah, how it is that, without this privilege that UMNO calls ‘hak keistimewaan Melayu’, the Malays in Singapore and Brunei fare better than the Malays here?

The answer : the Malays in Singapore and Brunei have not had to suffer 50 years of UMNO rule, rape and plunder.

I expect the non-BN political parties who look to us to send them to Putrajaya even as we work to bury UMNO / BN come the 13th GE, or through our own Tahrir Square, as the case may be, to have the moral courage to go to ground and tell the rakyat that we were intended to be and are a nation of equals.

Without mentioning names, I want to say that I am quite tired of non-BN politicians telling me, as did Bernard Dompok, that whilst they agree that we are all equal, the general populace are not ready to hear this.

Again, without mentioning names, I am quite fed up of listening to non-BN politicians assuring the Malays that their special rights will not be affected if there is a regime change in Putrajaya.

The reality is that politicians, on both sides of the divide, would rather leave this thorny issue to be dealt with on another day.

Another day, about 50 years from now, if they had their way.

And if you let them have their way, get ready to live with this bumi / non-bumi divide for a long time yet.