‘Detention made Hindraf more of a hardliner’

Released in May 2009 after close to two years in detention under the Internal Security Act, former Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar believes that he is far from being ‘rehabilitated’.

uthayakumar arrest 231107In what he saw as a strategic move by the government to contain widespread protests, Uthayakumar was ‘spared’ the 60 days of interrogation prior to being sent to the Kamunting detention camp in Perak.

Even in Kamunting, the lawyer by profession ‘escaped’ what detainees saw as monthly brainwashing visits by special branch officers, as he refused to meet the officers and occasionally locked himself in the toilet in protest.

Left to his own devices, Uthayakumar – who had been arrested alongside four other Hindraf leaders following the Nov 25, 2007 rally in Kuala Lumpur – said he had spent his time reading and writing, and poring over newspaper articles.

What he would find in the dailies was evidence of what he believes to be systemic discrimination against Indian Malaysians.

NONE“I was 50-50 before the detention. I took a strong pro-Indian stance before but (while) in detention, I had enough time to document all the 25 categories where the Indian poor are discriminated.

“Things like no higher education and medical studies, Tamil schools, no Felda…I made an index here, for example this (newspaper article) is issue one, this one is issue number three,” he said, showing his detention diary, filled from margin to margin.

“The foundation of our struggle today was laid in Kamunting.”

The list would be called: ‘Umno Racism against Malaysian Indians’. Hindraf would also later refer to the country as “Malay-sia”, in protest of what it sees as a favouring of one race over another.

The man labelled a Hindu extremist in the lead-up to his arrest, however, refutes the suggestion that the detention turned the movement into a racist one.

“No. It made me stronger in my belief. But in Malaysia, if you point out racism, you’re accused of being racist,” said Uthayakumar.

He has built a replica of his cell at the Human Rights Party office in Bangsar Utama to “honour those who were arrested and detained”. He is protem secretary-general of the party.

‘1Malaysia detainees’

The ‘extremist’ label was cause for worry for Uthayakumar when he was moved from his solitary confinement cell after two months, to a share a dorm with Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) detainees.

But it was the JI detainees who lifted his spirits and strengthened his resolve. One of them was the alleged al-Qaeda operative, Yazid Sufaat, who he bumped into early into his detention.

“The first thing Yazid told me was: ‘Welcome to Kamunting, don’t give up your struggle’. It really gave me a boost…a prisoner who has been there for six years…

“You see the govenrment demonised us as Hindu extremists so I thought the Malays would look on us (in a) funny (way).”

NONEIronically, it was while in detention that Uthayakumar felt a sense of equality -something he had not experienced since his years in school in Kelantan.

“There was a detainee, an Indian boy, who was not well. (The JI detainees) put him in a wheelchair, took him out. Here’s a Muslim extremist and I’m supposed to be a Hindu extremist. It was genuinely 1Malaysia in there.

“There was no discrimation, no class, favouritism or special treatment for anybody. No racism. If anything (the other detainees) said we (the Hindraf detainees) got special treatment,” he said with a laugh.

Uthayakumar even fasted during Ramadan with the JI detainees and attended an Islamic class where he had a 1.5-hour rendezvous with Yazid, who was staying at a different dorm.

“We had a chat and the other fellows were poking fun (at me): “Hindu extremist attending agama class, finished lah(laughs). That was the first and last time. After that they didn’t allow non-Muslims to go to agama class.”

‘Regrouping and growing’

Anticipating prolonged detention, Uthayakumar said he had prepared his wife, two teenage daughters and the staff at his law firm to continue without him. Behind bars, he “trained” his mind to “not want freedom”.

manoharan and kota alam shah state seat selangorBut when Hindraf leaders R Kenghadharan and V Ganabatirau were released in April 2009, times got hard particularly for fellow Hindraf detainee and DAP’s Kota Alam Shah assemblyperson M Manoharan (right).

“He was very down and upset: ‘How can? How come they didn’t release us?’ He was going on and on. He was already a YB at the time and he was touching rock bottom.

“It was just two of us in the block and I told him: ‘Mano, you have an option to get out of your misery. You cross over.’ He said: ‘Cannot lah, how can? Cannot!’

“Even then, when he was reaching rock bottom, crossing over was a no-no, even when he was so desperate,” he said in admiration.

And when it was Manoharan’s turn to leave, the DAP man would return within hours as Uthayakumar’s lawyer, on the pretext of persuading him to agree to the offered conditions of release.

“(Manoharan) was in a white shirt and black pants. He had changed…He was back to being a civilian, no longer a prisoner.

“Even his face, the whole outlook changed. The muscles in his face no longer drooped. Mano didn’t realise it but…I could see an instant change.

“Anyway, he knew I would make up my own my mind (to accept the conditions) so we had coffee, and he left.”

Adamant that he would walk out a free man without restrictions, Uthayakumar would later lock himself in the toilet and refuse to meet any officer for “negotiation” knowing full well that he was risking his release.

uthayakumar released from isa detention seremban event 090509 12Plugging his ears and turning his back to the camp director when the conditions were read out to him, Uthayakumar was then “thrown” into a van and left outside the Kamunting camp gate.

“I was literally thrown out of prison,” he said, knowing full well that the new government under Najib Abdul Razak had no choice but to release him, having already made the announcement.

While Uthayakumar feels he has emerged from detention a more determined man, the arrests had both split and stalled the Hindraf movement.

“When my brother (Waythamoorthy) was overseas and I was detained locally, there was no real second-line people to take over. One or two people did what they could.

“(The government) successfully broke up the movement through diversion, like creating the Malaysia Makaal Sakti Party, (so) that some people think we have joined BN.

“If (the government) had not detained us, (Hindraf) would have become stronger. It put us two years behind, and now we are regrouping and growing.”

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