Malaysian Indian stand up the worst form of violations, victimization, discrimination and human rights abuses perpetrated against them by UMNO government

Colonial Malaya.....Indian settlers came to Malaya from Tamil Nadu in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these came to work as labourers on rubber plantations, while those who were English-educated occupied more professional positions. A minority of Indian immigrants to Malaysia during this time period came from Northern India and Sri Lanka.

Culture......Malaysian Hinduism is diverse, with large urban temples dedicated to specific deities, and smaller temples located on estates. The estate temples generally follow the tradition of the Indian region from which the temples' worshippers originate. Many people follow the Shaivite, or Saivite, tradition (worship of Shiva), of Southern India. However, there are also some Vaishnava Hindus in Malaysia as well, many of them of North Indian extraction, and these Hindus worship in temples such as the Geeta Ashram in Seksyen 52, Petaling Jaya, or the Lakshmi-Narayan Temple in Kampung Kasipillay, Kuala Lumpur. Services in these temples are usually conducted in Hindi and English.

Since the Second World War a revival of Hinduism has occurred among Indian Malaysians, with the foundation of organisations and councils to bring unity or to promote reform. Hindu religious festivals.....Some of the major Hindu festivals celebrated every year include Ponggal, Deepavali and Thaipusam.

Persecution of Hindus...Destruction of Hindu temples.....See also: HINDRAF and 2007 HINDRAF rally..After a violent conflict in Penang between Hindus and Muslims in March 1998, the government announced a nationwide review of unlicensed Hindu temples and shrines. However, implementation was not vigorous and the program was not a subject of public debate. Between April to May 2006, several Hindu temples were demolished by city hall authorities in the country, accompanied by violence against Hindus.On April 21, 2006, the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur was reduced to rubble after the city hall sent in bulldozers. The authorities' excuse was that these temples were unlicensed and squatting on government land. The president of the Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam in Selangor had been helping to organise efforts to stop the local authorities in the Muslim dominated city of Shah Alam from demolishing a 107-year-old Hindu temple. The growing Islamization in Malaysia is a cause for concern to many Malaysians who follow minority religions such as Hinduism.

On May 11, 2006, armed city hall officers from Kuala Lumpur forcefully demolished part of a 90-year-old suburban temple that serves more than 3,000 Hindus. The "Hindu Rights Action Force", a coalition of several NGO's, have protested these demolitions by lodging complaints with the Malaysian Prime Minister.....HINDRAF chairman, Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, said: “ ...These state atrocities are committed against the most underprivileged and powerless sector of the Hindu society in Malaysia. We appeal that this Hindu temple and all other Hindu temples in Malaysia are not indiscriminately and unlawfully demolished ” Many Hindu advocacy groups have protested what they allege is a systematic plan of temple cleansing in Malaysia. The official reason given by the Malaysian government has been that the temples were built "illegally". However, several of the temples are centuries old.

According to a lawyer for the Hindu Rights Action Task Force, a Hindu temple is demolished in Malaysia once every one week. In 2007, Malaysian Hindu organizations protested the destruction of Hindu temples by the Malaysian regime. On October 30, 2007 the 100-year-old Maha Mariamman Temple in Padang Jawa was demolished by Malaysian authorities. Following that demolition, Works Minister and head of the Malaysian Indian Congress Samy Vellu, who is of Indian origin, said that Hindu temples built on government land were still being demolished despite his appeals to the various state chief ministers. Actually being a minister and leader of the Indian community - he has no power at all. Such temple destructions in Malaysia have been reported by the Hindu American Foundation.

HAF notes that the Government of Malaysia Restricts Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association contrary to Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and Article 10 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, and that the application filed by Malaysian Hindus to hold gatherings have been arbitrarily denied by the police. The Government has also tried to suppress a campaign launched by an NGO, the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) to obtain 100,000 signatures in support of a civil suit against the Government of United Kingdom. HINDRAF has accused the Malaysian government of intimidating and instilling fear in the Indian community.

The Hindraf rally prompted the Malaysian government to open dialogue with various Indian and Hindu organizations like the Malaysia Hindu Council, Malaysia Hindudharma Mamandram, and Malaysian Indian Youth Council (MIYC) to address the misgivings of the Indian community. HINDRAF itself has been excluded from these talks and no significant changes have resulted from the discussions.

Cow head debacle.....The Cow head protests was a protest that was held in front of the Selangor state government headquarters at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building, Shah Alam, Malaysia on August 28, 2009. The protest was called so because the act of a few participants who brought along a cow head, which they later "stomped on the head and spat on it before leaving the site". The cow is considered a sacred animal to Hindus.

The protest was held due to Selangor state government's intention to relocate a Hindu temple from Section 19 residential area of Shah Alam to Section 23. The protesters were mainly Muslimextremists who opposed the relocation due to the fact that Section 23 was a Muslim majority area. The protest leaders were also recorded saying there would be blood if a temple was constructed in Shah Alam. The protest was caught on video by the popular Malaysian online news portal Malaysiakini.

Conversions....Laws in the country, especially those concerning religious identity, are generally slanted towards compulsion into converting to Islam.

In August 2010, a Malaysian woman named Siti Hasnah Banggarma was denied the right to convert to Hinduism by a Malaysian court. Banggarma, who was born a Hindu, but was forcibly converted to Islam at a young age, desired to reconvert back to Hinduism and appealed to the courts to recognize her reconversion. The appeal was denied. There have been cases of flagellation in prisons and they were confirmed by the authorities.

In November 2007, two of the largest political rallies since 1998 took place in Kuala Lumpur challenging the government of Abdullah Badawi. The Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) rally on 25 November was attended by at least 50,000 protesters, mainly ethnic Indian, demanding equal social and economic rights from the Bumiputras. Tamil politicians in India such as Karunanidhicame out in support of the largely Tamil Indian population by demanding the Indian government take up their matter with their Malaysian counterparts. Hundreds of HINDRAF marchers were arrested after police used tear gas, chemical water spraying and brutality to break up the rally. 5 Hindraf leaders were arrested under Internal Security Act and Hindraf was banned as an extremist, terrorist organisation.

In a letter dated 10 December 2007, the internal security ministry banned the Malay-language section of a Catholic weekly newspaper, the Catholic Herald due to its use of the word Allah, resulting in the Allah Controversy.

KG.MEDAN GENOCIDE - The genocide against the innocent and unarmed people of Kg Medan in 2001 left 100 over killed and/or seriously injured. The Malaysian Human Rights Commission refused to hold an inquiry and the State refused to hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry. The courts and office of the Attorney General refused to hold inquests into the deaths - contrary to article 5 of the Federal Constitution and section 339 of the criminal procedure code. Worst still, no proper compensation was awarded to the victims, although RM112.5billion was approved in the 2004 budget.

UNIVERSITY INTAKE - University intake for Indians declined from more than 10% in 1970 to 5.2% in 2003. In 2004 a meritocracy system was introduced, but it turned out to be “meritocracy without merits”. Hundreds of poor ethnic minority Malaysian-Indian students were deprived of their right to education. Matriculation courses for entry into public universities are almost exclusively for the majority community.

MEDICAL SEATS - Medical seats for Malaysian-Indians in the University of Malaya were reduced by 98% from 16 seats in 2001 to only one seat in 2003. This in effect means that almost 2.1 million Indians compete for just one medical seat at this university. When increasing numbers of Indian students opted to study overseas, in June 2005, the state took steps to curb this trend. The medical degrees from the Crimea state university were no longer derecognized, although the reasons for this decision are questionable. The status of medical degrees from universities which accept significant levels of Malaysian-Indian students is also currently up for review.

TAMIL SCHOOLS - 80% of the 523 Tamil schools (ethnic minority Malaysian-Indian schools) are in dilapidated state with almost no sports, recreational, computer and library facilities, which are accorded to national schools. Although primary school education is compulsory by law, Tamil schools do not receive full government aid. About 95% of Tamil schools do not have kindergartens: 99% of national schools do. MAJORITARIAN RULE THROUGH CIVIL SERVICE - Discrimination against Malaysian-Indians in employment in the civil service sectors is evident. Figures indicate that Indian participation in the civil service has reduced from about 40% in 1957 to about 2% in 2003. Of this 2%, the majority work in the clerical and industrial manual group. There is no equal opportunity for promotions.NO BUSINESS LICENCES / OPPORTUNITIES - Few or no business or commerical licences are given to Malaysian-Indians, and as a result only 1% of Indians participate in the country’s economic wealth. Moreover, rumours indicate that this 1% is largely the result of the contributions of one state sponsored Indian millionaire.

VICTIMISATION BY POLICE - Studies have revealed that Indians form about 60% of innocent people shot dead by the police, 60 % of innocent people dying in police custody, and 60% of detainees in police lockups and detention centres. NO EFFECTIVE LEGAL AID - Of those detained, almost 95% of them plead guilty when they may not necessarity be guilty. Most of the crimes they commit are poverty related. They cannot afford legal fees and there is no effective legal aid system.

LOWEST PER CAPITA - Studies have revealed that Indians have the lowest per capita income at 1000.00RM per month. The national per capita income is estimated at 14,954RM in the 2004 budget. Therefore, Indians are about 95% below the national average. In reality, many Indian families earn a meagre RM450.00 per month

ABUSE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN - Everyday Indian women and children are victims of abuse. For instance, during an interrogation at Rawang police station, an Indian lady was ordered to perform oral sex on another detainee. Her husband and daughter were stripped naked before her. She was told that her 18year old daughter would be raped. Another 14year old boy was arrested from his house, and while in police custody, ordered to do 150 push ups. When he stopped after 20 he was kicked by police and his leg was broken.
LABOUR CLASS - 80% of ethnic Malaysian-Indians are laborers, Industrial Manual Group workers, office boys, security guards, public toilet cleaners, general workers, road sweepers, beggars, squatters, criminals, gangsters.

ETHNIC MALAYSIAN INDIAN POOR - Indians form 60% of urban squatters and 41% of beggars. About 80% this community is in the poor or very poor bracket. POVERTY AMONG ESTATE WORKERS / LABOURERS - 54% of Malaysian-Indians work as plantation or urban underpaid laborers. PATHETIC MONTHLY WAGES - The state has placed a cap of 325.00RM per month on the monthly salaries of plantation workers and of 350.00RM per month for rubber tappers. POOR STUDENTS - 200million RM was allocated to assist poor students to continue with their education but it is estimated that hardly 1% of Indians actually benefit. EMERGENCE OF A NEW ETHNIC MALAYSIAN INDIAN CRIMINAL CLASS - Poverty and lack of opportunity leads to high Indian involvement in crime. There is a high incidence of slashings and killings among the Indian community. SQUATTERS - The rapid development of large plantations has resulted in the displacement of plantation workers, who are then forced to become squatters. The squats are then in turn demolished to make way for more developments.
ORPHANS / OLD FOLKS - The majority of orphanages and old folks homes are filled Indians - a clear indicator of poverty they suffer. SKILLS TRAINING - Access to even the lowest-level skills training institutions are withheld from Indians, which leads to the majority remaining as unemployed or unskilled workers. Even at the NTS Arumugam Pillai Institute, which was built with the help of the South Indian Labour Fund, not one Malaysian-Indian student was admitted in the first round offers.

UNCARING INDIAN PROFESSIONALS / BUSINESSMEN - Indian professionals and businessmen do not care or ignore the real problems befalling on their community, perhaps in an attempt to appear as “multi-racial” or “non racist” NO INDEPENDENT MEDIA - The print and electronic media gives little attention to the discrimination, victimisation and violations of human rights suffered by the Indian community. The media too plays to the majority and prefers to highlight “majoritarian issues”. LEAST ATTENTION BY THE, OPPOSITION PARTIES NGOS’ AND CIVIL SOCIETY - As the Indian community is politically, economically and internationally insignificant even the opposition parties, NGOs and civil society groups generally give them little attention. UNDOCUMENTED ETHINC MINORITY MALAYSIAN INDIANS - Despite 48 years of Independence, there are still thousands of Malaysian-Indians who remain undocumented without birth certificates, identity cards, marriage certificates. This in effect precludes and excludes them from even the official primary school structure, sectors of the formal job market and business community.

THE MALAYSIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND THE ROYAL POLICE COMMISSION REFUSE TO REPORT THE TRUTH - The Malaysian Human Rights Commission and the Royal Police Commission have continuously refused to report even the most serious violations of human rights by the state against this community. For example, the Kg.Medan genocide, of the killings of suspects death in police custody and the holding at gunpoint of a human rights lawyer. INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY - The majority of cases against the state which relate to violations against the Malaysian-Indians are dismissed without a hearing. INDEPENDENT ATTORNEY GENERAL - The attorney general has shown bias in many instances including, prosecuting lawyers for defending the rights of the Indian community, failing to initiate inquests into custodial deaths and avoiding prosecuting authorities. GOVERNMENT BODIES / INSTITUTIONS NOT INDEPENDENT - Almost all government institutions and services are biased in favour of the government and have been known to have engaged in “cover ups” against the people. HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE - Indians have the highest suicide and divorce rates in the country. NO FUNDING FOR NON PRO-GOVERNMENT NGOs - No funding is granted to NGOs which are not pro-government. FEAR FACTOR - This community as a result of years of oppression and suppression is riddled with fear. They are fearful to stand up for even the worst form of violations, victimisation, discrimination and human rights abuses perpetrated against them.