Hindraf leaders to contest in polls?

DAP leaders are believed to be looking into the possibility of fielding Hindraf leaders detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in the upcoming general election.

Of the five Hindraf leaders held in Kamunting, M Manoharan and V Ganabatirau are the two tipped as possible candidates as they are DAP members.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng when contacted neither denied nor confirmed the possibility.

"I don’t want to discuss candidacy at this point. However, as they are party members, they are definitely qualified to be nominated," said Lim.

In 1978, the party fielded two ISA detainees Chan Kok Kit and Chang Heng Kai in the Sungai Besi and Batu Gajah parliamentary seats respectively.

Both individuals won the seats comfortably, but Lim stressed that they were both incumbents.

The duo were detained for nearly five years under the ISA for alleged communist links that was never proven.

Monaharan and Ganabatirau are by comparison less experienced in the polls. However, the former contested, and lost, once for the Segambut parliamentary seat in 1999.
Support from community

Counsel for the five Hindraf leaders and DAP vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran said he had received many requests from party supporters and the Indian community to push the detainees into the political ring.

This includes nominating Hindraf’s most recognisable face, lawyer P Uthayakumar, as a candidate in Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in a face-off with MIC president Samy Vellu.

"Then again, there are also many who are against this idea because they want the Hindraf leaders to remain solely as an NGO voice," said Kulasegaran, who is also Ipoh Barat MP.

Elaborating, Kulasegaran said the five Hindraf leaders shot to fame not for political reasons but for organising the Nov 25 rally which drew tens of thousands of Indians calling for equal rights and an end to marginalisation of the community.

"They did not hold any political banner. They were there as a common front without portraying any political objectives," he added.

As such, Kulasegaran stressed that the chances of fielding detained Hindraf leaders as candidates would depend on the detainees themselves, public sentiment and the party leadership.
DAP to meet detainees

Another counsel for the five Hindraf leaders, A Sivanesan, told Malaysiakini that DAP leaders are expected to visit the detainees soon to discuss "political matters".

According to Sivanesan, who is also an active DAP member, he had received a letter from Manoharan which indicated that the latter was interested in "playing a role" in the upcoming general election.

Sivanesan was however declined to elaborate on the matter.

In another development, Moharan and Uthayakumar were said to be in "high spirits" following their discharge on Tuesday from the Taiping general hospital following a hunger strike.

Lawyer Edmund Bon, who was part of a Bar Council delegation to the Kamunting detention centre yesterday, said the duo appeared to be recovering from their hunger strike.

(The nine-member Bar Council team, led by vice-president K Ragunath, had visited the detention centre to visit ISA detainees and offer their legal assistance).

Uthayakumar was warded since Jan 24 while Manoharan was warded three days later. Initially, the five were supposed to be on hunger strike between Jan 21 to Jan 28 to protest their detention.

The five Hindraf leaders - including T Vasanthakumar and R Kenghadharan - were detained on Dec 13 for allegedly threatening national security. All five of them have filed habeas corpus applications to challenge their detention orders.