KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Expect fireworks if the Speaker allows an urgent debate on the Hindraf 5 and other Internal Security Act detainees on Wednesday.
During the pre-council briefing to Barisan Nasional MPs yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urged them to be ready for provocative questions from the Opposition, especially on the Hindu Rights Action Force issue and ISA.
He told them to hold their ground and not be cowed by the Opposition, saying that MPs from Pakatan Rakyat were under pressure from their supporters to deliver on their election promises of abolishing the ISA and freeing M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, R. Kenghadharan, V. Ganabatirau and T. Vasantha Kumar.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang has filed a motion for an urgent debate tomorrow on the release of the Hindraf 5 and over 60 other detainees being held in Kamunting detention centre under the ISA.
Writing in his blog, he said: “the refusal of the government to release the Hindraf 5 and the scores of other ISA detainees is proof that the Abdullah administration is not prepared to heed the people’s aspirations clearly articulated in the March 8 'political tsunami' to end its arrogant governance and to revoke its high-handed and undemocratic policies and laws."
The Speaker of Dewan Rakyat can allow an urgent debate if he deems that the issue is fixed; whether it involves a matter of public importance and whether the issue needs to be handled immediately. Supporters of the Hindraf 5 argue that Uthayakumar is not keeping well and that his sugar level is very high, the result of being given a carbohydrate-rich diet.
His mother has written to Abdullah asking for the release of Uthayakumar and the other Hindraf detainees. She wrote: "Mr Prime Minister as a father to this nation to exercise compassion and fairness to all your 'children'. The families of the 5 are suffering daily. They shed tears daily unable to explain to their young children why their fathers who spoke the truth are incarcerated. Their young children suffer psychological scars as a result of being denied the love and care of their fathers."
But hopes of an early release were dashed when it was learnt that the King, on the advice of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Board, signed a two-year detention order for the five in mid-April. Hindraf came to prominence in November last year when it organised demonstrations to highlight the marginalisation of Indians in Malaysia.
Initially, the government discounted them as a non-governmental organisation with little clout. But all this changed when the group managed to attract some 30,000 people to take to the streets in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25. The protest was put down by riot police but Uthayakumar and other leaders then went on a road show, bringing their allegations of discrimination to temples and political gatherings.
The police detained the 5 under the ISA, arguing that they were threat to national security. Their detention turned them into martyrs in the Indian community and was one of the reasons why Indian voters deserted the BN in droves in Election 2008 and supported Pakatan Rakyat candidates.
In return for the support of the Indian community, the Opposition pledged to push for the release of the Hindraf 5. Tomorrow will their first attempt.
The Malaysian Insider
PEOPLE'S POWER
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