A frail looking Uthayakumar in the dock today raising his cuffed hands in salute.- pic provided by Uthayakumar's family members
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — The undisputed leader of Hindraf and the Makkal Sakthi movement, lawyer Uthayakumar Ponnusamy says he is disappointed the five Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states have failed to do the things that Malaysian Indians had expected of them after the March 8 general election.
He also said that Umno and the BN were beyond redemption and he would not work with them.
He told this to The Malaysian Insider in an interview at the Jalan Duta court here today while waiting for his sedition case to be heard.
He said PR was not taking Indian problems seriously and that was because Indians as a political force were divided and fractured.
“They are everywhere (in different political parties) and so their force is diluted and their interest sidelined,” he said.
He said PR can with a “stroke of the pen” resolve the issues like giving land for temples, Tamil schools and crematoriums but they have not done so.
“They have become like the MIC...using the media to project themselves but in actual fact very few land allocation has been given out to Indians. They must step up their efforts, be more sincere and issue land titles as well, not just make stories in the Tamil newspapers,” he said.
He slammed Umno as beyond repair and labelled the party “anti-minorities” and promised that Hindraf or Makkal Sakthi will never co-operate with BN/Umno.
“We are independent...neither Pakatan nor BN,” he said adding however “everything” would be resolved after his release from ISA detention.
He said the solution for Indians is to unite but he firmly declined to confirm or deny whether a new political party headed by him is the ultimate solution.
“Wait still I come out, everything will fall into place,” a frail looking Uthayakumar said from the dock, his hands cuffed and watched over by at least a dozen police personnel.
Dressed in a white shirt, faded and torn black pants and bearded, Uthayakumar complained of complication from untreated diabetes — a swollen and scarred leg that, he claimed, can lead to amputation.
His lawyer M. Manoharan, the Teluk Intan MP, urged the judge to admit Uthayakumar to the private Gleneagles Hospital in Ampang but the court ordered police to take him to the nearest government hospital for an immediate check-up.
Sessions Judge Sabariah Othman then postponed the case to April 28 and Uthayakumar was taken to the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital for a check up.
He also said he has completed a book on the Nov 25, 2007 Hindraf rally that shook the capital and the political establishment which still “amazes” him.
“I am working on a second book about the political future of Malaysian Indians,” he said.
He remains confident that once he is released, the Indians would unify under one leadership and claim their rightful place under the Malaysian sun.
“Before Anwar was released from prison in 2004, the PKR and the opposition was fractured, disunited and infighting was common. But after he was released everything fell into place,” he said adding the same would happen when he is released.
His two-year detention under the ISA expires in December and he is hoping to be released then.
“Anyway they have to release me sometime,” he said.
Uthayakumar, detained in Kamunting under the Internal Security Act since Dec 13, 2007, was brought down from the Kamunting detention centre yesterday for the trial.
He is charged with sedition over a letter posted by Hindraf and addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown highlighting marginalisation of Indian Malaysians in strong accusatory language.
The letter also sought the British help to move an emergency UN resolution condemning “ethnic cleansing” of Indians in Malaysia by Umno.
He was charged with sedition on Dec 11, 2007.
About 50 people gathered in court to lend moral support for Uthayakumar.
Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — The undisputed leader of Hindraf and the Makkal Sakthi movement, lawyer Uthayakumar Ponnusamy says he is disappointed the five Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states have failed to do the things that Malaysian Indians had expected of them after the March 8 general election.
He also said that Umno and the BN were beyond redemption and he would not work with them.
He told this to The Malaysian Insider in an interview at the Jalan Duta court here today while waiting for his sedition case to be heard.
He said PR was not taking Indian problems seriously and that was because Indians as a political force were divided and fractured.
“They are everywhere (in different political parties) and so their force is diluted and their interest sidelined,” he said.
He said PR can with a “stroke of the pen” resolve the issues like giving land for temples, Tamil schools and crematoriums but they have not done so.
“They have become like the MIC...using the media to project themselves but in actual fact very few land allocation has been given out to Indians. They must step up their efforts, be more sincere and issue land titles as well, not just make stories in the Tamil newspapers,” he said.
He slammed Umno as beyond repair and labelled the party “anti-minorities” and promised that Hindraf or Makkal Sakthi will never co-operate with BN/Umno.
“We are independent...neither Pakatan nor BN,” he said adding however “everything” would be resolved after his release from ISA detention.
He said the solution for Indians is to unite but he firmly declined to confirm or deny whether a new political party headed by him is the ultimate solution.
“Wait still I come out, everything will fall into place,” a frail looking Uthayakumar said from the dock, his hands cuffed and watched over by at least a dozen police personnel.
Dressed in a white shirt, faded and torn black pants and bearded, Uthayakumar complained of complication from untreated diabetes — a swollen and scarred leg that, he claimed, can lead to amputation.
His lawyer M. Manoharan, the Teluk Intan MP, urged the judge to admit Uthayakumar to the private Gleneagles Hospital in Ampang but the court ordered police to take him to the nearest government hospital for an immediate check-up.
Sessions Judge Sabariah Othman then postponed the case to April 28 and Uthayakumar was taken to the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital for a check up.
He also said he has completed a book on the Nov 25, 2007 Hindraf rally that shook the capital and the political establishment which still “amazes” him.
“I am working on a second book about the political future of Malaysian Indians,” he said.
He remains confident that once he is released, the Indians would unify under one leadership and claim their rightful place under the Malaysian sun.
“Before Anwar was released from prison in 2004, the PKR and the opposition was fractured, disunited and infighting was common. But after he was released everything fell into place,” he said adding the same would happen when he is released.
His two-year detention under the ISA expires in December and he is hoping to be released then.
“Anyway they have to release me sometime,” he said.
Uthayakumar, detained in Kamunting under the Internal Security Act since Dec 13, 2007, was brought down from the Kamunting detention centre yesterday for the trial.
He is charged with sedition over a letter posted by Hindraf and addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown highlighting marginalisation of Indian Malaysians in strong accusatory language.
The letter also sought the British help to move an emergency UN resolution condemning “ethnic cleansing” of Indians in Malaysia by Umno.
He was charged with sedition on Dec 11, 2007.
About 50 people gathered in court to lend moral support for Uthayakumar.
Baradan Kuppusamy
03/02/09
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