Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Front) chief P Waythamoorthy is livid over news reports that attempts are being made to connect the strictly apolitical human rights and equal rights movement with the newly-registered Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP).
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will be officially launching MMSP, which is headed by a former Hindraf leader, on Oct 10.
“There seems to be a convoluted agenda to draw similarities between Hindraf and MMSP and this is being encouraged by the powers-that-be,” said Waythamoorthy in a statement to Malaysiakini.
“It is strange that the prime minister agreed to launch a party which is not a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional. The speed with which MMSP was registered speaks for itself.”
Waythamoorthy (left) pointed out that MIC, a founder member of the BN, has also warned several times that it would veto any application by the MMSP to join the BN. Admission to BN must be unanimous, while expulsion is by a simple majority.
“The Hindraf pair behind the MMSP were ordinary members, if the term can be used, of Hindraf,” said Waythamoorthy.
MMSP is headed by RS Thanenthiran (below), who is party president, and Kannan Ramasamy, the party secretary-general.
Both men were active with Hindraf after the government crackdown where a number of the movement leaders were arrested, noted Waythamoorthy.
Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar, Waythamoorthy's elder brother, the movement's organising secretary T Vasanthakumar and three other lawyer sympathisers of Hindraf were incarcerated at that time under the draconian Internal Security Act after a Singapore paper linked the movement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).
'Makkal sakthi' expropriated
Explaining the differences between Hindraf and MMSP, Waythamoorthy stressed that the latter is trying to capitalise on the term “makkal sakthi”, Tamil for people power, which was made popular by the rights movement in late 2007.
That was when Hindraf supporters took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur in the thousands to press “for the legitimate aspirations of Malaysians of Indian-origin”.
Makkal sakthi also helped unleash the political tsunami on which the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition rode to power in five states and Kuala Lumpur in the general elections last March, added Waythamoorthy.
“Hindraf will continue to be an umbrella NGO for 30 Indian-based groups which agreed and contributed towards its formation,” said Waythamoorthy. “We are neither pro-Pakatan or anti-BN despite our support for the opposition in the last general election.”
The thrust of Hindraf, according to Waythamoorthy, is to support whoever is pledged towards dismantling the apartheid-like structure of race and religion which has descended on Malaysia.
At the same time, he pledged, the movement will oppose anyone who wants to divide the people of Malaysia along racial and religious lines in politics.
“In short, we are for the truth, regardless of how some people may feel about it,” said Waythamoorthy. “The truth cannot be politicised or sacrificed for reasons of political expediency.”
Drawing a distinction between BN and Umno, the Hindraf chief vowed that his movement will have nothing to do with the Malay-based party, which he blames for all the woes of Malaysians of Indian origin and other Malaysians too.
He does not see Umno redeeming itself ever in the eyes of the Indian community “because it is too set in its ways and politics, and will continue on its death-wish path and implode sooner rather than later”.
Elder brother has right to form own party
The MMSP, claimed Waythamoorthy, is like many other Indian-based political parties who want to emulate the MIC and bring in the Indian votes for the BN to shore up Umno in power “in return for some crumbs from the spoils of office”.
“MMSP is not even a splinter group of Hindraf,” stressed Waythamoorthy. “Neither is the Human Rights Party which is headed by my brother P Uthayakumar and still awaiting registration, unlike the MMSP.
“Uthaya has never been a Hindraf activist. He was only the legal advisor.”
Uthayakumar thinks that the objectives of Hindraf need to be given a political platform, according to Waythamoorthy.
While he has no quarrels with his brother, he begs to differ since “it's not his call to make on Hindraf”.
However, Waythamoorthy concedes that his brother has a right to form his own political party to at least drive home to the electorate the lessons that he has learned during his years in detention under the ISA.
He declined to dwell further on the Human Rights Party,which he was given to understand has no links either with the MMSP.
Waythamoorthy is in self-imposed exile in London where Hindraf has an office, in addition to India, Australia and New York.
The movement's main work is to release the Malaysian Indian Minority and Human Rights Violations Annual Report at the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin and Pravasi Bharathiya Divas international conference every year.
The latter is a gathering of the Indian diaspora where Hindraf and MIC, among others from Malaysia, are represented.
MK
26/09/09
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will be officially launching MMSP, which is headed by a former Hindraf leader, on Oct 10.
“There seems to be a convoluted agenda to draw similarities between Hindraf and MMSP and this is being encouraged by the powers-that-be,” said Waythamoorthy in a statement to Malaysiakini.
“It is strange that the prime minister agreed to launch a party which is not a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional. The speed with which MMSP was registered speaks for itself.”
Waythamoorthy (left) pointed out that MIC, a founder member of the BN, has also warned several times that it would veto any application by the MMSP to join the BN. Admission to BN must be unanimous, while expulsion is by a simple majority.
“The Hindraf pair behind the MMSP were ordinary members, if the term can be used, of Hindraf,” said Waythamoorthy.
MMSP is headed by RS Thanenthiran (below), who is party president, and Kannan Ramasamy, the party secretary-general.
Both men were active with Hindraf after the government crackdown where a number of the movement leaders were arrested, noted Waythamoorthy.
Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar, Waythamoorthy's elder brother, the movement's organising secretary T Vasanthakumar and three other lawyer sympathisers of Hindraf were incarcerated at that time under the draconian Internal Security Act after a Singapore paper linked the movement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).
'Makkal sakthi' expropriated
Explaining the differences between Hindraf and MMSP, Waythamoorthy stressed that the latter is trying to capitalise on the term “makkal sakthi”, Tamil for people power, which was made popular by the rights movement in late 2007.
That was when Hindraf supporters took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur in the thousands to press “for the legitimate aspirations of Malaysians of Indian-origin”.
Makkal sakthi also helped unleash the political tsunami on which the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition rode to power in five states and Kuala Lumpur in the general elections last March, added Waythamoorthy.
“Hindraf will continue to be an umbrella NGO for 30 Indian-based groups which agreed and contributed towards its formation,” said Waythamoorthy. “We are neither pro-Pakatan or anti-BN despite our support for the opposition in the last general election.”
The thrust of Hindraf, according to Waythamoorthy, is to support whoever is pledged towards dismantling the apartheid-like structure of race and religion which has descended on Malaysia.
At the same time, he pledged, the movement will oppose anyone who wants to divide the people of Malaysia along racial and religious lines in politics.
“In short, we are for the truth, regardless of how some people may feel about it,” said Waythamoorthy. “The truth cannot be politicised or sacrificed for reasons of political expediency.”
Drawing a distinction between BN and Umno, the Hindraf chief vowed that his movement will have nothing to do with the Malay-based party, which he blames for all the woes of Malaysians of Indian origin and other Malaysians too.
He does not see Umno redeeming itself ever in the eyes of the Indian community “because it is too set in its ways and politics, and will continue on its death-wish path and implode sooner rather than later”.
Elder brother has right to form own party
The MMSP, claimed Waythamoorthy, is like many other Indian-based political parties who want to emulate the MIC and bring in the Indian votes for the BN to shore up Umno in power “in return for some crumbs from the spoils of office”.
“MMSP is not even a splinter group of Hindraf,” stressed Waythamoorthy. “Neither is the Human Rights Party which is headed by my brother P Uthayakumar and still awaiting registration, unlike the MMSP.
“Uthaya has never been a Hindraf activist. He was only the legal advisor.”
Uthayakumar thinks that the objectives of Hindraf need to be given a political platform, according to Waythamoorthy.
While he has no quarrels with his brother, he begs to differ since “it's not his call to make on Hindraf”.
However, Waythamoorthy concedes that his brother has a right to form his own political party to at least drive home to the electorate the lessons that he has learned during his years in detention under the ISA.
He declined to dwell further on the Human Rights Party,which he was given to understand has no links either with the MMSP.
Waythamoorthy is in self-imposed exile in London where Hindraf has an office, in addition to India, Australia and New York.
The movement's main work is to release the Malaysian Indian Minority and Human Rights Violations Annual Report at the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin and Pravasi Bharathiya Divas international conference every year.
The latter is a gathering of the Indian diaspora where Hindraf and MIC, among others from Malaysia, are represented.
MK
26/09/09
3 comments:
Both my parents are Indian and Hindu; and I am an evolutionist.
PLEASE VOTE AGAINST UMNO IN ALL FUTURE ELECTIONS. Malaysian voters must come of age. Look at India. The Republic of India maintains good relations with Russia, France, USA, Israel, etc. Similarly, I will continue to maintain that it will be in the best interests of the Malaysian people to maintain good relations with all nations.
Until year 1980's and 1990's Indian politicians too had the bad habit of blaming all their woes on the USA and the CIA. By year 2000 everything changed and in the new India very few politicians blame USA and the CIA anymore because the voters no longer believe such propaganda. Now the Indian voters have come of age. Similarly, I hope Malaysian voters too would change and come of age. See India video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP-TwHwLc98
JUST LIKE INDIAN VOTERS HAVE FINALLY COME OF AGE, IT IS TIME FOR MALAYSIANS TOO TO COME OF AGE. Politics in contemporary India is increasingly about economic developmental issues, not targeting a fictitious enemy like USA or CIA. Voters in India no longer want to hear about fictitious enemies like USA or CIA. Malaysian voters too must come of age.
Before year 2000 I used to deny that I was Indian. After year 2000 I am proud to be Indian. Before year 2000 was the old India; after year 2000 is the new India. Old India and New India are not the same. I have no problems with the new India. After year 2000 we can note that the Indian voters have come of age. After year 2000 Indian voters are more interested in local issues such as improved electricity, water, and roads.
In September 2009, some Muslims in Malaysia paraded a cow's head. The media has the right to highlight it. What is news? When a dog bites a man, it is not news worthy. But when a man bites a dog, it is news worthy. The media makes news judgement. The media must be given freedom to decide what is news worthy or not. Please leave the media alone.
Some Muslims decided to protest by carrying a cow's head. So what? They can carry a cow's head if they want to. Nobody should be offended by it. The best thing to do is to play down on it and ignore it. The main thrust for Hindus should and must be in giving a good education to their children. The world will become more competitive. It is the duty of all Hindus in Malaysia to take care of their own families. Please do take care of your own family. If you can, please do work at two jobs so that you can get extra money. So the goal of Hindu Malaysians should be EDUCATION and WORK.
Parading a severed cow's head should not perturb you. If it does perturb you, then you have only yourself to blame. Those people parading a cow's head look like comedians any way. Why are you perturbed by comedians? They say that laughter is the best medicine. It is good to have some comedy.
Some people carry a handbag, some people carry a shopping bag, some people carry a mango, and some people carry an umbrella. Different people carry different things. Similarly, people do have the right to carry and parade a severed cow's head, or for that matter, chicken wings, pig's ears, goat's feet, turtle shell, cat's tail, etc.
If the intention of the Muslim protesters is to encourage beef consumption, then I can assure you that more Hindus in Malaysia consume beef and pork nowadays. If the Muslim protesters regularly parade a severed cow's head, it may encourage beef consumption, which is a good thing. I hope the Muslim protesters promote beef consumption by parading a severed cow's head regularly. Cattle farmers will be supportive of the idea of increasing beef consumption. In fact, you can even persuade the cattle farmers to pay the Muslim protesters.
If the intention of the Muslim protesters is to encourage beef consumption, then I can assure you that more Hindus in Malaysia consume beef and pork nowadays. If the Muslim protesters regularly parade a severed cow's head, it may encourage beef consumption, which is a good thing. I hope the Muslim protesters promote beef consumption by parading a severed cow's head regularly. Cattle farmers will be supportive of the idea of increasing beef consumption. In fact, you can even persuade the cattle farmers to pay the Muslim protesters.
Incidentally, there are many Hindus in Malaysia who eat pork and beef. After you see a cow's head being paraded several times, then you would get used to it and it would no longer perturb you any more. The human mind has the capacity to de-sensitize. It may help to increase beef consumption. Wait a minute. Beef has high cholesterol but not as high as crustaceans.
Similarly, many Muslims consume pork too. Again, after eating pork for some time, you would get used to it. If you are non-Muslim, please do treat your Muslim friend to some pork food. Pork consumption may be irresistible to Muslims especially if non-Muslims pay for it.
Why are Muslims perturbed when a Hindu temple relocates to a Muslim majority area? Muslims do not have to enter the Hindu temple if they do not want to. There is no way the Hindu temple would perturb Muslims. I think the matter should be referred to the Judicial System. Muslims should stop over-reacting. The Muslims look like comedians when they overreact and carry a severed cow's head, parade it, and stomp it. What's the matter with the Muslims? I am a beef and pork eater and I would be glad to stomp a severed cow's head only if I am paid well enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_lBBx4UnoE
The human mind has the capacity to de-sensitize. There are people who make a living as butchers and people who do autopsies. We need butchers and autopsies. Hindus must come of age and accept butchers and autopsies, and all the other jobs as important to a socio-economic system. It is good that more Hindus are eating pork and beef these days. It is the duty of Hindu groups to prepare the Hindu youth for the 21st century. We have to detach food from divinity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R7eqMug-wo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udi8IpP3Uy8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVuIeK5_YuQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yZdBrwjFa8
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A Hindu temple, Sri Maha Mariamman temple from Section 19 needs to be relocated to Section 23. But the Muslim residents of Section 23 object to the relocation plan. So some Muslims carried a severed cow's head and made a protest march. It is the right of people to carry a severed cow's head. But objecting to the relocation of a Hindu temple to Section 23 is unreasonable. The presence of a Hindu temple in a Muslim majority area will in no way interfere in the daily lives of Muslims. May cool heads prevail. I hope we can find a solution.
Please vote against UMNO in all future elections. It is time for Malaysian voters to come of age and vote UMNO out of power.
If the intention of the Muslim protesters is to encourage beef consumption, then I can assure you that more Hindus in Malaysia consume beef and pork nowadays. If the Muslim protesters regularly parade a severed cow's head, it may encourage beef consumption, which is a good thing. I hope the Muslim protesters promote beef consumption by parading a severed cow's head regularly. Cattle farmers will be supportive of the idea of increasing beef consumption. In fact, you can even persuade the cattle farmers to pay the Muslim protesters.
Incidentally, there are many Hindus in Malaysia who eat pork and beef. After you see a cow's head being paraded several times, then you would get used to it and it would no longer perturb you any more. The human mind has the capacity to de-sensitize. It may help to increase beef consumption. Wait a minute. Beef has high cholesterol but not as high as crustaceans.
Similarly, many Muslims consume pork too. Again, after eating pork for some time, you would get used to it. If you are non-Muslim, please do treat your Muslim friend to some pork food. Pork consumption may be irresistible to Muslims especially if non-Muslims pay for it.
Why are Muslims perturbed when a Hindu temple relocates to a Muslim majority area? Muslims do not have to enter the Hindu temple if they do not want to. There is no way the Hindu temple would perturb Muslims. I think the matter should be referred to the Judicial System. Muslims should stop over-reacting. The Muslims look like comedians when they overreact and carry a severed cow's head, parade it, and stomp it. What's the matter with the Muslims? I am a beef and pork eater and I would be glad to stomp a severed cow's head only if I am paid well enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_lBBx4UnoE
The human mind has the capacity to de-sensitize. There are people who make a living as butchers and people who do autopsies. We need butchers and autopsies. Hindus must come of age and accept butchers and autopsies, and all the other jobs as important to a socio-economic system. It is good that more Hindus are eating pork and beef these days. It is the duty of Hindu groups to prepare the Hindu youth for the 21st century. We have to detach food from divinity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R7eqMug-wo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udi8IpP3Uy8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVuIeK5_YuQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yZdBrwjFa8
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A Hindu temple, Sri Maha Mariamman temple from Section 19 needs to be relocated to Section 23. But the Muslim residents of Section 23 object to the relocation plan. So some Muslims carried a severed cow's head and made a protest march. It is the right of people to carry a severed cow's head. But objecting to the relocation of a Hindu temple to Section 23 is unreasonable. The presence of a Hindu temple in a Muslim majority area will in no way interfere in the daily lives of Muslims. May cool heads prevail. I hope we can find a solution.
Please vote against UMNO in all future elections. It is time for Malaysian voters to come of age and vote UMNO out of power.
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