The police continue to clamp down on Hindraf leaders campaigning against the controversial novel Interlok.
Among the eight are Human Rights Party president W Sambulingam, 48, Perak Hindraf chief P Ramesh, 45, and Selangor Hindraf deputy chief CF Mani, 35.
The trio was arrested at 11.30am and released six hours later by Kulim police during a similar forum in Paya Besar, Lunas, this morning.
Also detained was Hindraf-HRP adviser N Ganesan, 60.
Others were K Maran, 48, A Govindasamy, 32, R Kumaraguru Naidu, 42, and S Sundar, 42.
Police arrested only three people including Sambulingam, while the other five voluntarily surrendered themselves and entered into the police truck.
The forum began at 6.30pm at Meenatchi Amman Kovil community hall with an address by Sambulingam and Ganesan.
Earlier, heavy police presence, including lighting strike force personnel armed with batons, were visible in and outside the temple compound.
However, the heavy police presence did not rattle the Hindraf leaders and activists who showed their defiance yet again to oppose the controversial Interlok novel.
However, while the Hindraf leaders were addressing some 80 people, the police suddenly entered the hall in full force and tried to stop the forum.
The Hindraf activists refused to be the intimidated and immediately formed a human shield to prevent the police from detaining the speakers.
After nearly about an hour of fiery argument, the police finally gave the Hindraf leaders five minutes to end the forum and disperse peacefully.
Complying with the police order, Sambulingam ended his speech and told Hindraf activists and supporters to leave the hall peacefully.
However, police stormed the hall again to order the organisers to stop the forum.
Another round of argument erupted before police agreed with Hindraf’s request to allow its activists to leave peacefully.
Their sudden arrests came as a surprise given that Seberang Perai Selatan district police chief Shafien Mama, who was the operations ground commander, told reporters earlier that “they are following our instructions… so they (Hindraf leaders) would not be arrested.”
Upon seeing their colleagues being manhandled and escorted to a police truck, Ganesan, Ramesh and three others voluntarily surrendered and entered the vehicle.
It is learnt that the detained eight are being kept waiting in the truck outside the Seberang Perai Selatan district police headquarters here.
They have not been escorted out of the truck until press time.
Earlier, at the forum Ganesan told the attendees that Interlok had projected the Indians in an undignified and distorted manner.
He said that the novel was reinforcing the stereotyped portrayal of Indians in the country as “dark, oily and scraggy community of low life”.
“Interlok must not be seen as an isolated case. It’s part of Umno government’s racist agenda to demean and degrade the Indian poor.
“The racist perpetrators want to ensure that the Indian poor will forever remain oppressed, suppressed and subservient to the Umno regime,” said Ganesan.
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