Joe Fernandez (refer freemalaysiatoday.com 21.2.2011)
| February 21, 2011
Hindraf legal adviser P Uthayakumar has dismissed notions that the proposed Feb 27 rally in Kuala Lumpur will flog the Interlok issue.
KUALA LUMPUR: Organisers of a rally themed “Malaysia, the world’s most racist” to be held at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre on Feb 27 are expected to go ahead with their plans with or without police permission.
Human rights movement, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, and its political wing Human Rights Party (HRP) Malaysia said that “notwithstanding the hostile attitude adopted by the police”, similar gatherings would be held nationwide.
HRPM pro tem secretary-general, P Uthayakumar, said although no police permit has been issued todate for the planned rally, they had a copy of the application which had been signed and stamped by the police.
Speaking on the theme, Uthayakumar said: “If anyone can prove that there is even one country in the world more racist than Malaysia, we stand corrected.
“By racist, we don’t mean the people, but the government, the ruling party, the ruling elite, the system and the establishment.
“There’s a huge difference between a system being racist and a person being racist.
“There’s little that we can really do if a person is racist. The law against individuals being racist in an individual capacity is just a pin-prick.”
He said the Feb 27 rally and other similar events throughout Peninsular Malaysia would press for the passage of an Anti-Racism Act to set up an Anti-Racism Commission.
The rally will also push for an Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities Act to facilitate a commission to translate the law into action.
Highlight injustices
Uthayakumar dismissed notions that the Feb 27 rally was about Interlok, a school-level novel mired in controversy for its derogatory representation of the Indian community.
“We don’t want to politicise anything. We are here to speak the truth, highlight injustices and violations of human rights.
“The government has to decide whether to hear the pleas or otherwise and at what cost.
“The Feb 27 rally is more than Interlok… it will focus on racism, racial prejudice and racial polarisation in the country.
“The bigger story is what lies behind the novel,” he said, adding that not everyone will be savvy enough to navigate their way through the myriad of challenges facing the community.
The only reprieve for Indians, he feels, is making land available to the underclass which will enable a social safety network to be put in place much like that enjoyed by the natives in Sabah and Sarawak, the Orang Asli and those in the Felda and Felcra schemes.
According to Uthaya, Feb 27 would be a watershed of sorts for the Indian community to get their politics and relationships, across the racial divide, right.
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