Ashok K.JhaMalaysia’s Indian Community Staged Its Biggest Anti-Government Protest !
November 27th 2007 03:01
Malaysia’s Indian community staged its biggest anti-government protest on Sunday when more than 10,000 protesters defied tear gas and water cannons to fight racial discrimination. “Malaysian Indians have never gathered in such large numbers in this way.” said organiser P Uthaya Kumar, of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf). “They are frustrated and have no job opportunities in the government or the private sector. They are not given business licences or places in university,” he said, adding that Indians were also incensed by some recent demolitions of Hindu temples.
The demonstrators, an alliance of opposition parties and civil society groups,chanted "Election Reform" and "Justice". "The Malaysian public must be allowed to express their opinions and views," parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said at the palace gates before delivering a petition to the king. New York-based Human Rights Watch slammed the government's stance on the mass rally, which Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had vowed to suppress and police had threatened to arrest protesters. Human Rights Watch said Malaysian elections have been sullied by vote-buying, the use of public resources by the ruling parties and accusations of bias against the Election Commission.
Anwar, who was heir apparent to former premier Mahathir Mohamad until 1998 when he was sacked and jailed for sodomy and corruption gave the slogan of "Reformasi" or "Reform" and declared that "we want free and fair elections. Anwar's sodomy conviction has been overturned but the corruption verdict stands, barring him from standing for public office until April 2008. Elections are widely expected to be held early next year.Protests are rare in Malaysia, and the last major rallies were seen in 1998 during the "Reformasi" movement that erupted after Anwar's sacking. The mainstream political parties, meanwhile, have disassociated themselves from the rally, saying that the illegal gathering is an opposition ploy to smear the government's image ahead of the country's general elections. The Malaysian government has warned that it will not hesitate to invoke the country's strict security laws that allow detentions without trial on those involved.
Three members of a Hindu forum, charged with sedition earlier in November, were ordered to be freed on technical grounds by a judge on Monday. The three were arrested on Friday and charged under the Sedition Act for their speech on November 16.Sedition is punishable by three years in prison and a fine in Malaysia. The activists wanted to hand over a memorandum signed by thousands of ethnic Indians demanding Queen Elizabeth II to appoint her counsel to represent them in a class action suit against the British government for bringing Indians to the then Malaya as 'indentured labourers"' and exploiting them.The suit claimed that the community was facing discrimination and marginalisation to this day, an allegation denied by the Malaysian government.'The suit sought a declaration that the Reid Commission Report 1957 failed to incorporate the rights of the Indian community when independence was granted, resulting in discrimination and marginalisation to this day.'Ethnic Indians make up eight per cent of the population. There has been inequality in job opportunities and education and in many other areas and this protest gain significance as a large number of youths and women turned up to demand change.
The demonstrators, an alliance of opposition parties and civil society groups,chanted "Election Reform" and "Justice". "The Malaysian public must be allowed to express their opinions and views," parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said at the palace gates before delivering a petition to the king. New York-based Human Rights Watch slammed the government's stance on the mass rally, which Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had vowed to suppress and police had threatened to arrest protesters. Human Rights Watch said Malaysian elections have been sullied by vote-buying, the use of public resources by the ruling parties and accusations of bias against the Election Commission.
Three members of a Hindu forum, charged with sedition earlier in November, were ordered to be freed on technical grounds by a judge on Monday. The three were arrested on Friday and charged under the Sedition Act for their speech on November 16.Sedition is punishable by three years in prison and a fine in Malaysia. The activists wanted to hand over a memorandum signed by thousands of ethnic Indians demanding Queen Elizabeth II to appoint her counsel to represent them in a class action suit against the British government for bringing Indians to the then Malaya as 'indentured labourers"' and exploiting them.The suit claimed that the community was facing discrimination and marginalisation to this day, an allegation denied by the Malaysian government.'The suit sought a declaration that the Reid Commission Report 1957 failed to incorporate the rights of the Indian community when independence was granted, resulting in discrimination and marginalisation to this day.'Ethnic Indians make up eight per cent of the population. There has been inequality in job opportunities and education and in many other areas and this protest gain significance as a large number of youths and women turned up to demand change.
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