Open Letter to PM- Hindraf is NOT a National Threat

HINDRAF 5 ARE NOT “A NATIONAL THREAT”
by Santha

So what is their crime? Both the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (the then Internal Security Minister) who signed the detention order and the AG Abdul Ghani Patail state that, “thorough police investigation has deemed them a treat to national security”. At the Federal Court , Abdul Ghani argued that the PM had gone through the detailed facts raised during police investigations and that these include the claims,
1) that the appellants had through their past activities raised racial sentiments,
2) hatred for the government
3) had links with terrorist organization such as Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)….. that “ In pursuing their cause, Hindraf had tried to get international acknowledgement and help from the terrorist organisation LTTE with the intention of further inciting riots in this country which has and will threaten peace and national security,”. Mr. AG if you have “detailed facts” be out with it. People are fully aware of the movements of the 5 detainees and their activities. They have been been transparent and accountable. There are no secrets involved here unlike the practices of the Government and its bodies. What is holding you, show us evidence as opposed to mere “claims” , or perhaps there is none or not enough to evoke the ISA.
I wish now to inform the PM, the AG, and the entire Government that the appellants did not through their activities raise racial sentiments. Rather racial sentiments were activated the moment the government and Islamic religious bodies started practicing religious extremism in Malaysia .
M.Moorthy was buried a Muslim although he had died a practicing Hindu. This was followed by other “body snatching” and conversion matters such as Lina Joy and M.Revathi. Tension had already been brewing amongst non-Muslims in similar matters. Racial sentiments that you speak of came about when the government, its bodies/authorities, officers or agents lowered the axe on our sacred statues of Lord Siva , Lord Ganesha and many others, demolishing ruthlessly our temples.
Sentiments and more sentiments when you confiscated Christian bibles, preached and practiced Muslim religion and policies to non-Muslims, when you insulted and humiliated non-Muslim for their believes, when matters that required urgent investigation and inquiries such as Kg.Medan incident, Francis Udayappan’s death etc. were ignored or swept under the carpet. The hatred towards the government transpired the moment the government turned a blind eye towards equality and equal opportunities for all. Such hatred amongst the poor, oppressed, marginalised and discriminated came into the picture when the government - failed to recognise this country as a secular nation with different races and religions and did not resolve sensitive issues in a likewise sensitive manner.
This is the true reason for the disintegration of the people in this country. - curtailed the people’s constitutional rights to freedom of religion, assembly, speech, and media - amended and manipulated the Constitution more than 600 times in the past 50 years. Amendments like this, often made for the benefit of the Malay Muslim and to create an Islamic nation erasing the secular state.
- failed to recognise every citizen of this country as the “son of the soil”.
- failed to activate proper and principled teaching standards, to judge on merit based performance and not quota’s in schools and universities.
- practiced the divide and rule racist policies and schemes such as the NEP, and unfair in issuing business licenses, opportunities, and financial support to all races without favouring a certain group.
- did not take serious measures to eliminate the contamination of corruption, scandalous judiciary, dishonest and inefficient police force that has lost the respect of the people it serves.
- Ministers and their ministries refusing to be transparent and accountable in their dealings, thus unlawful enrichment of some and the constant obvious conflict of interest.- Ministers openly uttering seditious, racist and sexist remarks, behaving in an unruly and unprofessional manner (even in Parliament)and getting away with it.
The hatred exploded when the government refused to listen to the people and their grievances, the hundreds of letters, and appeals that fell into deaf ears only to be told correct channels and procedures were not followed.
5000 Indians came to Putrajaya in July 2007 for their ‘18 point Demands’,
Lawyers ‘Walked for Justice’,
Bersih argued for ‘Free and Fair Elections’,
Hindraf , rallied for ‘Indian minority rights’,
a little girl of five came to give ‘Roses for the PM’ as symbol of love.
In all events, people were treated as common criminals, some more harshly than others. The arrogant governance is what caused the hatred NOT the Hindraf 5. It would only be rightful to say, that in all issues of arousing “racial sentiments and hatred towards the government”, the government, its bodies, authorities, leaders, officers and agents first conducted the offensive acts. They are the true perpetrators , running about freely. The prison in Kamunting should have been filled up with these people who committed these crimes of racial tension, anger and hatred. These are truly the people who “have and will threaten the peace and national security of this country”. The Prime Minister should have signed detention orders for the above perpetrators long before the Dec 13th 2007 arrest of Hindraf 5. As to the connection with terrorist such as LTTE, just like P.Uthayakumar challenged you, we now challenge you to show us one piece of evidence –we know there is none. Interpol would definitely have come into the picture if what you claimed was true.
The United Kingdom would not accommodate P.Waytha Moorthy had there been such links, for they too take matters of terrorism very seriously. Nor would they have allowed Hindraf to be legally registered in the UK if such links existed . P.Waytha Moorthy has no choice but to lead Hindraf from the United Kingdom .
Being a nation that practices true democracy they would never brand a human rights barrister, fighting peacefully for justice, as terrorists. Perhaps the AG’s office could get some guidance first, when investigating what amounts to “terrorism”.
So Mr. Prime Minister, with all due respect people have lost faith and trust in your governance and government. With the findings and investigations of the newly formed Pakatan Rakyat already a lot of filth is coming out (it’s only the beginning) about the way this country has been running under your governance and the previous. You have an enormous burden to rectify the huge damage already done to our beloved nation. It is unbelievable how things got so out of hand and even more, how we allowed these sorts of practices all these years. We had been both complacent and ignorant, but are out of our shells now. Because of Hindraf 5, P Waytha Moorthy and many others who fought for justice, Malaysians today have a chance of seeing true democracy. The accusation’s of raising racial sentiments and creating hatred towards the government was self-inflicted.
The Hindraf 5 is not the cause. Shed your arrogance and listen to what the people of this nation , the civil societies, the NGO’s , the political parties and international bodies have to say on this matter and do the right thing - release the Hindraf 5 and assure the safe return of P.Waytha Moorthy. People finally found a group of respected and credible lawyers fully committed to the cause of the poor and oppressed, fighting a genuine war on their behalf.
It was not the money they wanted .Not the Glory. They fought for the people sacrificing their own lives, families and freedom, they had nothing to gain for themselves.

They are not extremist, fanatics or terrorist but true to their profession as lawyers and barristers, merely upholding peace and justice.