80 Indians charged in Malaysia

[sumitsehrawat]

Enrique once sang... "From the coast of Ipanema, to the Island of Capri, all the way to Kuala Lumpur.... I will follow you wherever you may be.... "
hehehe hehehe

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/80_Indians_charged_in_Malaysia/articleshow/2579419.cms
KUALA LUMPUR: Eighty ethnic Indians were charged in court on Wednesday for participating in the largest-ever mass demonstration by the community here last week to protest against their alleged marginalisation in the country.

The Indians pleaded not guilty to participating in an "illegal assembly" on Sunday where around 10,000 people from the community took part in a rally in the Malaysian capital. The protesters say they have been facing discrimination since the time their ancestors were brought from India as indentured labourers.

Malaysia's Prime Minister warned on Tuesday that the government will invoke the Internal Security Act (ISA), under which a person can be held without trial for an extended period of time, to curb street demonstrations if the situation so warranted.

"When it is appropriate it will be used," Abdullah Badawi, who is also the internal security minister, said.

Meanwhile, the Bar Council has urged the government to look into the grievances of the Indian community, whose protest on Sunday lasted over seven hours despite Malaysian police using tear gas and water cannons on them.

The demonstrators defied government warnings to stay away from the rally called by a Hindu rights group to march to the British High Commission.

The Hindu Rights Action front (Hindraf) wanted to hand over a memorandum signed by over 100,000 ethnic Indians demanding Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a Queen's counsel to represent the Indian community in a class action suit against the British Government for bringing Indians as indentured labourers to then 'Malaya' and "exploiting" them.

Hindraf has also asked for a compensation of four trillion US dollars from the British government.

Thanks,
Sumit

 

[ashwal]

Malasiya : 60% People denying rights to 40%

Ethnic and Religious Fundamentalism in Malaysia
By: Prof P. Ramasamy

Malaysia might not be the best example of ethnically and religiously integrated society anymore. Over the years, the country has become more ethnically pro-Malay and Islamic. In fact, Malay ethnicity and Islam reinforce each other in denying fundamental rights to non-Malays/non-Muslims. Electoral competition between the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) and Parti Islam se Malaysia (PAS) has been the main reason why Islamization of the society has proceeded very rapidly encroaching the rights and privileges of non-Muslims. An important implication of this Islamization is that Islamic laws and regulations have been strengthened and promoted. So much so, the civil courts that once had important role in defending the constitutional rights of Malaysians have generally shied away from making judicial pronouncements on matters relating to the Muslim laws. Non-Muslims constituting about more than 40 percent of the population of Malaysia have become very apprehensive over the Islamization of the society. In the case of the death of Everest climber M. Moorthy, his wife was prevented from claiming his body because he was alleged by a Muslim body that he was a Muslim. When his wife took up the matter to the civil court, the judge refused to provide a legal remedy on the grounds that it was an Islamic matter.
Following this incident, there has been a hue and cry by many non-Muslim organizations and members of civil society over the unfair treatment meted out to Moorthy’s family. They are urging the government to amend a particular article of the Constitution that seeks to prevent the interference of civil courts over the decisions of the Syariah court. Beyond this, debates continue to rage in Malaysia primarily on the constitutional rights of non-Muslims.
Public discourse on the Moorthy's case should go beyond the Federal Constitution and laws. They should contextualize Moorthy’s case and many other similar cases in the larger and problematic context of racial and religious polarization in the country as result of the rise of the Malay/Muslim racial and religious ideology. More importantly we should focus on how UMNO’s management of the Malay/Muslim state has denied fundamental ethnic, religious and cultural rights to Malaysians who are not Malays and Muslims.
In this respect, Moorthy’s case is a tip of the ice-berg. It goes to reveal how non-Malays/non-Muslim do not have ethnic or religious rights in the country that seeks to market itself to the outside world as shinning example of multi-racial and multi-religious nation. However, underneath and unfamiliar to the naked eye is slow but inexorable truth that politicians in UMNO are determined to turn the country into an Islamic state. The regime of the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed is largely responsible for this state of affairs. However, needless to say, the spineless creatures within the Barisan Nasional have gone along with the dictates of Malay politicians within UMNO to save their own necks with the promise of some material enrichment.
The recent call for amending or rescinding Article 121 (1A) of the Constitution might dilute ethnic and religious temperature for a while. However, such a legal pursuit might not make any measurable dent on the nature of Malay/Muslim politics. Sooner or later non-Malays will be confronted other diabolical issues emanating from the Malay/Muslim hegemony or Ketuanan Melayu.
The pernicious nature of Malay/Muslim domination has been there for some time, starting with the launch of the NEP in the early 1970s. Today the domination supported by the state has become much more emboldened and dangerous to the rights of non-Malays and non-Muslims. The social and cultural oppression of non-Malays/Muslims cannot be viewed from purely a religious angle. It is the politics of ethnicity or Malay supremacy that has narrowed the function and scope of Islam in the country. Today Islam in the hands of Malay supremacists especially those in UMNO has become a perfect political and cultural tool to deny non-Malays their cultural and political rights.
The alleged conversion of Moorthy and the subsequent snatching of his body from his family and unprofessional conduct of the Syariah Court and later the High Court illustrate very vividly how state agencies in the hands of Malay/Muslims have become tools of suppression of non-Malay or non-Muslim rights. Beyond this, the growing perception among Malays that Malaysia is an Islamic state has served to fuel intolerance and disgust towards non-Malays and their religious and cultural practices. Over the last two decades or hundreds of non-Muslim places of workshop have been removed or demolished in the name of development, permission to construct non-Muslim places of worship have been denied by over zealous Muslims in the relevant burecracies. While mosques and suraus are allowed to flourish, the same is not true for non-Muslim places of worship.
The Malaysian state is racist state. It is the state that is largely responsible for the present state of affairs in the country. Not only are non-Muslims denied space and discriminated in the cultural and religious realms, they are also victimized by the Malay racist state. Today non-Malays are discriminated in employment and promotions in the public sector, their children are denied important academic disciplines in the universities and the NEP requirements has made it difficult for non-Malays to obtain contracts and licenses from the state.
Moorthy’s case is not an isolated one. It provides an important barometer to gauge the nature and character of the Malaysian society. Moorthy’s corpse would have been returned to his wife had there been religious and racial equality for non-Malays. But alas, despite all the propaganda, Malaysia practices neither democracy nor human rights. A kind of apartheid thinking has developed amongst those who control and manage the society.
Moorthy’s case might not be the last. If this is so, one wonders whether those in power have the vision to anticipate the problems ahead. If non-Muslims and non-Malays are subjected to political, racial and cultural discrimination, there is possibility that they might develop alternative thinking to correct the injustices that are currently prevalent.


Thanx
Ashish

 

[sumitsehrawat]

Good one.....​

 

[ashwal]

Lets give good coverage to Ethinic Indian Mistreatment in Malasiya

Lets give due importance to Ethinic Indian Mistreatment in Malaysia via Some Good Awareness Compaign on web !!

Malasiya : Official Slogan " Truly Asia " ( Is it ?????)
A few Interesting Facts & Figures

Geography : 1/10 Size of India , 1/50 the Size in Population
Tourism contributes app. 10% of GDP ( 12+ Billion USD )
Numbers : 17 Million + International Tourist
( for a population of 24 Million Malaysians)

Main Tourist Flow : 85 percent from Non-Muslim countries
( By Place of Residence , Data 2007)
Country # Tourists %of Total
SINGAPORE 8,673,340 50.07020985
INDONESIA 1,480,436 8.546389417
THAILAND 1,312,685 7.577981887
BRUNEI 908,397 5.244073035
CHINA 544,109 3.141079655
INDIA 347,566 2.006459168

Interestingly , American and European tourist constitute hardly 5 percent of the traffic.

I assume tourist sees a lot about your country, more so in case of Malaysia as 17 Million arrival for a population of 24 million is too big a number,
and bad-publicity , street demonstrations , can be really damaging to this industry.
I am sure in India too, we must have felt the impact of bad publicity in the wake of religious and etnic unrest in our country like Babri demolosion, Bombay riots & Godhra carnage etc.

A bad publicity would be a tap on knuckle for the govt. to mend his ways at least to start with.

some of the measure can be :-
1. Proper coverage in Indian & Eastern New-Paper about the current problems faced by PIO supporting with data.

2. List of various discriminatory measures taken by Malaysian govt against Non-Malays in general and People of Indian origin in specific.

3. There has been demolitions of various Temples, Churches & Buddhist worship places in last 25-30 years , I read there are really many , idea here
is not to evoke religious extremism but to aptly highlight on going religious prosecution in Malaysia. This is really going to be effective as 85% of tourist coming to Malasiya is from countries with predominantly Buddhist, Christan & Hindus.

4. Tamil Diaspora ( Which is main constituent of Malaysians PIO apx. 1.5 Million) is internationally well placed in US , Canada, Singapore
most of Europe to put some extra pressure via western media.


( Data taken from Malaysian Govt Tourism site and CIA world Fact Book )