Arrests in October 2007 On 30 October, four HINDRAF movement activists,
M. Manoharan,
P. Uthayakumar,
P. Waytha Moorthy and
V. Ganabathirau, were arrested and detained for taking part in the
2007 HINDRAF demonstration against the demolition of a Hindu shrine in
Kuala Lumpur. However, they were acquitted due to a lack of evidence of incitement and sedition.
Human rights forum A series of peaceful weekend forums were organised throughout Malaysia to increase the awareness of
Hindu human rights by HINDRAF. A previous forum held near central Kuala Lumpur was disrupted by the
Royal Malaysian Police, according to HINDRAF. Subsequently, HINDRAF appealed directly to the
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in an attempt to ensure future forums went on peacefully.
Arrests in November On 23 November 2007, three HINDRAF activists, P. Uthayakumar, P. Waytha Moorthy, and V. Ganabathirau, were arrested and charged under the
Sedition Act. However, in a series of repeated arrests and releases, the courts could not prove that they had incited racial hatred. The only evidence against them were unreliable translations of their Tamil speeches into
Bahasa Malaysia presented by the Attorney-General's Chambers, which the courts deemed as unverifiable. Eventually, they were all acquitted due to a shaky prosecution and the lack of evidence of any wrongdoing or crime. The lawsuit is not only claiming 4 trillion
British Pounds as compensation, it is also seeking to strike out
Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution which acknowledges
Malay Supremacy and for the court to declare that Malaysia is a
secular state and not an
Islamic state. As the group, which represents mainly working class
Malaysian Indians, could not afford the legal fees required, a petition was circulated with 100,000 signatures to be presented to
Queen Elizabeth II to appoint a
Queen's Counsel to argue the case. The purpose of the rally was to hand over a 100,000 signature memorandum to the
British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian police refused to grant a permit for the rally, and set up roadblocks in
Klang Valley along roads leading up to the rally to screen motorists entering the city centre and identify "troublemakers". They also advised the public not to participate in the rally, and arrested three HINDRAF leaders. Many shops around Kuala Lumpur including
Suria KLCC were closed on that day for fear of trouble from the rally. The police roadblocks began the week before the rally to create massive traffic jams across the city and the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Opposition leader
Lim Kit Siang of the
Democratic Action Party (DAP) pointed out that this high-handed act by the police was unnecessary as it caused major inconvenience to everyone. and
water cannon to break up the march on 25 November 2007. On the morning of the rally, an estimated twenty thousand people gathered near the
Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, carrying life-size portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and
Mahatma Gandhi, to indicate the nonviolent nature of their protest.
Al-Jazeeras coverage of the event showed police officers using tear gas to disperse the protesters. A few hundred protesters and three police officers were injured. HINDRAF later claimed to have faxed the petition to the British High Commission staff. However, as of 28 November, the British Envoy had not yet received any petition from the HINDRAF, though they did say they had received some unspecified information by fax. As of 11 December 2007, HINDRAF leaders were all acquitted by the judicial courts due to a lack of evidence and a flimsy prosecution case against their allegations. The invocation of the ISA to capture the HINDRAF leaders was seen as a strategic move by the BN's
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) government to arrest the momentum generated by HINDRAF. The detention without trial of the HINDRAF leaders drew negative comments in the foreign press about Abdullah Badawi's administration and the poor way the BN government was handling the issue. The DAP vowed to challenge the detention of the HINDRAF leaders. Despite the arrests, the opposition and most of the NGOs were unfazed and continued to challenge
UMNO's deconstruction of democracy in Malaysia. The United States also voiced their disapproval of this latest round of ISA arrests. The official HINDRAF website at http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com has been allowed by Malaysian ISPs again, after a brief ban. However, this site is constantly plagued by faults and downtime. In response to the ban, sites such as http://www.hindraf.org, http://www.myhindraf.com were spawned to maintain awareness of this movement, in addition to the many blogs available. The movement started in Malaysia, has grown global and now has following in UK, Australia, Canada and USA. There have also been candlelight vigils at Hindu temples throughout Malaysia to protest the detention of five leaders of the HINDRAF. This was condemned by Malaysian minister
Samy Vellu of MIC.
War of the Roses A calm and peaceful 'Rose to the PM' campaign was mooted to present a humanistic element in HINDRAF's campaign. The central focus of this campaign was the delivery of a rose, as a symbol of love and compassion, to the Prime Minister at the
Parliament by Vwaishnavi Wathya Moorthy. This symbolic act was planned on 16 February 2008, amidst the parliament was declared to be dissolved for the general election on 13 February 2008. In a dramatic show of force instead, the police fired teargas and targeted water cannon at several hundred ethnic Tamils gather peacefully at the centre of Kuala Lumpur. More than 200 people were detained by the authorities after being attacked by the police near the site of an Indian temple. ==Impact on GE12==