Hindraf and the rest of M'sia - falling into UMNO trap

There is much action on the Hindraf front.

1. They are being depicted as being 'willing to resort to violence'.

There have been numerous comments on the internet about Hindraf leader, P Uthayakumar's interview with The New Paper, Singapore's version of Malaysian gossip-monger Harian Metro.

The main focus of the commentators (and there are 180 comments on Rocky's Bru alone... mostly deploring Hindraf's "violent intentions")... has been this 'headline blurb' on the front page of New Paper's print edition: "I can't rule out violence."

But here's the link to the ENTIRE article in New Paper. Read it! I found that while most people have quoted the following from the article:

Their public protest was inspired by events in Myanmar in September. Mr Uthayakumar said: "Some of the monks were prepared to die for their cause. I've shown slides of monks getting shot and killed during my road shows and I think it struck a chord with the people."

But is he inspiring his followers to turn to violence? He said: "I think it's quite unlikely we'll head down the path towards a civil war BUT THERE'S ALWAYS THAT POSSIBILITY. Some of the uneducated may resort to VIOLENCE."

What most people failed to read was the part after that, where Uthayakumar says:

"But we can't fight the government because we're outnumbered and they've the army and the police. We'll be the biggest losers."

"While I'm prepared to fight for my cause, I do not advocate war or violence. I just want a peaceful resolution."

And he is mentally prepared to go to jail for this.

Let me be the devil's advocate. Perhaps when Uthayakumar says he can't rule out violence, or that they may resort to it... might not the fact that he used the example of the Myanmarese monks shed some light on his meaning?

The monks in Myanmar assembled publicly in great numbers to array their unarmed bodies against the heavily armed security forces in a display of peaceful protest. They stood firm when the security forces turned murderously violent, returning gunfire and baton charges with flesh and bone, torn and broken in the name of righteousness.

So might Uthayakumar mean that they (Hindraf) will face up to any violence inflicted on them, rather than them inflicting violence upon others?

Did we not see exactly this notion of fighting violence with peace in the Hindraf rally of 25 Nov 2007?

2. Hindraf 31 charged with attempted murder on police personnel.

This, to me, is comical... bordering on the ridiculous.

Look at our learned Attorney General's rationale for the charge:

"They threw bricks at his head. Do you think it will not cause death?"

Human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz says that if throwing a brick indiscriminately at a group of police officers constitutes an attempt to murder, then wouldn't lobbing tear gas canisters, spraying chemically laced water under high pressure and the beating of unarmed civilians be similarly classified as attempted murder as well?

Rocky's Bru goes one better to highlight the fact that a rapist who...

According to facts, the victim was walking along a pedestrian lane in the college when the teenage security guard threw a rock at her from behind, causing her to fall to the ground.

He then dragged her into a nearby storeroom, undressed her and began to molest her. When she screamed, he repeatedly hit her on the head with the rock.

He tried to rape her, but when he failed to do so, he rolled his clothes to form a rope and tried to strangle her. - NST

... is only charged with attempted rape, molest and causing hurt. But 31 people who threw one lousy brick into a brigade of fully armed, body-armoured and kevlar helmeted riot policemen are charged with attempted murder??!!

This is obviously an intentional miscarriage of justice and an improper use of the AG's powers to prosecute - in order to further some political aims.

3. Hindraf is linked to terrorists.

This is another good one. Where is the evidence?

Lim Kit Siang in his blog, says that the IGP and AG are basing their charges on nothing more than a police report made by 'somebody'.

Yesterday, Gani said his linking Hindraf to the LTTE in his argument at the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Wednesday was based on a police report.

He said: “Somebody lodged a police report that there is ground that these people have been going out to (establish) contact with this LTTE.’

The NST similarly says:

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said police had started their investigation following a report lodged by a member of the public.

As we've already seen numerous times, police reports are very powerful. An unsubstantiated and unsolicited police report is as good as an indictment and guilty verdict by the court of the govt controlled mass media and prompts the entire country's security apparatus into frantic action - IF - that report was made by someone who HAPPENS to have the same interests as the current ruling party.

On the other hand, what about police reports made against the govt, dominant party politicians and rich well connected people? Nothing is ever heard of from the police after these reports are made, and the public never has any idea if the reports were actually investigated or were instead used to line the cages of the K9 unit.

WHY THIS, and WHY NOW?

Anyway, why is the govt making such a big deal about Hindraf now?

Malaysiakini has a couple of articles (here and here) that say that the govt is laying the groundwork on which the ISA (Internal Security Act) will be used to detain anti-govt and reformist folks indefinitely without trial. That is entirely possible. It's called conditioning the people in advance of taking actions to violate their rights. Just like what the Bush Administration did before slapping Americans with the Homeland Security Act.

But RPK of Malaysia-Today has another tack on this. He reckons it's part of a larger concerted UMNO effort (along with the recent spate of govt-initiated racial and religious conflicts... Malacca pig farming, Hindu temple demolitions, Chinese Goddess of the Sea statue in Kudat, proposal by Chief Justice to replace Common Law with Syariah Law, even the extremely unwise Hindraf memorandum which according to RPK was not even written by the Hindraf Committee). For instance why did the UMNO MPs out of nowhere, suddenly bring up the demand for crosses and statues of Jesus and Mary at former missionary schools to be destroyed because Malaysia is supposedly an Islamic country? It's a concerted effort to stir up tensions between Malays and non-Malays so that the Malays will once again unite under the UMNO banner against the non-Malays in the next general election.

I suggest you read what Malaysia-Today has to say. It's interesting... and if it's true, god help us.