HINDRAF Uthayakumar refuses to 'beg for freedom'

Source : Malaysiakini

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Uthayakumar did not meet with Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar because he was not prepared to beg for an early release.

MCPX

The minister had visited the Kamunting detention centre on Saturday to meet with the five Hindraf leaders who are being held without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

However, Uthayakumar had refused to meet Syed Hamid. The former’s brother and Hindraf chairperson Waythamoorthy has today issued a statement explaining why.

He said Uthayakumar had asked family members who visited him over the weekend to inform the public that he deliberately refused to meet the home minister for the following reasons:

1) The intentions of the minister was clear. The minister had expected the detainees to plead their predicament and their jail conditions and beg for an early release.

2) He (Uthayakumar) believes in the Hindraf struggle and has no regrets for the incarceration he faces.

3) The minister had on previous occasions lied and mislead the Malaysian public that Hindraf was a threat to national security.

4) He (Uthayakumar) maintains that his is a just struggle for the freedom of Indian Malaysians from permanent colonisation of the neo-colonialist Umno government which has suppressed, oppressed and marginalised the Indian community for the last 51 years.

Feels proud

"Uthayakumar urges all Hindraf supporters to remain focussed in the struggle and feels proud to be able to 'serve Indian Malaysians' by taking their plight to prison.

"He feels the draconian ISA law that is used against him and his incarceration should be used to expose the atrocities, marginalisation and oppression of the Malaysian government against the Indians here," read the statement.

Uthayakumar and four other Hindraf leaders were detained shortly after organising a mammoth rally last November which saw tens of thousands taking to the streets.

The government later accused the movement of being an extremist outfit and labelled its leaders a threat to national security.

The other four in detention together with Uthayakumar are M Manoharan, T Vasantha Kumar, V Ganabatirau and R Kenghadharan.