By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has assured representatives of ethnic Indian organizations that he would look into their grievances after they disassociated from the actions of controversial Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).
Badawi had a “heart-to-heart chat” with 13 NGOs empathizing with them on the day the country’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Musa Hasan justified detention of five of the Hindraf leaders under the Internal Security Act (ISA), claiming evidence of their activities being “a threat to national security”.
On action-packed Friday, Karpal Singh, who is chief of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), filed a writ for the release of two of the detainees who are members of his party, saying that this was “a test case”.
After the meeting Badawi had with the Indian NGOs, a spokesman from his office said the prime minister stressed on the importance of preserving peace and stability, which was important to a developing nation like Malaysia.
“One thing for certain is that the NGOs disagreed with the way Hindraf used demonstrations to voice its views and claims, specifically ethnic cleansing of the Indian community, which they said did not make sense,” the spokesman was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper Saturday.
“All those who attended pledged to work with the government for the betterment of the Malaysian Indian community,” he added.
Media reports said the NGO leaders appealed to Badawi to release those detained for participating in the Hindraf rally of Nov 25.
Malaysia Hindu Dharma Mamandram president N.S. Rajendran said the meeting was called to hear the expectations and feelings of the Indian community.
“He asked us to be frank about the real situation. All of us were given a chance to express our views. We raised issues on education, civil service, promotions, racial integration, religion and others. The prime minister was very attentive and took down notes,” he said.
Rajendran said: “Some of the representatives raised ‘rather hard issues’ to which Abdullah replied ‘Don’t worry, I am here to listen and I want you all to be frank’.
“The Prime Minister also stressed that this would not be the last meeting. He said he would have a discussion with Samy Vellu on the issues raised,” he added.
Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk A. Vaithilingam said they asked Abdullah to consider releasing the five Hindraf leaders held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and charge them in court.
“We also made a request to release the 31 people charged in court as they were at a place of worship (Batu Caves) and many of them were merely bystanders who might have just questioned the police and were arrested,” he added.
Vaithilingam said he also agreed to be the coordinator to prepare a memorandum to be submitted to Abdullah on the community’s plight.
Siva Subramaniam said it was the first time he saw NGOs boldly pouring out all their grievances.
Before the discussion Badawi also met with Malaysian Bar Council chairman, Ambiga Srenavasan, The Star newspaper said.
Malaysian Hindu Council chairman R. Nadarajah said that the discussion centred on all aspects, including education, unity, agriculture and economy.
“We brought to his attention the expectations of the Indian community and he was very concerned,” The New Straits Times reported.
“The prime minister said he would look into all these and we are satisfied with the meeting. He gave each and every one of us the time to raise the problems facing the Indian community and he took down all the points highlighted.
“From his body language and response, we knew he was deeply concerned with the problems facing the community. He also gave an assurance that this would not be our first meeting with him. There will be more follow-up discussions,” said Nadarjah said.
Tamil Hindus form the large majority of the ethnic Indians constituting eight percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people.