By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a Malaysian rights group that spearheaded a protest by ethnic Indians here Sunday, has denied that the demonstration was politically motivated and racist.
Hindraf’s secretary V.K. Regu said the protestors’ objective was to express the grievances of the ethnic Indian community, the New Straits Times reported Wednesday.
Regu added that the movement was not aligned or affiliated to any political party but welcomed support from anyone.
The Malaysian police Sunday crushed a rally by more than 10,000 ethnic Indians who were protesting against the marginalisation of ethnic Indians in the country and also to support a $4 trillion lawsuit filed in London in August by Hindraf demanding that Britain compensate Malaysian Indians for bringing their ancestors to the country as indentured labourers and exploiting them.
Regu said more than 100 people were injured due to the use of tear-gas and water cannon by security forces and over 240 people were detained by the police.
“We are now compiling the list and photographs of those injured,” he said.
He added that Hindraf resorted to the rally after having exhausted all avenues to highlight the plight of the Indian community.
Many ethnic Indians in Malaysia have alleged that access to housing, education, financial loans and jobs is given to Malays on a preferential basis. The destruction of Hindu temples by the Malaysian government had inflamed sentiments.
Ethnic Indians constitute eight percent of the total population of 27 million but control just 1.5 percent of the economy.