Hindraf ISA arrests: BN govt has lost its moral authority
Aliran condemns the arrest today of five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders under the obnoxious Internal Security Act. Those detained were Hindraf legal adviser P Uthayakumar, lawyers M Manoharan, R Kenghadharan, V Ganabatirau and organising secretary T Vasanthakumar. These ISA arrests are certainly a huge step backwards for democracy. When the Barisan Nasional detains its citizens under the draconian ISA, it concedes that it has lost its moral authority and has no justification to frame a valid charge and take them to court under the existing laws of the country.
There is no other conclusion especially when the government had earlier charged Uthayakumar and his friends for sedition. Why did it not allow the due process of the law to take its course? Is it because the charges levelled against them would not stand up to the scrutiny of the judiciary? And if the police really had concrete evidence to back up their allegations that Hindraf has links to terrorist groups, they should have charged the Hindraf leaders in court accordingly.
Many Malaysians are not surprised by the government’s latest move given the relentless campaign of vilification of the Hindraf leaders by several ministers with help from the compliant mainstream media. Through this single-minded effort over the last couple of weeks, the BN machinery prepared the ground for the use of the ISA by heaping all kinds of allegations against Hindraf. Using one-sided media reporting and official statements, they conveyed the impression that Hindraf was a threat to national security - without adducing sufficient evidence to justify this allegation.
Some Malaysians may believe that certain words used or claims made by the Hindraf leaders bordered on exaggeration. But the Hindraf leaders, like many others before them, do not deserve the unjust ISA. Nobody should be detained without trial. Detaining them under this undemocratic law will not resolve the underlying causes of the grievances and disillusionment that have been expressed by the Hindraf leaders and which have struck a chord among Indian Malaysians. By ignoring the root causes of the disenchantment, the government may well be putting its head in the proverbial sand again.
Concerned Malaysians and keen observers outside the country would be forgiven for suspecting that these arrests are aimed at suppressing legitimate dissent and opposition to the ruling party ahead of a general election. Malaysians will know that what the BN is trying to protect is its own security and interest and the survival of the MIC. It is the fear of the eroding loss of confidence that has driven the BN to take this desperate action.
When ordinary Indian Malaysians responded to the call of Hindraf on 25 November in an astounding number that ran into tens of thousands, it stunned and baffled the BN and the MIC. Ordinary Indian Malaysians, not withstanding the official statistics that have been dished out, understand their real economic status and position. Their desperate cry for help was conveyed through their participation in Hindraf activities. For them to have defied police warnings and political threats of BN leaders and to have faced the tear gas and chemically laced liquid sprayed by water cannons spoke of their utter hopelessness. It is a matter of grave regret that the BN failed to recognise this reality.
The BN has criminalised all our freedoms. We cannot walk as a group, we cannot put up a banner on our own building, we cannot have access to information, we cannot challenge any ministerial decisions in any court of law, we cannot have a reasonable campaign period prior to election, we cannot have equal radio and TV time for all registered political parties to reach out to citizens to explain party policies, we cannot have a licence as a matter of right to publish. Our basic fundamental rights and freedoms have all been taken away through subsidiary laws and regulations. We are reminded by what was said way back in 163 BC: Extreme law is often extreme injustice
Aliran calls upon the BN government to immediately charge all of them in a court of law if they have flouted any of the country’s laws or release them unconditionally. This would be a decent thing to do especially when Malaysia occupies an exalted seat in the global Human Rights Council.
Aliran Executive Committee
13 December 2007
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