PAS slams Hindraf, accusations 'extreme'

PAS today became the first opposition party to criticise the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and urged the government to set up an open inquiry to probe the ‘extreme accusations’ by the organisation. However, the Islamic-based opposition party made it clear that it has no reservations in supporting Hindraf as far as its right to peaceful assembly is concerned. “We believe that the demands and accusations made by the Hindraf leaders are extreme and we want the government to take action,” said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in a statement.

Contacted later, Hadi’s press secretary Roslan Shahir said the allegation by Hindraf leaders that the Indian community is victim of a government-endorsed ‘ethnic cleansing’ was baseless and extreme. He said if Hindraf leaders did make such extreme accusations, "they must be dealt with according to law". In a letter to the British government, Hindraf reportedly claimed that Indians had suffered ethnic cleansing in the hands of plainclothes policemen and armed Malay civilians under the instructions of Umno during the 2001 Kg Medan racial clash.

Apart from this, the letter also asked Queen Elizabeth II to hire a Queen’s Counsel to represent the Indian community in a class-action suit against the British government for bringing Indians to this country as “slaves”. The suit was filed by Hindraf. Hindraf legal adviser P Uthayakumar, when met last week, denied terming the Kg Medan incident as ‘ethnic cleansing’ but had called it a ‘mini-genocide’ instead.

'Be wary of BN manipulation'

Meanwhile, Hadi, in his statement, also stressed the importance of racial unity and called on all races to be cautious of the way the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is handling the Hindraf issue. “Do not be swayed by the BN-controlled media which are trying to create racial tension in order to rake in the votes in the coming general election,” he said. Hadi also said that other races, including the Malays, suffer from marginalisation especially opposition supporters. He urged the Indians not to be “trapped by the manipulations of BN”. “This (Hindraf) issue is not a race issue.

There are a lot of poor Malays who are not doing as well as MIC’s leaders. So you must not look at it from a strictly racial perspective. This is between the oppressed and the oppressors,” he said. Hindraf leaders had attributed the grievances suffered by the Indian community to the British government and claimed that their suffering started when the latter had brought them to this country as indentured labourers. The frustration of the Indian community were expressed during a rally that drew some 30,000 protestors on Nov 25 in Kuala Lumpur.