Respect funeral rites of Hindus, Prison’s Dept told

Hindraf sees red over the department's denial to Hindu detainee from performing time-honoured tradition of lighting the funeral pyre of his decesead brother.

PETALING JAYA: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi leader P Uthayakumar today accused the Prisons Department of being insensative and disrespectful of Hindu funeral rites and rituals.

He criticised the department’s director-general, Zulkifli Omar, for refusing to allow R Nyana Piragasam, a drug addict undergoing rehabilitation, to attend his brother’s funeral.

It’s a time-honoured tradition that the eldest of the males in a Hindu family lights the funeral pyre of a family member who has passed on.

Piragasam, 38, who is being detained at Pusat Pemulihan Akhlak, Batu Gajah, Perak, was refused permission to attend the cremation ceremony of his brother, R Muraly, 30, who died in a road accident.

“The department obviously has no respect for Hindu funeral rites,” Uthayakumar said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, a copy of which was made available to FMT.

“One prison enforcement officer told us that prison rules do not allow a detainee to attend funerals.

“When I asked him to specifically state the rule, there was no answer,” said Uthayakumar.

Arbitrary powers

Uthayakumar also claimed that detainees were “completely denied the rights to attend the funeral of their loved ones”.

He also highlighted a press report where a body in a coffin had to be brought to the Prisons Department to enable the last rites to be conducted by a kin.

Uthayakumar, a former ISA detainee, also expressed the disappointment of family members over this arbitrary powers of the Prisons Department.

He said that the arbitrary power of the Prisons Department is contrary to the spirit of 1Malaysia that promotes a caring and sharing civil society.

He also called for detainees to be given a second chance to reintegrate with society.

“To err is human, to forgive divine. Justice must not only be done but must manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.

“These powerless, helpless and vulnerable detainees must also be given a second chance at life and to reintegrate with society,” Uthayakumar said.

He wants an official from the Home Ministry to issue a circular to end this practice of denying Hindu detainees from performing the last rites.