Drop charges against Hindraf 54, AG told

The government has implicitly admitted error on its part, says Hindraf advisor Ganesan.

PETALING JAYA: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi has asked the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail to drop charges against 54 Hindraf activists who participated in a rally last year to demand the withdrawal of the controversial novel Interlok from schools.

Hindraf advisor N Ganesan said the government, in removing the novel from the SPM reading list last December, had implicitly admitted that the rally was justified.

Ganesan was at the head of a Hindraf delegation that went to Gani’s office this morning to submit a memorandum calling for a withdrawal of the charges against the 54.

Hindraf is also seeking an apology from the government for the arrest and prosecution of the activists.

The 54 had participated in a rally billed as a “Solidarity March Against Umno Racism and Interlok” on Feb 27 last year. They have been charged under the Police Act for participating in an unlawful assembly and the Societies Act over their membership in an unregistered organisation.

Hindraf was one of many organisations that opposed the use of Interlok as a literature text in school. They allege that the novel, written by national laureate Abdullah Hussain, contains derogatory references to the Indian community and factual errors about their culture.

Referring to the eventual withdrawal of the novel from schools, Ganesan said in a press statement: “This act of the government is an implicit admission of error on their part, in their decision and intentions.

“It validates the purpose of the opposition to the inclusion of this book in the first place by human rights defenders and supporters of Hindraf Makkal Sakthi.”

He added that prosecuting the 54 activists was an act that contradicted the right to assemble peacefully as stated in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Pointing out that the government did not prosecute participants in last year’s Bersih rally, Ganesan said this showed that it was targeting the Indian community.

By continuing with “this selective prosecution,” he said, the government was indicating to the world that it did not respect the right of ethnic minorities to enjoy guarantees provided by the Federal Constitution and that it would not abide by the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights when it came to minorities.

“So, what we have is not just a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Federal Constitution and in the UN Declaration on Human Rights; we also have a serious breach of the rights of minorities in the country.”