Waytha to go on hunger strike

The Hindraf leader said this is due to the continued marginalisation of Malaysian Indians

PETALING JAYA: Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Waythamoorthy will be going on a hunger strike starting March 10, in an effort to highlight the continued marginalisation of Malaysian Indians and the “immorality of ignoring issues besieging the Indian poor”.

“Fifty years of oppression and unfulfilled yearnings for a just and dignified life triggered the outpouring of 100,000 Indians onto the KL streets on Nov 25, 2007. Since then much water has flowed under the bridge, but very little has changed in the lives of the Indian marginalised and poor,” Hindraf national leader N Ganesan said in a statement today.

“Now, Waythamoorthy has decided to take it beyond and above politics. This is a national and a moral problem and it has to be seen as such by whoever is in government and by the larger sections of our peoples.

“This hunger strike is a prayer to emphasise to all the peoples of Malaysia and to the government of Malaysia that there are serious issues of morality and governance surrounding this entire historical occurrence.

“This hunger strike is Waythamoorthy’s prayer to achieve Hindraf’s blueprint objectives of permanent and comprehensive solutions to these serious problems,” he added.

He said the continuous hunger strike after the first “MahaSivarathiri” prayers at 7pm on March 10 will be held at the Arulmigu Agora Veerabathrar Sanggili Karuppar Temple, Kampung Benggali, 17 ½ miles, Rawang.

Throughout the entire hunger strike, he said Waythamoorthy will limit his intake only to water and the duration of the strike will be dependent on the overall state of his body condition.

Meanwhile in a separate statement, Human Rights Party/Hindraf youth chief S Thiagarajan said the organisation has launched its election operations room at Sri Andalas today.

The organisation would contest the Kota Raja parliamentary constituency and the Sri Andalas state assembly seats. Both these seats are in Selangor.

HRP leader and Wathyamoorthy’s brother, P Uthayakumar, said the organisation would contest as independents in both the seats should Pakatan Rakyat does not give way.

“However, Uthayakumar is prepared to stand under the Pakatan banner for one-to-one contest against the Barisan Nasional to avoid a split in opposition votes,” Thiagarajan said in the statement.