'Ganesan, repeat hired thugs claim and we'll sue'

Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia national adviser N Ganesan has been warned not to repeat claims that thugs linked to Penang’s top politicians had allegedly disrupted an NGO meeting.

Restaurant owner Ragindran Sivasamy, 58, who was implicated in the matter when the media was shown a photo of him with Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy yesterday, said he was seeking legal advice on whether to sue Ganesan.

Ganesan had displayed the photo and identified Ragindran during a press conference in Penang yesterday, alleging he was linked to Ramasamy and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim had declined to comment, leaving the matter to Ramasamy, who chairs the Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB).

“That photo with Ramasamy (and several others) was taken after he came to settle a temple issue in Sg Ara, which was facing some problems,” Ragindran explained.

Ragindran, who has been accused of disrupting the NGO meeting along Jalan Utama on Saturday, said he was forced to leave the hall by four Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia members when he raised questions about the memorandum, but he had refused.

“There was a lot of pushing and shoving and someone got punched in the process,” Ragindran, who owns a food outlet along Jalan Dato Keramat, told Malaysiakini.

“I told them to hand over the memorandum to the PHEB which is responsible for the crematoriums as there are four Indian assemblypersons (YBs) sitting on the board,” he went on.

“Why do they want to send the memorandum to the CM? Lim will direct Ramasamy to handle the matter anyway. Since they (Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia) say that this is an Indian issue, why won't they go to the four YBs who are also commissioners in the board?”

Ragindran said he refused to leave the hall as he was the vice-chairperson of an Indian welfare NGO in Weld Quay, adding he was invited to attend the event at the Caring Society by a customer who told him to participate because they (Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia) were talking about Indian issues.

“They spoke about the memorandum on the problems of the two crematoriums and I saw that they had signatures already. They have decided what to do so this is not a dialogue (or consultation), but I had no argument with that,” he added.

He claimed that he, too, had lodged a police report over the matter on the night of the incident at the Jalan Patani, Northeast Police Headquarters, even before Ganesan did.

Ganesan lodged a report at the same police HQ on Tuesday night, urging the police to establish the truth about his claim that hired thugs aligned to the two senior state leaders were sent to disturb Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia’s gathering, where some 50 people were present.

Ragindran said he was very upset as Ganesan had referred to him as a “hired thug”, saying he wants to place on record that he was not aligned to any politician and neither was he a gangster.

“Ganesan and Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia have damaged my reputation, these allegations can affect my business and I will seek advice from my lawyers if I should initiate legal action against my accusers,” Ragindran said.

Lawyer and DAP Seri Delima assemblyperson RSN Rayer (right) said the state government “was not in the habit of hiring thugs” to conduct its businesses.

“I am disappointed with Ganesan for making such vicious allegations,” said Rayer, who is one of the four PHEB commissioners.

“If Ganesan repeats such claims, we may consider initiating legal action against him,” Rayer warned.

Video clip of ‘hoax’ shown

PKR Batu Uban assemblyperson Dr T Jayabalan, who attended the press conference yesterday, said as a PHEB commissioner, he felt “equally accountable” for the issue of the non-functioning crematoriums.

Due to the breakdown of incinerators of the two crematoriums in Batu Lanchang about six months ago, families were forced to cremate their dead kin in Batu Gantung, a Chinese facility - but they found it difficult to conduct proper final Hindu rites there.

“This is a fiasco and earlier this year, there were incidents where two dead bodies were supposedly cremated, but it was a hoax. The process was staged,” Jayabalan claimed.

Ganesan (right) later showed a short video clip of the “hoax” involving two coffins which were taken out of the incinerators intact and later burnt in the open.

“PHEB has delegated the crematorium problem to some contractor. There is no proper supervision and not enough resources to run the crematorium properly. An earlier contractor could not make ends meet and was terminated,” said Jayabalan, a first-time state representative.

“Families of the deceased found out that the cremation exercise was a hoax. As PHEB commissioners, we must ensure that proper system is in place. There are also proper rules to comply with when it comes to using incinerators and these rules must be followed,” added the doctor.