MALAYSIAKINI : HINDRAF IS ILLEGAL

The government today declared the Hindu Rights Actions Force (Hindraf) an illegal organisation with immediate effect.

MCPXHome Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the decision was made after the ministry was satisfied with facts and evidence that showed "Hindraf had and was being used for unlawful purposes and posed a threat to public order and morality".

"Based on powers vested under Section 5(1) of the Societies Act, Hindraf from today is declared an illegal organisation," he said in a statement today.

He said the order was being made as a result of monitoring and investigation on the organisation's activities by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and Home Ministry, since Hindraf's inception.

Syed Hamid said if left unchecked, Hindraf would continue to pose a threat to public order, the security and sovereignty of the country as well as the prevailing racial harmony.

"The decision to declare Hindraf an illegal organisation is not based on one or two of its activities that are in contravention of the law but covers all the actions it has taken since being formed," he said.

Syed Hamid said Hindraf had all the criteria of an organised movement because it had filed for registration with the ROS on Oct 16 last year.

He added that the application was yet to be approved.

He also said that the organisation had actively exploited the Indian community to organise illegal assemblies and street demonstrations without permits.

Such acts, he said, had resulted in some members of the Indian community to rise up against the government.

Causing racial hatred

Syed Hamid also said that Hindraf's actions also caused hatred among the Malays and Indians in the country.

"Hindraf has also tried to secure support from foreign countries for the purpose of pressuring the government to bow to its demands," he added.

Syed Hamid advised the public to distance themselves from Hindraf and not participate in any way in any of its activities.

In recent weeks, Hindraf has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons for visiting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's open house during the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebrations to deliver an anti-Internal Security Act message to the premier.

The act was seen by many in the government and the Malay media as unIslamic and uncalled for. Numerous calls were made for the organisation to be banned.

Hindraf gained prominence last November for organising a mass rally in Kuala Lumpur to highlight the plight of Indians in this country. Almost 30,000 people participated in the rally which brought the capital to a standstill.

Following that five Hindraf leaders were arrested and detained under the ISA last December.

Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy had by then left the country to London to gain international lobby for the movement. He is still based in London and has been moving the organisation with the help of several key coordinators here.

Mark of the PM's failure

In an immediate reaction DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang said the banning of Hindraf was a testimony to the failure of the prime minister to take nation-building to a new and more mature level.

"It is a retrogressive, vindictive and petty step which will hamper the nation-building healing process vital for Malaysians to feel one and united people again," he said in a statement.

He said that the "ham-fisted measures to ban Hindraf will only aggravate the disaffection among the Indian community".

He gave an assurance that opposition MPs will raise in Parliament the banning of Hindraf.

"I invite MPs from all the BN component parties to join with Pakatan Rakyat MPs to take a common stand - to demand that the home minister revoke the ban on Hindraf...," he said.