KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — The MIC has again called on the government to immediately release the five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on Dec 13 last year.
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said today R. Kengadharan, 41, M. Manoharan, 47, V. Ganabatirau, 35, P. Uthayakumar, 47, and K. Vasantha Kumar, 35, should be released unconditionally.
He said they had been detained for almost nine months now and that "it's about time that they are released as they pose no danger to the security of the country.
"The government should not hold them any longer as it will prolong the Indian community's ill-feelings towards the government," he said in a statement. Samy Vellu said the punishment meted out to the five Hindraf leaders did not correspond with their actions.
"They only voiced out the problems and the frustrations of the Indian community. Similarly, the MIC has also been doing the same for the past few decades ... so why detain them any longer?" he said.
Samy Vellu said many Barisan Nasional (BN) "die-hards" among the Indian community had voted for the opposition in the last (March 8) general election as they felt that the five Hindraf leaders had been detained unjustly.
"It is not because they loved the opposition or they wanted a change but rather they vented their anger on the (BN) government," he said.
He said the BN could regain their support if the five Hindraf leaders were released.
"I had asked the prime minister (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) to release them on several occasions and also raised the matter at two BN Supreme Council meetings," he said, adding that he would raise the matter again when he meets Abdullah soon. — Bernama
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The question why now and what for?