‘High Chaparral’: A furious Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) will hold simultaneous rallies in front of all DAP headquarters
A furious Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) will hold simultaneous rallies in front of all DAP headquarters across the country tomorrow evening.
The rallies are to protest against the Penang government’s ineptness and failure to declare the ‘Tamil High Chaparral’ Kampung Buah Pala in Bukit Gelugor, George Town as living cultural heritage.
The movement will mobilise some 10,000 of Hindraf activists across the country to demonstrate outside Komtar, which houses the Penang state government office, and the party offices in Ipoh, Damansara, Seremban, Johor Bahru and Malacca.
The demonstration, scheduled at 4pm, will underline Hindraf’s seriousness to force the state government to protect the minority communities’ interests, rights and benefits in Penang.
The rally is also expected to highlight the state government’s ineptness in resolving other issues related to Tamil schools, employment, business opportunities and housing allocations.
However, the Kampung Buah Pala quandary, currently a major controversy in the state, will feature prominently in the mammoth rally.
The rallies, the first by Hindraf against a Pakatan Rakyat ally, is a blow to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s government, which had positioned itself as a people’s government based on competency, accountability and transparency.
Confirming this, London-based Hindraf leader P Waytha Moorthy said Hindraf was fed up with Lim’s apathy to the villagers’ predicament.
Enough is enough
“We have tolerated enough with the DAP government’s inaction at resolving outstanding issues,” he said.
Social activists from various groups are expected to join the rally.
Also tomorrow morning, Waytha Moorthy’s seven-year-old daughter, Vwaishhnnavi will hand over an appeal note to the Chief Minister asking for his help to save Kampung Buah Pala.
Tomorrow’s rally is set to pave the stage for a series of Hindraf-led protest against the state government.
On Wednesday, another group of Hindraf supporters are expected hold another rally outside Komtar.
Hindraf’s Penang island coordinator K Kalayselvam recalled that the perceived marginalisation of the Indian community was a dominant issue during the last general election.
However, over the past 15 months, he said the DAP government had yet to produce a blueprint to tackle constructively problems pertaining to the community.
“It’s time to give the DAP a wake up call. It must protect Kampung Buah Pala, the only Tamil urban village left in Penang today,” said Kalayselvam.
Hindraf advisor K Maran said Hindraf campaigned against Barisan Nasional because the Indian community wanted a better caring government to help them.
However, he slammed the DAP government for not showing any difference from the previous one.
“If the DAP government cannot protect a village of 300 people from the rich, then our support for Pakatan is meaningless,” he said.
Kampung Buah Pala is known among locals as ‘Tamil High Chaparral’ because of its population of cowherds, livestock and Tamil traditional cultural features.
The villagers face forced eviction from their village, which they and their ancestors have stayed for nearly 200 years.
Mexican standoff
The city police have informed the villagers that the developer, Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd had obtained a court’s writ of possession to seize the village, demolish homes and flatten the site to construct a lucrative mega housing project -named the Oasis.
Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar and his supporters are expected to join the villagers on Thursday in what can be described as a ‘Mexican standoff’ between the developer’s demolition team and the residents of ‘High Chaparral’.
Hindraf advisor N Naragan criticised Lim for his so-called personal crusade, including having a debate with former Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon to eliminate corruption and malpractices in the previous administration.
However, he chided Lim for being a hypocrite by being a lame duck on the Kampung Buah Pala issue when it was clear the village land deal were tainted with fraud.
He said Lim must now prove his sincerity by stepping in and prevent the demolition on grounds that there was malpractice in the whole deal.
Whether or not the DAP government intervenes, Hindraf will go ahead with its rallies tomorrow and on Wednesday.
It also plans to organise more rallies against Lim’s government until the controversy is resolved.
“The state government has already incurred our wrath. We will show our rage,” said Maran.
Athi Veeranggan, Mkini
Hindraf turns against DAP, plans to burn Guan Eng’s effigy
MI,
KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 – The Hindu Rights Action Force’s (Hindraf) is organising a nationwide protest in a final bid to force the DAP-led Penang government to save what they claim is the last Indian cultural heritage village on the island.
On Wednesday, the outlawed organisation, which was credited with delivering the bulk of Indian votes to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in last year’s general elections, will mobilise its members to gather outside Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s office at Komtar.
They plan to burn an effigy of the DAP secretary-general.
Others will also protest the forced eviction and demolition of Kampung Buah Pala at DAP headquarters in Ipoh, Petaling Jaya and Seremban.
National coordinator S. Jayathas told The Malaysian Insider that the drastic action was warranted as the demolition would take place on Thursday and Hindraf needed to show its seriousness in the matter.
“If PR state governments can give land to Chinese and Malays, then why not Indians? If they cannot even solve this, then what is the different between Umno and DAP?” he said.
Hindraf supporters have in recent months expressed dissatisfaction at PR due to what is perceived as broken promises.
The bulk of Indian voters had supported the fledgling alliance in hopes that it would rectify the disenfranchisement felt by the Indian community.
A number of Hindraf members led by former Hindraf leader RS Thanenthiran have also formed the Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party, a breakaway party that appears friendly towards Barisan Nasional.
Kampung Buah Pala, sits on a 2.6ha piece of prime land in the rapidly developing eastern Georgetown.
The current 300 villagers and their ancestors, mostly of Tamil origins, have been living in the village for nearly 200 years.
A few weeks ago, Hindraf founder P. Uthayakumar had called on Lim to use his powers as chief minister to save Kampung Buah Pala from developers as provided in Section 76 of the National Land Code.
He said that Lim could do so “with a stroke of the pen” and provide a different plot of land to the developers should it be unable to pay compensation.
The residents association have also offered to buy the land from the state government.
