Malaysia orders release of three Hindraf leaders

“They should be released within the next two or three days,” Home Minister Hishamuddin Tun Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur after a Cabinet meeting.

The three Hindraf leaders have been held for 17 months under the controversial ISA,which allows indefinite detention without trial of people considered to be a threat to national security.

“All of them have been freed because they no longer need to be held,” Hussein said.

Two other Hindraf members were released earlier last month after Najib Razak took over as prime minister.

The 13 ISA detainees who are due to be freed,in addition to the 13 who were released in April,include six Malaysians,two Indonesians and five Filipinos.

Hussein said the release of the three Hindraf leaders was not politically motivated.

When he became prime minister in April,Najib ordered the release of 13 ISA detainees,including Hindraf leaders V Ganabatirau and R Kengadharan.

The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has welcomed the move.

MIC Youth coordinator T Mohan said that the youth wing hopes that the detention of the five,what he believes was the reason behind the ethnic Indians support for opposition in last year’s march 8 general elections,would be forgotten and they would be able to win their trust.

“We sincerely hope that the Indians would return en masses to support MIC,the sole Indian representative in the Barisan Nasional coalition. Their continued detention was a stumbling block towards MIC reaching out to the Indians,” Mohan said.

He said MIC Youth would go to the ground to publicise the efforts of the Najib government which has been proactive to the needs of the Indian community.

Meanwhile,Uthaya Kumar’s brother and Hindraf chairman Waythamoorthy,who is on self-imposed exile in London,said he is happy with the decision and demanded the release of the rest of the detainees held under ISA.

“Besides releasing all ISA detainees,the Government must also close down the Kamunting detention centre as well as abolish the ISA. This would be indicative that the new Prime Minister is truly serious about reforming the country,” Waythamoorthy said.

Detainee Vasantha Kumar¿s wife has said that it took her a few minutes to believe that her husband would be back home.

“My family’s 17 months of hell is finally coming to an end,” she said.

The five Hindraf leaders were detained in December 2007 after the previous Abdullah Badawi government held them responsible for organising a massive rally of ethnic Indians on November 25,2007 to protest against alleged discrimination of the minority community in the country.

More than 20,000 ethnic Indians attended the rally here taking the government by complete surprise. The government denied the allegations of marginalisation.

In general elections on March 8,the main ethnic Indian political party,Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) which is part of the ruling coalition,saw a decline in their supporters and won only three of the nine parliamentary seats it contested.

MIC chief Samy Vellu,who has been at the helm for three decades,also lost his parliamentary seat of Sungei Siput which he had held for four terms.

The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) President Samy Vellu thanked Najib for keeping his promise that will improve the image of the country.

He said that the release would also bring an end to an episode that had “created dissatisfaction among the Indian community.”

“Our Prime Minister has kept his promise to be a fair leader and a leader of all Malaysians. He has fulfilled his promise which he made when he took over the leadership of the country,” Samy Vellu said in a statement.

“The MIC is proud and pledges to give him our full and undivided support. We know he will do more to win back the support and confidence of the people of all races,” he added.

MIC Secretary-General and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam said that the gesture shows that the Government under Najib’s leadership is “people-centred.”