Police report against Saravanan and 'his boys'

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Development Minister M Saravanan has been accused of allegedly sending 'his boys' to settle a score with a DAP branch chairman who had participated in a hunger strike in Brickfields protesting the government decision on the Interlok issue.A Saminathan, who is Bukit Beruntang DAP branch chairman, lodged a police report yesterday against Saravanan and three others alleging that he was beaten-up by the latter's 'boys' and slashed with a razor.

Recounting the incident to FMT after lodging the report, Saminathan said the attack occured as he was getting out of a toilet in an Indian restaurant in Brickfields."I was in the toilet, when someone knocked on the door. As I came out, three Indian men confronted me, one of them held my neck and hit me. He slashed my head and hands with a razor."They warned me not to intervene in any issues involving Saravanan," Saminathan said.Saminathan's friend, MS Arjunan had also previously lodged police reports over several 'Saravanan-linked' activities.

Interlok: 'Do Chinese sell their daughters?'

In a bit to pry a response from the largely silent Chinese over the selection of Malay novel 'Interlok' as required Form Five study material, a coalition of Indian NGOs pointed to a paragraph they claimed degrades the community as well."We eat whatever we can get. Roots if available. We beg. We steal. We don't have a daughter. If we do have a daughter we can sell her," said the first paragraph on page 107 of the 2010 student's edition of 'Interlok' published by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

It was said by Cing Huat, a Chinese character in the novel written by national laureate Abdullah Hussain, when asked by his wife what they were going to eat in their journey to another city in their search of a better life.Appealing to all MCA and other Chinese leaders to read the book and that passage and others like it, National Interlok Action Team (Niat) questioned their silence over the matter.

Kugan's death: RCI only? Home Minister, IGP and AG must go

The Sessions Court acquitted 30 year-old police constable V Navindran for causing the death of A. Kugan who died whilst he was in police custody. The prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.Kugan’s family was deeply disappointment with the court verdict but indicated that they would continue to seek justice for Kugan.Initial post-mortem reports stated that the 23 year-old’s death was classified as ‘sudden death’ and that he had water in his lungs. Following a second post mortem examination, his death was reclassified as murder.

A house turned into a pile of rubble

KUALA LUMPUR: A Maranan, 63, left his Kampung Udara house on Jan 12 to go to work. Upon returning, his house was nothing more than a pile of rubble.It was close to lunchtime that Maranan, a Brickfields hawker, received a phone call from his neighbours. An excavator had torn down his 31-year-old house without warning at around 12pm, completing the task in a matter of minutes.

His son, M Mahesan, rushed over, expecting the worst. But nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see.The excavator had levelled everything. Almost nothing was spared in its destruction. The roof was caved in, and the walls had followed suit. Furniture had been converted into firewood, and bundles of clothes torn into strips.Not even the family's five dogs were spared from the violence. Two of them were killed as the excavator did its work. Two were spared, although they suffered injuries of their own. Another ran away, never to return.

Dr M's remarks on Tamil, Mandarin gravely misplaced

This is not the first time that former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has said it and it probably won't be the last.

Mahathir thinks that no nation in the world allows its citizens to be instructed in schools in a language other than the national language. His latest outburst is currently stirring controversy anew in cyberspace.

It's true that Tamil is the medium of instruction in several hundred primary schools in Malaysia and Mandarin in many primary and secondary schools.

There should be Tamil secondary schools as well but apparently the community has been unable to get its act together on this.

NGOs tell police: Let's see 90 days of no death in custody

As many as 147 deaths in police custody have been reported since 2000 and NGO activists today demanded guarantees from the home ministry and the police force that such deaths will no longer occur.Lawyers for Liberty representative N Surendren and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) co-founder R Sivarasa also insisted that investigations into the cause of death of any person while in the custody of the authorities should be carried out responsibly.

"This is a high number. Under the section 334 of the Penal Code, inquests into deaths in custody are mandatory. There are no two ways about it," Surendran said. "The statistics show kegagalan (failure) on the part of the BN and the police in taking care of suspects in custody," he said, adding that every system of the government appeared to be a failure.

Indian community slams gov't over Kugan, fears further victimization

The Indian community has expressed anger and disappointment over a court's acquittal of a police constable charged for causing grievous hurt to Kugan Ananthan, a 22-year old car theft suspect whom a post-mortem report had said died from torture.Compounding their dissatisfaction was the fact that there were witnessess to the beatings meted out by Constable V Navindran to Kugan. Navinrdan had allegedly used a rubber hose even though it was not his duty to interrrogate Kugan.

"The dead cannot speak so it makes it easier to deny Kugan justice. The court ruling came as no surprise and was expected of this justice system. The issue no longer concerns justice but about you are up against and the threat you stand to pose. The more 'dangerous' you are perceived, the slimmer your chance of seeing justice being done," social activist Manohara Subramaniam told Malaysia Chronicle.