KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S government on Wednesday outlawed Hindu rights group Hindraf, saying it was being used for unlawful purposes and posed a threat to public order and morality.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, in a statement, said the decision to declare it an illegal organisation was made as a result of monitoring and investigation on the organisation's activities by the Registrar of Societies and Home Ministry.
"It 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.
Mr 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.
He added that Hindraf had all the criteria of an organised movement because it had filed for registration with the ROS on Oct 16 last year.
The application had yet to be approved but Hindraf had actively exploited the Indian community to organise illegal assemblies and street demonstrations without permits to the point of causing a segment of the community to rise up against the government and also hatred among the Malays and Indians in the country, he said.
'Hindraf has also tried to secure support from foreign countries for the purpose of pressuring the government to bow to its demands,' he added.
Mr Syed Hamid advised the public to distance themselves from Hindraf and not participate in any way in any of its activities.
Malaysia is holding five leaders of Hindraf or the Hindu Rights Action Force under the harsh Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial, after they led the protest last November.
Ethnic Indians make up 7 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million population and, like ethnic Chinese, have expressed growing resentment against decades-old government policies giving majority Muslim-Malays preferential treatment.
The opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) condemned the ban. 'The banning of Hindraf by the Home Minister must be deplored in the strongest possible terms,' DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said. 'It will only aggravate the disaffection among the Indian community'.
Malaysia has long been wary of anything that might upset racial harmony in the multicultural and relatively prosperous Southeast Asian nation. - BERNAMA, REUTERS.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, in a statement, said the decision to declare it an illegal organisation was made as a result of monitoring and investigation on the organisation's activities by the Registrar of Societies and Home Ministry.
"It 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.
Mr 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.
He added that Hindraf had all the criteria of an organised movement because it had filed for registration with the ROS on Oct 16 last year.
The application had yet to be approved but Hindraf had actively exploited the Indian community to organise illegal assemblies and street demonstrations without permits to the point of causing a segment of the community to rise up against the government and also hatred among the Malays and Indians in the country, he said.
'Hindraf has also tried to secure support from foreign countries for the purpose of pressuring the government to bow to its demands,' he added.
Mr Syed Hamid advised the public to distance themselves from Hindraf and not participate in any way in any of its activities.
Malaysia is holding five leaders of Hindraf or the Hindu Rights Action Force under the harsh Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial, after they led the protest last November.
Ethnic Indians make up 7 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million population and, like ethnic Chinese, have expressed growing resentment against decades-old government policies giving majority Muslim-Malays preferential treatment.
The opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) condemned the ban. 'The banning of Hindraf by the Home Minister must be deplored in the strongest possible terms,' DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said. 'It will only aggravate the disaffection among the Indian community'.
Malaysia has long been wary of anything that might upset racial harmony in the multicultural and relatively prosperous Southeast Asian nation. - BERNAMA, REUTERS.
