P Uthayakumar has become a household name lately. Not much about P Uthayakumar’s journey till he has been locked up under ISA is spoken about. If you ask someone if they know Uthaya, the first thing that will come to mind is the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF).
P Uthayakumar was born in Kelantan 7th of November 1961. He spent most of his childhood in Kelantan where he even had a Malay girlfriend for 5 years but had to go their separate ways as religious background would not permit that they got married without him converting to Islam which he was not prepared to do.
He was educated in UK as a lawyer before coming back to Malaysia and seting up his own legal firm together with his brother with his brother Waytha Moorthy who since acted as activist and legal advisors to HINDRAF. Uthaya has been regarded as the leader even though his initial role was simply as the legal adviser.
Uthayakumar has been arrested several times before the ultimate arrest under ISA which has kept him behind bars since.Below are the record of his arrest :
Arrested at his office
Arrest on October 30, 2007
On October 30, 2007, Uthayakumar and other HINDRAF lawyers — M. Manoharan, P. Waytha Moorthy and V. Ganapathi Rao were arrested at 11:00 p. m. and detained until 8:00 a. m. the following morning for taking part in a demonstration against the demolishment of a Hindu Shrine in Kuala Lumpur.All of the lawyers then filed a suit against seven defendants including the government for the “unlawful arrest” on November 5, 2007.
Office raid on November 19, 2007
Being taken away by the police
On November 19, 2007, Uthayakumar’s office in Kuala Lumpur was raided by the police to search for a book deemed seditious under the Sedition Act. The police were unable to find the book but instead confiscated some fliers. When Uthayakumar called his brother’s (Waytha Moorthy) office in Seremban, which was also being raided at the same time, he scolded two police officers for recording the legal office staff’s statements and slammed them for not following procedure.
Arrest for HINDRAF rally
Police arrested Uthayakumar in the morning of November 23, 2007 to prevent him from taking part in the 2007 HINDRAF rally. He was given a discharge later for an error on the part of the prosecution.
Uthayakumar’s car
On 8:00 a.m. December 3, 2007, Uthayakumar discovered that his Volvo 240’s tires were slashed. In his police report, Uthayakumar stated that he suspects the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to be behind the slashing. He also stated that a car bearing licence plate number AFL5280 was spying on him for the past eight months and that should anything happen to him, he would hold UMNO’s top leadership responsible.
Rearrest for sedition charge
Uthayakumar was arrested on December 11, 2007 to face a fresh sedition charge. Despite the fact that the maximum fine for sedition in Malaysia is 5,000 Malaysian ringgits, bail was set at 50,000 Malaysian ringgits. After Uthayakumar posted bail, he was immediately rearrested and brought to Pudu prison. The charges against Uthayakumar were dropped soon after and he was released on December 12, 2007
Arrest under ISA
Water Cannon
On December 13, 2007, Uthayakumar and other HINDRAF members M. Manoharan, V. S. Ganapathy Rao, K. Kengadhadran and T. Vasantha Kumar were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) . Some sources say that the arrest on December 13 was chosen to symbolize the May 13 incident. Uthayakumar left two parting videos for his supporters saying that he had expected his arrest under the ISA. Uthayakumar thanked HINDRAF supporters for their support and reminded them to be peaceful and not to resort to violence
Many people think that Hindraf played a part in the political tsunami that hit Malaysia where the opposition parties bagged 5 states and causing a massive stir in the political scene. I believe that Hindraf has got people talking, it managed to get people to let their feelings be known and pushed for a better Malaysia. It played its part together with Bersih and many other movements and P Uthayakumar was a tool in helping to make this possible, while we Malaysians are enjoying the fruits of his hard work..He is in jail. Hopefully he will be released and if he is to be charged, he should be given a chance to defend him self in a court of law.
Watch P Uthayakumar’s Interview with Malaysiakini before his arrest (more…)
