| Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 July, 1966 |
| Nationality | Malaysian |
| Occupation | Human Rights Activist |
| Known for | HINDRAF |
Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy sometimes spelt Waythamoorthy (born 16 July 1966) is a Malaysian lawyer of Tamil origin who is currently a member of the HINDRAF campaign to fight discrimination against Malaysian Hindus.
Contents |
Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy was born on July 16, 1966 to Ponnusamy Arunasalam who was a first generation immigrant. Waytha Moorthy mentioned in his statement of claim that his parents sold their home to finance his studies in the United Kingdom. Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy also stated that he was denied entry into a local university despite having all the requirements purely because he was an Indian.[1]
Waytha Moorthy was a devotee of the Sri Siva Balamuniswarar Hindu temple in Setapak which was demolished using government bulldozers in 2006, the Sri Kumaravel Hindu temple Kampong Medan which has been relocated next to a sewerage tank in 2006, the Muniswarar Hindu temple in Midlands estate was demolished using a sledge hammer in 2006 and the Muniswarar temple in Seremban with a 100 year old rain tree which has been given notice to be demolished in 2006.[1]
He is suing the British Government. He is accusing the British government, which was then managing British Malaya of "abandoning minority Indians to the mercy of majoritarian Malay rule while granting independence on 31 August 1957". Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy is suing for the British Government to pay £1,000,000 to each Malaysian Indian for the "pain, suffering, humiliation, discrimination and continuous colonisation". This extraordinary lawsuit is being backed by HINDRAF or Hindu rights action force.
Just as Malaysia was celebrating her 50th Independence on 31 August 2007, Waytha Moorthy led a team of lawyers to file a 4 trillion pound lawsuit against the British Government. "After a century of slaving for the British, the colonial government withdrew after granting independence and they left us unprotected and at the mercy of a majority Malay-Muslim government that has violated our rights as minority Indians," said Waytha after filing the suit.[2] said Waytha Moorthy after filing the suit. He is also seeking to strike out Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution which acknowledges Malay Supremacy. He also wants the court to declare that Malaysia is a secular state and not an Islamic one.
On October 30, 2007, Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy and prominent members of HINDRAF—M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar and V. Ganabatirau—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 demolition of a Hindu Shrine in Kuala Lumpur. Because of this "unlawful arrest", the lawyers are seeking 85 million Malaysian Ringgits in compensation, with Manoharan, Uthayakumar and Ganapathy Rao seeking 20 million while Waytha Moorthy is seeking 25 million.[3]
He was arrested again on November 23 together with P. Uthayakumar and V. Ganabatirau, this time on sedition charges. All three were granted bail, but Waytha refused bail as a sign of protest.[4] But on November 26, the court discharged Waytha Moorthy, Uthayakumar and Ganapathy Rao[5] because "the prosecution had failed to adhere to Zunaidah’s (the judge) instructions on Friday to attach the Tamil transcripts of the speeches to the charge sheet". [6]
Waytha Moorthy left Malaysia on 26 November 2007 to avoid possible detention under the Internal Security Act and to obtain international support for HINDRAF's cause.[7] He began with India and planned to proceed to London, Geneva, Brussels, Washington DC, New York and Atlanta.[8] BERNAMA, the Malaysian national news agency on 3 January 2008 reported that Waytha Moorthy said that the HINDRAF cause has been lost. This statement was untrue as it was twisted by the Barisan Nasional controlled media [9]