Interlok protest: DAP MP, PKR man arrested
By Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: The police today arrested Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran and PKR division leader MS Arjunan for protesting against the controversial Interlok novel at the Batu Caves Hindu temple.
They were taken to the Gombak police district headquarters for questioning and are expected to be released after their statements had been recorded.
Manogaran, a DAP first-time parliamentarian, and Arjunan, who is also the president of the Malaysian Tamil Students Progressive Associations (MATSAP), arrived at the Batu Caves temple this morning with a small group of supporters to demonstrate against the novel.
They were protesting against the government’s decision to retain Interlok as compulsory reading for Form Five students taking Malay literature.
The anger over the novel has been simmering for months now after it was discovered that the school edition novel contained words which disparaged the Indian community.
A special panel formed by the government last week announced that while certain offensive words would be removed, the novel nevertheless would be retained, much to the disappointment of many Indian groups and politicians who had wanted the novel removed totally for the school syllabus.
Flyer and effigy
Confirming the arrest, Gombak police chief Abdul Rahim Abdullah told FMT that Manogaran and Arjunan have been taken to the police station for investigation.
“There was no demonstration, only a gathering of a small group of people who were expressing their protest against the novel,” he said.
“They had flyers with images of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak. They also had an effigy. They refused to answer my questions on who was the organiser. They refused to disperse and were trying to divert my questions to them,” he said.
“I had to disperse this group before a bigger crowd gathered,” he added.
He also said that there were no banners or copies of Interlok with the protesting crowd. He said their banners stated ‘Kami tolak novel Interlok’.
He added that the situation at the temple returned to normal following the arrest at about noon.
Anwar taken to task
In a related development, veteran MIC grassroots leader KP Samy questioned why only the Indian leaders of Pakatan Rakyat were making a strong stand on Interlok.
He said that it was unfortunate that senior Pakatan leaders such as PKR’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PAS president Hadi Awang had not openly called for the novel to be banned in schools.
In fact, Samy added, he remembered Anwar stating that he (Anwar) had no issues with the book which was written by National Laureate, Abdullah Hussain.
“There is no official Pakatan stand on this matter. The ones who make the noise are the Indian leaders in Pakatan and some small level leaders in PAS.
