Hindraf chief denies being sacked

Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy denies an SMS being circulated that he has been sacked by the Indian rights group’s supreme council. 

(THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy denies an SMS being circulated that he has been sacked by the Indian rights group’s supreme council.

The SMS also claims that Mr Waythamoorthy’s brother P. Uthayakumar was now Hindraf’s de facto leader and would continue to champion an “anti-Barisan Hindraf crusade”.

When contacted, Mr Waythamoorthy said there was no truth in the SMS, adding that a Hindraf Supreme Council did not exist and that Mr Uthayakumar had no say on the matter as he was no longer a Hindraf member.

“He left Hindraf to form his own human rights group. He’s always been a one-man show. He disagrees with us, so he got a few people and now he is saying that I’ve been sacked and he’s the de facto leader,” Mr Waythamoorthy said.

He said that Mr Uthayakumar was opposed to Hindraf’s endorsement of Barisan Nasional for GE13, following a memorandum of understanding signed last week.

Barisan had also endorsed Hindraf’s blueprint for improved conditions for Malaysian Indians.

On March 8, the Registrar of Societies approved the registration of Hindraf as Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia, a non-governmental organisation, with the pro-tem committee headed by Mr Waythamoorthy.

He said the deputy chairman was W. Sumbalingan and adviser was N Ganesan.

“Uthayakumar’s name does not appear in the registered organisation,” he said.

He reiterated that the organisation would support Barisan in the upcoming elections but acknowledged that the tussle with his brother could lead to confusion among Hindarf supporters.