Waytha Moorthy is the real victim, not fireman Adib, says Hindraf
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waytha Moorthy has been blamed for the events that led to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
(FMT) – Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waytha Moorthy is being made a scapegoat in the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, says Hindraf legal adviser Karthig Shan.
He said Hindraf is appalled that the “politics of race and religion has been fuelled with impunity” within certain segments of the community following the death of Adib, 24, on Monday night from injuries sustained after he was assaulted outside the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ25 in Subang Jaya on Nov 27.
“Instead of mourning the unfortunate death of a fellow Malaysian, groups of people are misleading and creating a perception that the death revolves around race and religion.
“It is sad that this organised concerted effort to create a false perception of inter-racial tensions is allowed to grow without any checks,” Shan said in a statement.
He said the incident should not be allowed to derail the peaceful co-existence of various races in Malaysia.
He urged the Pakatan Harapan government not to allow racism to be used by certain groups for political expediency.
“Hindraf respects freedom of speech and expression as a tenet of human rights but in this instance, it is obvious that such freedom is used by certain groups to manipulate and create a division in the community, based on race and religion, without substantial cause or reason.”
Shan said the police force should be allowed to conduct its criminal investigations into the violence involving the temple relocation issue.
Trouble started in the early hours of Nov 26 when a group of people entered the temple while devotees were holding prayers and started attacking people in an apparent attempt to vacate the place. As a result, a mob torched more than 20 cars around the temple.
The violence continued for a second night, with more cars set on fire.
Police, who had rounded up more than 100 people after the violence, had stationed additional men outside the temple following Adib’s death to maintain peace.
Many Malaysians had reacted strongly on social media, blaming Waytha and Selangor exco V Ganabatirau for the events that led to Adib’s death.
Waytha drew fire after being in a group of several ethnic Indian Pakatan Harapan leaders in accusing the police of being slow in stopping the mob at the temple.
