A former Hindraf ISA detainee today urged the movement to take a reconciliatory approach in seeking a solution with the Penang government to solve the Kampung Buah Pala issue.

v ganabatirau return home 050409 02 V Ganabatirao ( with garland ) said that it was pointless for the movement to be hitting the streets to seek a solution for the villagers who are facing imminent eviction.

"The issue is being politicised. Everybody is lashing out at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and his deputy P Ramasamy," he told Malaysiakini today.

"Calling Lim a racist is bad. I strongly believe that he is doing a good job. The state government has urged the developer to pay proper compensation to each of the affected households," he added.

"We should be talking to Lim instead of using street politics. We can have dialogues with him directly," he said.

He stressed that the recent nationwide demonstrations called by Hindraf against DAP was not the answer for the problem the villagers are presently facing.

uthayakumar in kampung buah pala penang 150609 13 Hindraf leaders P Uthayakumar and P Waythamoorthy have been hitting out at Lim and other state leaders for being unable to stop the developer from evicting the villagers.

Apart from the nationwide demonstrations held on Tuesday, the two Hindraf leaders have also warned Lim that he stood to lose the Indian support if he failed to assist the villagers. Some other Hindraf leaders have also called for Lim to resign.

Uthayakumar will be in Penang on Saturday in support of the villagers where he is once again expected to attract a large crowd.

Ganabatirao however said that the public gathering was not the way to address the issue.

hindraf kampung buah pala protest at dap hq petaling jaya 300609 05 "I will be visiting Kampung Buah Pala on July 5 (Sunday) and hope to have a discussion with the chief minister himself on this matter," said Ganabatirao, a DAP member since 2006.

Ganabatirao was held under ISA since Dec 13, 2007 along with Uthayakumar and three others for leading the Hindraf movement.

The movement's chairperson Waythamoorthy had left to the UK to take charge from there. He is still based there. Hindraf was banned by the government last October.

The five Hindraf leaders arrested under the ISA were released in April and May this year.

Split in Hindraf

Ganabatirao also said that individual Hindraf leaders should not be making statements on their own by claiming to represent the movement.

"No single person should represent the views of Hindraf. The five leaders who were detained under the ISA should give joint-statements.

"Even I cannot give statements on behalf of Hindraf on my personal capacity. Without the consensus of all five, no one should claim that it is a Hindraf statement," he said.

hindraff isa detainees 141207 He also said that Waythamoorthy was not the real leader of the movement as he was not elected to the position of chairperson.

"And Uthayakumar's opinion doesn't represent Hindraf. Don't be a hero in the media," he said, addressing the remark to the public face of Hindraf.

He added that the five who were detained under the ISA had had a fallout but quickly added that they needed to get back again for the sake of the community.

"Let's all five of us represent Indian Malaysians. Hindraf is not a sole property of an individual."

In an effort to reunite the five of them, he said that he would be organising a dinner at a restaurant in Klang on Aug 1.

Meanwhile another Hindraf ISA detainee, K Vasanthakumar, urged the prime minister to intervene and resolve the Kampung Buah Pala problem in an open letter.