Two similar occasions, one was the PWTC open house hosted by our prime minister, the other a Hari Raya open house hosted by Anwar Ibrahim and yet how different the treatment between the two.

The very same six-year old Vwaishnavi, daughter of Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy with the almost similar homemade, Hari Raya greeting card carrying the same message accompanied by a harmless teddy bear.

The same Hindraf supporters of approximately 200, in their now familiar, orange T-shirts. The very same occasion of an Hari Raya open house only this time hosted by the opposition leader Anwar at Kampung Baru on Oct 12.

The moment we stepped into the compound our Malaysian Muslim brothers cheered, clapped and welcomed us into the hall. Anwar and Wan Azizah welcomed the hundreds of the Hindraf supporters with a welcoming smile. They shook hands with each and every one of us.

What a difference on how we were received by the two hosts and how it was reported by the media. Hindraf has been demonised for attending the PWTC open house on Oct 1. Frankly, we never anticipated the shameful way which we were treated during the Hari Raya open house hosted by none other than the PM of Malaysia and his cabinet ministers at PWTC.

Hindraf has been accused as being biadap, kurang ajar, pengacau and the most heartbreaking of all, ‘insulting Islam and Muslims of this country’. This has been further compounded with four Hindraf supporters being summoned to the Dang Wangi police station for merely attending the open house of the prime minister.

Wasn't the PM's invitation to his open house extended to all Malaysians? So then why Mr PM sir, were we provoked when we stepped into the PWTC premises? You yourself saw how the handmade Hari Raya card made by Vwaishnnavi was torn by your officials.

This wasn't a petition or a memo. It was a simple self-made Hari Raya greeting card offered to you by a Malaysian child but was instead seized by dozens of police officers who ripped it apart. What an insult to this child and the entire Malaysian community.

Why do you say we did not greet you? You, your advisors and the police insulted us every step of our way during the open house. Are we not correct to assume that the Hari Raya open house was paid by us, the Malaysian taxpayers?

So then, why were we so badly treated at our own Malaysian open house? Mr PM, don't you consider us Hindraf supporters as Malaysians? Is it wrong for us to ask for the release of our Hindraf leaders, Raja Petra Kamarudin and the other ISA detainees?

The mainstream media, especially the Malay newspapers under the government’s control, has blamed and accused us of unruly behavior, labeled us as troublemakers and said Hindraf supporters had not respected Hari Raya.

The Almighty God knows the truth and you, too, should let all Malaysians know the truth and that is we conducted ourselves with decorum during your open house even though we were initially stopped and not allowed to meet you.

One may ask why we chose the Hari Raya open house and our answer is that the PM had avoided all our calls to meet him in his office or elsewhere. We had no other choice but to state our request at this open house.

We wanted to look into the eyes of PM so that we could directly tell him to release our leaders, RPK and the other detainees. That's all. So cut the condemnation and lies about our behaviour.

Many guests who were at the PWTC open house did not even know that we were present. Categorically, we did not create any ruckus or commotion. We are the ones who feel insulted in that our prime minister did not treat us Malaysian citizens with the due respect of a courteous host.

Finally, though I am not a scholar on religion, however, I can definitely say that what the prime minister, deputy prime minister, home minister, information minister, tourism minister; unity, culture, arts and heritage minister and rest of Umno ministers have said against Hindraf with regards to our Hari Raya open house visit at PWTC cannot be condoned for untruths, insincerity and lies are unacceptable by any religion.

Did they create this issue merely to garner more votes prior to the coming Umno elections?

The writer represents the Hindraf National Coordination Team.