Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin today denied that two contract deejays of Tamil radio station Minnal FM were axed because they had participated in the Nov 25 rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

He said their contracts were not extended due to indiscipline and unsatisfactory work performances.

He said RTM had received a report that the performances of the two contract workers were unsatisfactory and that they had disobeyed orders and breached the work rules and guidelines.

He denied Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang's allegation in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that seven Minnal FM deejays, including the two, had their contracts terminated for participating in the rally.

"Actually, their contracts were not extended because they had disciplinary problems and their work performances were unsatisfactory.

"I've received a letter from the radio station controller giving the reasons for their termination," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Death threats

Zainuddin said following the decision not to extend the contracts of the two deejays, five other Minnal FM deejays had expressed their unhappiness and accused the radio controller of making unfounded recommendations.

Following that, an SMS, the source of which police are still investigating, was circulated accusing the controller, among other things, of betraying the race and asking the recipient to spread it to 10 other people, he added.

Zainuddin said the radio controller had also received death threats and the matter had been reported to the police.

"The accusation that the government did not extend their service contracts to suppress the Indian community is baseless. This issue has been exploited by certain groups to embarrass the government," he said.