MALAYSIAN INDIAN LEADER ABJURES STREET PROTEST

Kuala Lumpur: Last week, the Malaysian Internal Security Act detainee P. Uthayakumar said he won't say thanks to Malaysian Government for releasing him after spending 17 months in jail.
He was detained for leading an anti-government protest promised on Tuesday that his group will not go back to the streets to fight for minority rights in Malaysia.
This week he vowed to carry on his struggle through a "landmark plan" he crafted in prison, which he said will force the government to address the grievances of Indians, including lack of jobs, poor living conditions, decrepit schools and greater religious freedom.
He refused to elaborate on the plan, except to say it is a strategic 50-page proposal that involves "social" solutions. However, he said he will reveal it in four to six weeks.
"With this plan we will become a force to be reckoned with. It does not involve street demonstrations, definitely not," he said.

Uthayakumar and four other activists were arrested in December 2007 after they led an unprecedented protest by tens of thousands of ethnic Indians in downtown Kuala Lumpur on November 25 to demand equality.

Ethnic Indians, who are mostly employed in menial jobs, make up about 8 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people.
Courtesy: Gulf News