Waytha willing to risk arrest to come home

Now that his brother and four other Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders are free, the movement's self-exiled leader P Waythamoorthy is contemplating returning home.

The lawyer has been living in London since 2007, where he had gone a month before his brother Uthayakumar and the rest were detained under the Internal Security Act in December that year.

"Now that my comrades have been released, I have decided to return to Malaysia to forge ahead with the objectives and goals of Hindraf … even to risk being arrested under the ISA or any other repressive laws," he said in a statement.

"I shall return knowing the risks involved, as I honestly believe that Hindraf's cause was just and fair.

"I had sought the advise of many grassroots supporters, and they are of the opinion that I should not return as I would be arrested and incarcerated," he added.

However, the lawyer said he is unperturbed by the risk and is glad that the objective of securing the release of the five has been achieved.

"Now it is time to press forward with the objectives for the community that has been systematically discriminated, marginalised and sidelined for 52 years since Malaysia gained independence," he added.

Immediately after taking over the reins, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ordered the release of Hindraf leaders V Ganabatirau and R Kenghadharan.

On Saturday, the remaining three Hindraf leaders - Uthayakumar, M Manoharan and T Vasanthakumar - were freed.

The quintet were detained shortly after organising a mammoth street rally which saw tens of thousands of Indian Malaysians taking to the streets.

'The spirit is inerasable'

Meanwhile, Waythamoorthy noted that Hindraf - which has since been outlawed by the government - is now a strong mass movement.

"Hindraf can never be suppressed any further. If the government arrests or detains me, there will be many others within the community with conscience who will spearhead the struggle for the betterment of the society and the nation.

"The spirit of Hindraf invoked within the Malaysian community is inerasable and I can only hope that its struggle for equality, fairness and justice will prevail over selfishness and ignorance," he said.

He claimed that the arrest of the Hindraf leaders in 2007 was aimed at curtailing its legitimate concerns for the Indian community.

"I decided that somehow Hindraf needs to be brought into the international arena since the government had used oppression towards the public and invoked the ISA to stifle and vilify the voice of Hindraf," he added.

Waythamoorthy said he was forced to continue the struggle and keep the movement alive in the United Kingdom to get international support from various international bodies and governments.

As a result of this, he said the Malaysian government revoked his passport and he was forced to seek asylum, which the British government granted.

After his release, Uthayakumar indicated that he wants to meet his brother to discuss the next course of action, which may include having the movement transformed into a political party.

"I will discuss with Waytha (about the future) and if the feelings are strong to form a party as demanded by the supporters, we would seriously consider it," Uthayakumar had said.

Minister to check with police

In a related development, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he would be checking with the police to see if Waythamoorthy would be arrested upon his return.

He also refused to speculate on Waythamoorthy's status apart from saying that the ministry would review the Hindraf leader's his application, if any, to return home.

He further added that his ministry will review its decision to ban Hindraf if an application was made.

"If they want us to reconsider the status they have to make an appeal. When they do make the appeal, I will reconsider the status," he was reported as saying by Bernama .

Hishammuddin said that for the time being the illegal status remained as the application to register the movement was rejected before.