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Bombs hurled at office of Malaysian Indian-led party
Cincinnati Sun Friday 16th May, 2008 (IANS)
The Perak state headquarters in Ipoh of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) led by Malaysian Indian lawmaker Karpal Singh was attacked by two people with Molotov cocktails in what media reports termed an attempt to burn down the building.
Senior Assistant Commissioner (II) Ismail Yatim, the Perak Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief, said the case was being investigated as mischief by fire with intent to destroy a building.
Homemade bombs were hurled at the Perak DAP headquarters here Thursday but did not cause major damage to the building.
Instead, a wooden board put up at the glass windows of the office caused the explosives to bounce off and land on the road, The Star newspaper said Friday.
Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham told The Sun newspaper that he believed the incident was politically motivated.
Calling the attack 'politically-motivated', he added: 'It is an attack on democracy and violence cannot be condoned'.
He urged the police to catch the culprits, saying such unlawful behaviour should not be allowed.
Ipoh Barat's Indian origin MP M. Kula Segaran said additional security measures such as closed circuit camera TV around the building and security guards will be introduced to prevent such incidents in the future.
Singh, 68, a lawyer and prominent opposition MP, has been in the news for being charged with sedition after he criticised the sultan of Perak, who is the state's constitutional head and is a member of the royal family.
Twenty police cases have been filed against him and police say an inquiry against him is almost complete, The Sun reported.
Singh denies having insulted the sultan. He has said that he only questioned the propriety of the sultan stalling the transfer of a senior Perak official.
A constitutional head should not engage in transfers and appointments of an official, Singh had argued.
The mufti (interpreter of Islamic jurisprudence) of Perak has, however, said Singh's statement was tantamount to insulting Islam since the sultan was also the religious head.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad had disapproved of Singh's statement and called for early completion of the probe against him by the attorney general.
However, the government has denied that it was singling out Singh.
CID Commissioner Mohamad Bakri Zinin told the media Thursday that the government was also probing allegations of seditious remarks made against the royal heads of Terengganu and Perlis states by Rosol Wahid and 22 legislators belonging to the ruling United Malay Nmational organisation (Umno).
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Comments on this story
| By Malasyu, 05-16-08, 09:01 AM |
Bombs hurled at office of Malaysian Indian-led partyThe Mufti has a lot to answer. It is He who must be careful what he says and not make judgements as there are idots who will follow. |
| By onlooker, 05-17-08, 12:22 AM |
who is the real IDIOT here...heh?hello whoever you are..its not the Mufti that is being investigated here..why blame the poor fellow..its your hero who is..so who is the IDIOT here ..one of yours or the one in your mirror ?..ha ha calm down.. |
| By Anonymous, 05-17-08, 12:41 AM |
Karpal is innocent1) The core of Karpal’s statements is that the appointment of civil servants should be at the discretion of the chief minister, not the Sultan. The problem here is this particular civil servant is dealing with Islamic issues, and Islamic issues are technically under the purview of the Sultan. So, it’s a gray area, but one that should definitely be discussed and explored in length. This is about separation of powers. Are we supposed to drop everything and kow tow whenever the word “Islam” is uttered? Come on. This is a serious issue. We can’t just leave it be, even though clearly it is a political minefield. Karpal should be commended for his political courage. Of course it helps that he probably is not going to seek re-election after this, due to his age. This may be his final lasting contribution to Malaysia.
2) The title of this article is misleading: “Bombs hurled at office of Malaysian Indian-led party”. Although Karpal is a very high-ranking and highly regarded leader of the DAP, he is not THE leader, and the vast majority of the party’s membership and leadership are peoples of Chinese origin, not Indian origin. |
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