MEDIA STATEMENT 28th January 2010 HINDRAF DISCLOSES ITS ACCOUNTS TO PUBLIC

Amidst the various unfounded and malicious allegations, HINDRAF is publishing its accounts to the public for their scrutiny.

Hindraf was formed in December 2005 and it only came to limelight in August 2007 after I had filed a class action against the UK Government on Malaysia’s 50th Anniversary independence celebration on August 30th 2007 in pursuit of the systematic marginalized state of the Malaysian Indians.

The accounts prepared by an independent Public Accounting firm regulated in Malaysia for the funds that were collected is attached herewith The full accounts are also available at our website at www.hindraf.org , www.makkal.org , www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com  and www.hindraf4you.blogspot.com.

A brief run down on the accounts are as follows -

a) Total funds received from Hindraf Enterprise and subsequently placed in the care of trusted individuals is RM 119,814.20

b) A further sum of RM110, 000.00 was cash collected through personal donations, which was initially placed in the hands of Paparaidu a/l Veeraman has been placed in interest bearing clients account of Messrs Kumar Hashimah & Co.

c) A sum of RM35,000.00 was banked into my credit card account by ASP Vasanthakumar whilst I was away from the country on 8th December 2007which is now placed in the hands of the accountancy firm.

d) Total fines paid for Hindraf supporters charged in court and for their travelling allowances, accommodation etc., is RM 111,706.60

e) A sum of RM 50,000.00 that was collected from members of the public to bail P.Uthayakumar was handed over to Ganapathi Rao a/l Veeraman, one of the ISA detainees who had nominated his brother Paparaidu a/l Veeraman to stand as bailor and deposit the said RM50,000.00 in court under the name of Paparaidu a/l Veeraman. Paparaidu and/or Ganapathi Rao had refused to return to HINDRAF the said bail sum of RM50, 000.00 vide his lawyer’s letter dated 14.12.2009.

f) The total amount collected by Hindraf from the account of Hindraf Enterprise is reflected in our accounts. This is only the sum that we are aware of the portion of the money that came into our possession to our trusted HINDRAF allies by the transfers made by ASP Vasanthakumar.

g) The total amount collected for and on behalf of Hindraf by Hindraf Enterprise has to be made public and accounted for by ASP Vasanthakumar. We are only accounting for that portion of the money that came into our possession by the transfers made by ASP Vasanthakumar.

h) The funds collected were for the purpose of dealing with the costs of the cases arising from the various arrests of HINDRAF activists. The funds were specifically never collected for the purpose of the civil suit filed in the British Court as some have alleged.

In summary therefore, the total amount that we have to account for is RM451,617.51. The expenses we have incurred so far is RM163,278.05. The balance is RM 288,339.46 which includes RM 82,182.28 nationwide fund raising dinners organised in 2008 to collect for Hindraf activities less RM61,090.00 receivables i.e. the sum of 227,249.46 is entrusted with the Public Accountant as of 31st December 2009.

I now wish to comment on the collected funds and on the various allegations on the misappropriation of the funds.

From the summary of the accounts above, one can see that none of the money received from the public by Hindraf has been used to finance any purpose other than what it had been collected for, least of all my stay here in the UK. These accounts show the lie, mala fide and mischief in their allegations.

When ASP Vasanthakumar first came to our attention about 3 months before the ISA detentions on 13th Dec 2007, he claimed he was a Bank Officer. We allowed him to handle all the Hindraf funds. He had sole responsibility for the funds before the detention. He collected the funds into HINDRAF Enterprise, a stationary business he registered in his personal name and made himself a Director.

Based on the sums received from ASP Vasantha Kumar and that he was in control of , it creates an irrationality amongst HINDRAF supporters as to why ASP Vasanthakumar would lodge a police report against Uthayakumar on 7th January 2008 ie 3 weeks after his “ISA arrest” claiming that Uthayakumar and his family members had collected large sums of money which may total RM700,000.

The same ASP Vasanthakumar and his cohorts have over the last 6 months continuously defamed me although he was responsible for collected funds which he alleges totals up to RM700,000.00 and this sum was further inflated to Millions by Ganapathi Rao. At the material time I was not in the country nor had any access to the alleged funds as the signatory for the HINDRAF ENTERPRISE account is solely within the control of ASP Vasantha Kumar.

In the first week of January 2008 i.e. 3 weeks after the arrest of the Hindraf lawyers, I had issued media statements urging the public not to donate any money to any middlemen and to channel the funds directly to the affected families and my statements were carried by all the major mainstream Tamil papers and Malaysiakini. It was also posted in the official blog of Hindraf and many other independent Blogs.

As such, it defies logic and rationality as to why I am now subjected to continuous serious allegations of funds collection and misappropriation other than to seed unwarranted suspicion and doubts by ASP Vasantha Kumar as part of the government’s “operasi padam HINDRAF” conducted by the Police Special branch to permanently erase Hindraf and its struggle from the minds of the people and to cause confusion and mistrust.

HINDRAF is a movement of conscience and humanity to uplift the systematically marginalized Malaysian community in Malaysia. It only seeks to show up the truth and the reality that is faced by the deprived lot daily.

It is unfortunate that certain DAP leaders have fallen prey to the Special Branch ploy and had repeated the malicious allegations in their pursuit to defend their own political agenda based on hearsay and for their political benefits as opposed to the voice and need of the marginalized community.

HINDRAF’s enemy is the oppressive system led by UMNO. UMNO for its part seeks to permanently erase HINDRAF from the annals of Malaysia, using these and various other treacherous tactics. No matter how hard they try, we will try harder. Truth and justice is on our side. We are well equipped morally for this struggle.

Hindraf well-wishers must be prepared for the truth as the truth always prevails as we continue to be defiant for a humane and moral cause.

Thank you.

P. Waytha Moorthy.

Chairman

HINDRAF