109 people linked to ban Hindu rights group held in Malaysia

Those arrested included eight women and belonged to the Human Rights Party (HRP), an offshoot of the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

City police chief, Deputy Commissioner Zulkifli Abdullah, said the 109 persons were held to maintain order and security within the city.

"It is regrettable but we had advised them multiple times to not go forward with it (the protest rally). It shows that they have no respect for the law," he told reporters.

The protesters, mostly ethnic Indians, are against the introduction of the Malay language novel 'Interlok' in the senior school curriculum.

A section of the minority community, including the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) -- the country's largest ethnic Indian political party, believes the book contains offensive words like 'pariah' which they say connotes a caste system that they claim does not exist in this country.

P Uttayakumar, a lawyer who heads the HRP, was among those arrested.
The protest came despite the government's assurance that the book would be introduced in the curriculum only after amendments were made.

The arrested people were in the age group of 18-66 and eight of the group's leaders are believed to be among them.

"All of the 109 are being investigated," Zulkifli said.

Out of the 109, two men were arrested for obstructing police from performing their duties.

Zulkifli said that those who participated in today's "illegal" gathering to protest against the novel were an isolated group.

"It does not speak for the whole Indian community as we have been approached by about 13 Indian NGOs supporting our stance against the illegal gatherings," he said.

He said the NGOs agreed that there were better ways to get their message across.

The arrests were made as the protesters walked from the Rennaisance Hotel to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) outside the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest building in the world a few years ago.

Though the main group of protesters was stopped by the police near the hotel before they could march to the Petronas twin towers, a section managed to evade police to make their way to the protest venue.