Most ethnic Indians held for 'illegal' rally released

The police had arrested 109 protesters, believed to be members of the Hindu Rights Party (HRP) — an offshoot of the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) — for protesting against introduction of the Malay language novel “Interlok” in the senior school curriculum.

The police released 101 protesters while eight others, including P Uttayakumar who heads the HRP, were still being investigated. “They will be freed once the investigations are completed,” the police said in a statement here.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the police had the right to arrest several leaders of the Human Rights Party as they had organised an illegal gathering. He said those who were arrested had violated the law.

“We do not want to be hard on them but they are hoping that the police will use violence against them and when that happens, it will be good stuff for the international media to exploit. Their intention is to paint a bad image for the country,” Najib said.