Challenging the prohibition of the authorities, hundreds of Indian activists take to the streets with roses for the prime minister, as a symbol of justice. The peaceful march, broken up by the security forces, asked for the liberation of five Hindu leaders under arrest.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agenzie) - It ended with at least 20 arrests, with tear gas and water cannons  being used against the crowd of of about 300 peaceful Indian protesters who took to the streets today in Kuala Lumpur in defiance of a government ban. The group HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force), which organised the demonstration, had planned to march all the way to parliament to bring yellow and red roses to prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi. But the unauthorised march was dispersed before it got there. Originally, the promoters of the demonstration had planned to have a group of about 200 children join the march, but the excessively tense situation prompted them to abandon the plan.

With the symbolic "flower protest" - as described by the local and international media - the Indian activists are asking Badawi, and also the interior minister, to release five of their leaders who have been detained for weeks according to the draconian Internal Security Act.  The five - P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan, and T. Vasantha Kumar - were at the head of massive protests that brought up to 10,000 people to the streets of the Malaysian capital last November. HINDRAF is struggling for the end of the policy of ethnic and religious discrimination maintained by the central government.

The Indians are not the only ones who are complaining about the privileges and advantages granted to the country's Malay majority.  Other ethnic minorities as well, like the Chinese, or religious minorities, like the Christians, are asking for equal rights and more respect for fundamental human freedoms. Malay Muslims make up 60% of the country's 27 million inhabitants, and dominate political life; 25% of the population is of Chinese origin and has great influence over the economy, while the 10% represented by the Indians perform the most lowly tasks.  Analysts maintain that it is precisely the discontent of these segments of the population, combined with public dissatisfaction over rising prices and widespread corruption, that will lead to a collapse in the support for the governing coalition headed by the Umno party of Badawi in the elections next March 8.

• Malaysia
• Hindu
• flower
• protest
• peaceful
• march
• demonstration
• protest
• broken
• up
• dispersed
• tear
• gas
• water
• canons