Uthayakumar s/o Ponnusamy (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

: உதயகுமார் பொன்னுசாமி) (born 7 November 1961) is a Malaysian lawyer of

origin. He is the older brother of P. Waytha Moorthy,

HINDRAF Hindu Rights Action Force, better known by its acronym HINDRAF ( ms, Barisan Bertindak Hak-Hak Hindu, ta, இந்து உரிமைகள் போராட்டக் குழு, Intu Urimaikaḷ Pōrāṭṭak Kuḻu); is a Hindu-activ ...

(the Hindu Rights Action Force) lawyer who headed a team of lawyers to file a

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

suit against the United Kingdom for "abandoning minority Indians to the mercy of majoritarian Malay rule while granting independence on August 31, 1957". Although Uthayakumar is only a legal advisor of HINDRAF, a coalition of several non-governmental organisations, he is regarded as the de facto leader of HINDRAF.

Early life

Uthayakumar was born on 7 November 1961 to Ponnusamy s/o Arunasalam, a train driver who was a first generation immigrant. Uthayakumar's

paternal A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

grandfather, Arunasalam was a citizen of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in present-day

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Arunasalam was brought into Malaysia then known as

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

to work as a labourer in a rubber estate. Uthayakumar was brought up in

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

, where 99 percent of the population is

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, 0.9 percent Chinese and 0.1 percent Indian. This enabled him to speak fluent Kelantan Malay. He revealed that he had a Malay girlfriend for five years, but because he had to convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

to marry her, Uthayakumar had to go his separate way. In an interview with

Malaysiakini ''Malaysiakini'' (meaning in English: "Malaysia Now") is an online news portal published in Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil. Malaysiakini receives over 2.3 million page-views per day on desktop and mobile. Alexa ranked ''malaysiakini.com'' ...

, Uthayakumar said that he was very patriotic to the point that he called himself a Malaysian and at one point refused to visit India. He also wore a pin of the

Malaysian flag The national flag of Malaysia, also known as the Stripes of Glory ( ms, Jalur Gemilang), is composed of a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as the ''Bin ...

on his blazer during his student times, despite the fact that his friends poked fun at him. When Uthayakumar started his legal firm, he put a Malaysian flag on his working desk. Uthayakumar took off the flag after the

2001 Kampung Medan riots The 2001 Kampung Medan riots is a sectarian violence between the Indian and Malay that initially began in a small village of Kampung Medan located in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The riot then further escalated and spread all the way through ...

incident because; Uthayakumar then said that he had no problems with the

Malay people Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations — areas that are ...

as much as he had problems with the

UMNO The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

led government.

HINDRAF

Uthayakumar is the legal advisor and the de facto leader of HINDRAF which is not in good terms with the

Malaysian Government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malay ...

Arrest on 30 October 2007

On 30 October 2007, Uthayakumar and other HINDRAF lawyers –

M. Manoharan Manoharan s/o Malayalam (Tamil: ம. மனோகரன்; born 13 September 1961) also known as M. Manoharan is a Malaysian lawyer and was the State Assemblyman for Kota Alam Shah in the Selangor State Assembly. He is a member of the Dem ...

, P. Waytha Moorthy and V. Ganapathi Rao were arrested at 11:00 p. m. and detained until 8:00 a. m. the following morning for taking part in a demonstration against the demolishment of a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Shrine in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. All of the lawyers then filed a suit against seven defendants including the government for the "unlawful arrest" on 5 November 2007. They are seeking 20 million

Malaysian Ringgits The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 ''sen'' (formerly ''cents''). The ringgit is issue ...

each in compensation while Waytha Moorthy is seeking 25 million.

Office raid on 19 November 2007

On 19 November 2007, Uthayakumar's office in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

was raided by the police to search for a book deemed seditious under the Sedition Act. The police were unable to find the book but instead confiscated some fliers. When Uthayakumar called his brother's (

Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, sometimes spelled Waythamoorthy ( ta, வேதமூர்த்தி பொன்னுசாமி, Vētamūrtti poṉṉucāmi; born 16 July 1966), is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as the Minister ...

) office in

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Sere ...

, which was also being raided at the same time, he scolded two police officers for recording the legal office staff's statements and slammed them for not following procedure.

Arrest for HINDRAF rally

Police arrested Uthayakumar in the morning of 23 November 2007 to prevent him from taking part in the

2007 HINDRAF rally The 2007 HINDRAF rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 25 November 2007. The rally organiser, the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), had called the protest over alleged discriminatory policies which favour ethnic Malays. The ra ...

. He was given a discharge later for an error on the part of the prosecution.

Uthayakumar's car

On 8:00 a.m. 3 December 2007, Uthayakumar discovered that his

Volvo 240 __NOTOC__ Year 240 ( CCXL) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 ''Ab u ...

's tires were slashed. In his police report, Uthayakumar stated that he suspects the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

(UMNO) to be behind the slashing. He also stated that a car bearing licence plate number AFL5280 was spying on him for the past eight months and that should anything happen to him, he would hold UMNO's top leadership responsible.

Rearrest for sedition charges

Uthayakumar was arrested on 11 December 2007, to face a fresh

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

charge. Despite the fact that the maximum fine for sedition in Malaysia is 5,000 Malaysian ringgits, bail was set at 50,000 Malaysian ringgits. After Uthayakumar posted bail, he was immediately rearrested and brought to Pudu prison. The charges against Uthayakumar were dropped soon after and he was released on 12 December 2007.

Arrest under Internal Security Act

On 13 December 2007, Uthayakumar and other HINDRAF members

, V. S. Ganapathy Rao, K. Kengadhadran and T. Vasantha Kumar were arrested under the

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: * Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) * McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...

(ISA). Some sources say that the arrest on 13 December was chosen to symbolise the 13 May incident. Uthayakumar left two parting videos for his supporters saying that he had expected his arrest under the ISA. Uthayakumar thanked

supporters for their support and reminded them to be peaceful and not to resort to violence. He was released from ISA detention in 2009.

Personal life

Uthaykumar is married to Indradevi and currently lives in Kuala Lumpur, with his children. He is also the elder brother of Former HINDRAF chairman and Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) Founder, P. Waytha Moorthy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uthayakumar, P. 1961 births Living people Malaysian Hindus 20th-century Malaysian lawyers Human Rights Party Malaysia politicians Malaysian democracy activists Malaysian human rights activists Malaysian prisoners and detainees People from Kelantan Malaysian activists Malaysian people of Indian descent Malaysian people of Tamil descent Prisoners and detainees of Malaysia Independent politicians in Malaysia Malaysian political party founders 21st-century Malaysian lawyers