Newly-sworn ISA rep vows to fight

iday May 9, 2008

Newly-sworn ISA rep vows to fight

TAIPING: ISA detainee M. Manoharan has pledged to raise matters of public interest and fight for justice for all, irrespective of race, religion or descent without fear or favour.

He said this after being sworn in as a Selangor state assemblyman before Speaker Teng Chang Khim at the Kamunting detention centre yesterday.

Manoharan was among five Hindraf leaders detained last December for a two-year period under the Internal Security Act.

The swearing-in ceremony was witnessed by, among others, Manoharan’s wife S. Pushapaneela, their three children – twins Hariharan and Shivaranjini, 11, and Ganendra, nine, – and Manoharan’s father M.S. Malialam.

The 10-minute ceremony, which started at 9am, was also witnessed by Selangor state legal adviser Datin Paduka Zauyah Be T. Loth Khan and legal advisers from the Home Ministry and the Prisons Department.

In a statement made available three hours later, Manoharan thanked Teng for making the swearing-in ceremony possible and said the presence of his wife, children and father had made “my detention here less painful”.

“Today is not only a beginning for me, being officially declared a Selangor state assemblyman, but also in the war against discrimination and marginalisation,” he said in the statement which his wife read out in the presence of DAP chairman Karpal Singh.

To a question, Teng said Manoharan would not be disqualified for not being present at state assembly sittings as he could apply for leave.

Manoharan has submitted 10 questions for the first session of the state assembly commencing on May 22.