Thursday 29 January 2009

Kugan's funeral - Malaysiakini

Some 500 people took part in funeral procession behind a golden Mercedes Benz on Wednesday, ferrying the remains of Kugan Ananthan, 22, who died in police custody last week, reports Malaysiakini .

At about 2pm, the procession left the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Petaling Jaya en route to a Hindu cemetery in Puchong, some 20km away.

The crowd walked with the hearse for a short distance before getting into their vehicles and driving in a convoy.

Accompanied by scores of media representatives, including foreign journalists, the procession arrived at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya - via the LDP highway - some 80 minutes later.

Some 20 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel kept a close watch while a police helicopter circled above. However, no untoward incidents were reported at the Taipan police station.

During the funeral procession, another nine FRU vehicles were spotted parked at Dewan Sebarangan Puchong in Batu 14.

The procession reached the cemetery at Kampung Batu 14 in Puchong more than two hours later and Kugan's remains were eventually buried at about 5.30pm.

Earlier the morning, the police had closed all roads leading to UMMC ahead of the funeral procession.

Six people were also arrested, three for wearing a T-shirt of the banned movement Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force) and the other two for trying to breach a police barricade to enter the mortuary.

Among those arrested was Hindraf coordinator RS Thanenthiran.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan later said that the sixth person arrested was a murder suspect.

2 comments:

mawar said...

Tak payahlah mendewa-dewakan seorang penjenayah,kak!

Tapi ini bukan bermakna mereka yang bertanggungjawab atas kematian kugan dilepaskan begitu sahaja.

Harap pihak berkuasa akan menyiasat kes ini supaya ia tidak berulang lagi.

Anonymous said...

Nah, aku tampalkan surat aku dapat dari Malaysiakini (free/percuma)ditulis oleh seorang pembaca.

Kugan not a hero
Paran Chinniah | Jan 29, 09 3:40pm
First and foremost, let me wish the family of the late A Kugan my deepest condolences. They have lost a son, in a way that no one should. Their loss is irreplaceable. Period.

MCPXHaving said that, Kugan is not a hero. I think people should stop making him look like an innocent person victimised by police brutality.

I agree that a life has been brutally snatched away and probably by the police, but that is the only point of argument here. Not Kugan and not the Indian community.

I can't imagine why politicians and the Indian society at large must turn this whole sad episode to look like a hero of our community has been killed. Kugan was arrested as a suspected car thief, and according to reports in the media, he had a criminal record.

Can we take a moment to ask ourselves what crimes has he been involved in before? Or what crimes he could have been capable of?

I'm very sure, a lot of my Indian brothers and sisters who read this will be unhappy and agry with my opinions but I would like to stress that while we all fight for the equal rights of the minorities (Indian, Chinese and Malays included), I am not agreeable to the suggestion of putting up a fight for any criminal.

If Indians fail to shed their image of being involved in crime and other uncivilised activities, no one is going to take us seriously. Ask any rational person if he would rather listen to a guy with a 'colourful' track record or a normal, law-abiding person. The answer will most definitely will be the latter.

We must re-invent our image before fighting for our rights. This is vital now, especially with the rallying cry of Makkal Sakthi, growing louder by the day. Indian politicians and the Indian community are increasingly involved in this so-called 'fight against brutality'.

In our vigour to get our message across, are we also saying that criminals must be treated well? I, for one, will never back a criminal, be it Indian, Chinese or Malay, and I will not join the fight for them.

My comments may be harsh, but they are not directed at the late Kugan or his family. My comments are for those who have inadvertently absorbed the wrong message from this whole episode.