Malaysian police fire tear gas, water cannons to break up protest

Some 5,000 people began gathering outside Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers before dawn Sunday in spite of a court ruling banning the protest and warnings by police that demonstrators would be detained.

Thousands more massed in Batu Caves, a Hindu temple in a limestone cave on the city's outskirts, hoping to join in a march to the British High Commission in the city.

The situation in town was tense, with a large presence of police and special riot squads to control the swelling crowds.

After warnings to disperse were ignored, police fired water cannons and tear gas into the crowd. Witnesses saw several demonstrators being beaten and dragged into trucks by police.

Police were unavailable to comment on the number of people who were detained.

The rally was meant to support a 4-trillion-dollar lawsuit filed in London in August by the Hindu Rights Action Force, a Malaysian rights group, demanding that Britain compensate Malaysian Indians for bringing their ancestors to the country as "indentured laborers" and exploiting them.

Ethnic Indians say discrimination continued after Malaysia's independence in 1957 from the British, because of an affirmative action policy favouring Malays, who form about 60 per cent of the 27-million-people population.

Ethnic Chinese, who make up some 25 per cent of the population, have the same complaints against government favouritism for Malays, such as the quota system for entry into public universities, as well as economic advantages enjoyed by the majority race.

The Malaysian government has denied all allegations of inequality, and accused the rally's organisers of inciting public unrest and stirring racial hatred.

On Friday, three of the Hindu group's leaders, who are also lawyers, were arrested and charged with sedition in an attempt to stop the protest, which was the second such street protest in Kuala Lumpur this month.

On November 10, a massive street rally that organisers claim drew more than 10,000 people demanding electoral reforms, was held in Kuala Lumpur. The gathering then was also broken up with police using tear gas and firing chemically-laced water cannons.

Street demonstrations are extremely rare in multi-ethnic and primarily Muslim Malaysia, which prides itself on racial and religious stability.//DPA