P. Uthayakumar

{{short description|Malaysian lawyer of Tamil origin (born 1961)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Uthayakumar Ponnusamy

| image =

| caption =

| native_name = உதயகுமார் பொன்னுசாமி

| native_name_lang = Tamil

| birth_name = Uthayakumar Ponnusamy

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|11|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = Johor, Federation of Malaya

| nationality = Malaysian

| other_names = P. Uthayakumar
Uthaya

| known_for =

| education =

| employer =

| occupation = Lawyer
Activist

| party = Human Rights Party Malaysia

| spouse =

| children =

| parents = Ponnusamy s/o Arunasalam

| relatives = Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, P. Waytha Nayagi

}}

Uthayakumar s/o Ponnusamy (Tamil: உதயகுமார் பொன்னுசாமி) (born 7 November 1961) is a Malaysian lawyer of Tamil origin. He is the older brother of P. Waytha Moorthy, with whom he founded the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF). He is also the leader of the Human Rights Party and HINDRAF 2.0.{{Cite web |last=Reporters |first=F. M. T. |date=2018-05-29 |title=Hindraf vs Hindraf 2.0 as original body denies making new demands |url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/05/29/hindraf-vs-hindraf-2-0-as-original-body-denies-making-new-demands |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Free Malaysia Today {{!}} FMT |language=en}}

Early life

Uthayakumar was born on 7 November 1961 to Ponnusamy s/o Arunasalam, a train driver[http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Asia/STIStory_183694.html Lawyer fears arrest]. Straitstimes.com. and first generation immigrant. Uthayakumar's paternal grandfather, Arunasalam was a citizen of British India. Arunasalam was brought to British Malaya to work as a labourer in a rubber estate.

Uthayakumar was brought up in Kelantan, where the majority of its inhabitants were Malays and is able to speak Kelantan Malay fluently.

Describing himself as patriotic, Uthayakumar claims to have worn the Malaysian flag on his blazer while a student despite belittlement from his friends, and kept a Malaysian flag on his desk after starting his legal firm. Uthayakumar took off the flag after the 2001 Kampung Medan riots, saying:

{{blockquote|I believe that as much as I want to be Malaysian, the Malay majority Muslim do not want me as a Malaysian, they do not recognize me as a Malaysian, they do not accept me as a Malaysian.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKz-wpr_uBc Uthayakumar: "I'm no racist!"]. YouTube.com (5 December 2007).}}

Political career and activism

Uthayakumar was the former leader of Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim), which broke off from Parti Keadilan Nasional, which it accused of being anti-Indian,{{Cite web |last=Hooi |first=Ng Boon |date=2001-05-11 |title=Prim pulls out from Teluk Kemang fight |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/2918 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Malaysiakini}} and was most recently the leader of the Human Rights Party.{{Cite web |last=Reporters |first=F. M. T. |date=2018-05-29 |title=Hindraf vs Hindraf 2.0 as original body denies making new demands |url=https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/05/29/hindraf-vs-hindraf-2-0-as-original-body-denies-making-new-demands |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Free Malaysia Today {{!}} FMT |language=en}}

As leader of Prim, Uthayakumar was involved in calling for an inquiry or formation of a royal commission to look into the 2001 Kampung Medan riots, an episode of sectarian violence between the Malay and Indian community.{{Cite web |last=Yi |first=Beh Lih |date=2003-03-24 |title=Kg Medan tragedy still unresolved two years on, complains Prim |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/14884 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Malaysiakini}}

In 2004, Uthayakumar was threatened and assaulted at gunpoint by unidentified assailants. He applied for asylum in the United Kingdom and was placed in a safe house by the British government.{{Cite web |last=Yen |first=Leong Kar |date=2004-06-02 |title=Lawyer in British safe house pending asylum request |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/20139 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Malaysiakini}} He returned to Malaysia after the government publicly guaranteed his safety.{{Cite web |last=Yen |first=Leong Kar |date=2004-06-07 |title=Govt pledges safety of human rights lawyer |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/20200 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Malaysiakini}}

in 2006, the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) was formed as a coalition more than 50 Hindu organisations in response to increasing Islamisation and the ineffectiveness of the Malaysian Indian Congress in advocating for the interests of Malaysian Indians.{{Cite journal |last=Shekhar |first=Vibhanshu |date=2008 |title=Malay Majoritarianism and Marginalised Indians |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40277174 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=43 |issue=8 |pages=22–25 |issn=0012-9976}}

In 2007, Uthayakumar participated in the HINDRAF-led mass rally on 25 November against, broadly, racial and religious discrimination, with the ultimate goal of submitting a petition to the British High Commission addressed to Elizabeth II.{{Cite journal |last=Cangià |first=Flavia |date=2014 |title=The Hindu Rights Action Force and the Definition of the ‘Indian Community’ in Malaysia |url=https://www.socresonline.org.uk/19/4/3.html |journal=Sociological Research Online |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=3 |issn=1360-7804}} This rally, participated by an upper estimate of 50,000 people, was preceded by a series of smaller rallies in previous months across the country. The police obtained a court order banning the rally and it was violently dispersed with the use of tear gas and chemical-laced water cannons.{{Cite journal |last=Bunnell |first=Tim |last2=Nagarajan |first2=S. |last3=Willford |first3=Andrew |date=2010 |title=From the Margins to Centre Stage: 'Indian' Demonstration Effects in Malaysia's Political Landscape |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43079912?read-now=1&seq=5#page_scan_tab_contents |journal=Urban Studies |volume=47 |issue=6 |pages=1257–1278 |issn=0042-0980}}{{Cite web |last=Tsin |first=Soon Li |date=2007-11-23 |title=Cops obtain rare court order against Hindraf |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/75175 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Malaysiakini}} The rally and the government's response to it is understood to have contributed to its electoral setback in the 2008 Malaysian general election, where Malaysian Indian support for the government plummeted.{{Cite journal |last=Singh |first=Bilveer |date=2009 |title=Malaysia in 2008: The Elections That Broke the Tiger's Back |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/as.2009.49.1.156 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=156–165 |doi=10.1525/as.2009.49.1.156 |issn=0004-4687}}

Arrest and imprisonment

Uthayakumar was arrested on 11 December 2007 on the charge of sedition for authoring a letter addressed to United Kingdom prime minister Gordon Brown accusing the Malaysian government of ethnic cleansing. A few hours after posting a RM50,000 bail, Uthayakumar was re-arrested for a separate sedition charge and brought to Pudu Prison.[http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/11/nation/20071211210630&sec=nation "Uthayakumar nabbed, freed on bail, nabbed again"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521090255/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2007%2F12%2F11%2Fnation%2F20071211210630&sec=nation |date=21 May 2011 }}. The Star (11 December 2007). The latter charge was dropped and Uthayakumar released the day after.[http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1531 "After 'missing' for 24 hrs, Uthayakumar is freed"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721113332/http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1531 |date=21 July 2011 }}. Malaysiakini.tv.

Two days later on 13 December, Uthayakumar and other HINDRAF leaders, including M. Manoharan, V. S. Ganapathy Rao, K. Kengadhadran and T. Vasantha Kumar were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for their role in organising the HINDRAF rally.[http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1197534836&archive=&start_from=&ucat=9& 5 leaders of HINDRAF namely P.Uthayakumar, M.Manoharan, R.Kengadharan, B Ganabathi Rao and Vasanthan has been arrested under ISA.] Uthayakumar left two parting videos stating that he had expected his arrest under the ISA, thanked HINDRAF supporters, and urged them not to resort to violence.[http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1535 Uthaya's ISA message to supporters] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721113730/http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1535 |date=21 July 2011 }}. Malaysiakini.tv.[http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1534 Part 2: Uthaya's ISA message to Hindraf supporters] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721113826/http://www.malaysiakini.tv/?vid=1534 |date=21 July 2011 }}. Malaysiakini.tv. He was detained under the act until 2009.

He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison under the charge of sedition in 2013. He refused to submit a final defence as a protest against "institutionalised racist government policies".{{Cite web |date=5 June 2013 |title=Uthaya sentenced to two-and-half-year jail term for sedition |url=https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/uthaya-sentenced-two-and-half-year-jail-term-sedition |access-date=24 April 2025 |website=The Edge Malaysia}}{{Cite web |last=Lin |first=Koh Jun |date=2013-06-05 |title=Hindraf founder defies sedition charge with silence |url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/232075 |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Malaysiakini}} He was released from prison after successfully appealing for a shorter 24-month sentence.{{Cite web |date=3 October 2014 |title=Hindraf’s Uthayakumar freed after completing shortened sentence |url=https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2014/10/03/hindrafs-uthayakumar-freed-after-completing-shortened-sentence/757115 |access-date=24 April 2025 |website=www.malaymail.com}}

Personal life

Uthaykumar is married to Indradevi and lives in Kuala Lumpur with his children.{{cite web |url=http://www5.malaysiakini.com/news/75895 |title=Hindraf leader faces fresh sedition charge |accessdate=2007-12-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205071116/http://malaysiakini.com/news/75895 |archivedate=5 February 2008 |df=dmy-all }} He is also the elder brother of Former HINDRAF chairman and Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) leader Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy.

Election results

class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"

|+ Parliament of Malaysia{{cite web |url=http://www.myundi.com.my/pru13/region.aspx |title=my undi : Kawasan & Calon-Calon PRU13 : Keputusan PRU13 (Archived copy) |website=www.myundi.com.my|access-date=2014-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331000718/http://www.myundi.com.my/pru13/region.aspx |archive-date=31 March 2014 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web|url=http://ww2.utusan.com.my/utusan/special.asp?pr=PilihanRaya2013&pg=keputusan.htm|title=Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13|work=Utusan Malaysia|access-date=26 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321134049/http://ww2.utusan.com.my/utusan/special.asp?pr=PilihanRaya2013&pg=keputusan.htm|archive-date=21 March 2018|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://resultpru13.spr.gov.my/module/keputusan/paparan/paparan_laporan.php|title=KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13|work=Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum|publisher=Election Commission of Malaysia |language=ms|access-date=24 March 2017}}

!|Year

!|Constituency

!colspan=2|Candidate

!|Votes

!|Pct

!colspan=2|Opponent(s)

!|Votes

!|Pct

!|Ballots cast

!|Majority

!|Turnout

rowspan=3|2013

| rowspan=3|P111 Kota Raja

| rowspan=3 {{party shading/Independent}} |

| rowspan=3|Uthayakumar Ponnusamy (IND)

| rowspan=3 align="right" |2,364

| rowspan=3 align="right" |2.58%

|{{Party shading/PAS}} |

|{{nowrap|Siti Mariah Mahmud}} (PAS)

| align="right" |59,106

|64.51%

| rowspan=3|92,719

| rowspan=3|29,395

| rowspan=3|87.55%

{{Party shading/Barisan Nasional}} |

|Murugesan Sinnandavar (MIC)

|align="right" |29,711

|32.43%

{{party shading/Independent}} |

|Azman Idrus (IND)

|align="right" |280

|align="right" |0.31%

class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"

|+ Selangor State Legislative Assembly{{cite web|url=http://resultpru13.spr.gov.my/module/keputusan/paparan/paparan_laporan.php|title=KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13|work=Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum|publisher=Election Commission of Malaysia |language=ms|access-date=24 March 2017}}

!|Year

!|Constituency

!colspan=2|Candidate

!|Votes

!|Pct

!colspan=2|Opponent(s)

!|Votes

!|Pct

!|Ballots cast

!|Majority

!|Turnout

rowspan=4|2013