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 Democratic Action Party (DAP).[1]

Manoharan Malayalam
ம. மனோகரன்
Member of the Selangor State Assembly
for Kota Alam Shah
In office
8 March 2008 – 5 May 2013
Preceded byChing Su Chen
Succeeded byGanabatirau Veraman
Personal details
Born (1961-09-13) 13 September 1961 (age 62)
Selangor, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
Political partyDemocratic Action Party (DAP)
Other political
affiliations
Pakatan Harapan (PH)
Pakatan Rakyat (PR)
Barisan Alternatif (BA)
SpouseS. Pushpaneela
ChildrenHariharan, Shivaranjini, Ganendra
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield, University of Malaya
OccupationPolitician, lawyer

Manoharan was actively involved in the HINDRAF movement. He represented M. Moorthy's widow, Kaliammal Sinnasamy in a legal tussle over the late Everest conqueror's body.

Political career edit

Manoharan is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP). In the 1999 general elections, Manoharan was the DAP candidate for the Segambut parliamentary constituency. Manoharan lost to the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Tan Kee Kwong with 16,340 votes opposed to Tan's 24,926 votes.[2]

In the 2008 general elections, Manoharan, represented the DAP and won the Selangor State Legislative Assembly seat for Kota Alam Shah getting twice as many votes as the ethnic Chinese candidate, in a seat dominated by ethnic Chinese voters.[3] M Manoharan obtained 12,699 votes to win with a 7,184-vote majority the Kota Alam Shah state seat.[4]

The news of his victory was one of the surprising ones in the 2008 elections as he is being detained under the Internal Security Act without trial after organising anti-discrimination protests. Manoharan is only the third person to have won an election while under ISA detention.

On 9 May 2009, Manoharan, along with P. Uthayakumar and K. Vasantha Kumar were released from ISA detention at about 2.30.[citation needed]

HINDRAF edit

HINDRAF or Hindu Rights Action Force is a coalition of 30 Hindu NGOs. Manoharan along with four other lawyers, P. Uthayakumar, P. Waytha Moorthy, K. Ganghadaran and V. Ganabatirau are seeking justice for the Hindu and Indian Malaysian community.

On 30 October 2007, Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, P. Waytha Moorthy and S. V. Ganapathi Rao were arrested for taking part in the 2007 HINDRAF demonstration against the demolishment of a Hindu Shrine in Kuala Lumpur. Because of this "unlawful arrest", the lawyers are seeking 85 million Malaysian Ringgits in compensation, with Manoharan, Uthayakumar and Ganapathi Rao seeking 20 million while Waytha Moorthy is seeking 25 million.[5]

Manoharan was also part of a team of lawyers representing P. Uthayakumar, P. Waytha Moorthy and S. V. Ganapathi Rao after they were arrested again for sedition.[6][7]

Arrest under Internal Security Act (ISA) edit

Manoharan was arrested under the Internal Security Act on 13 December 2007.[8] Karpal Singh and M. Kulasegaran, two Democratic Action Party (DAP) Members of Parliaments filed an application to free Manoharan, but it was struck out by the presiding judge because the photocopy of the detention order served to Manoharan was not certified.[9]

Election results edit

Selangor State Legislative Assembly: N48 Kota Alam Shah[10]
Year Government Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Majority
2008 M. Manoharan (DAP) 12,699 69.72% Ching Su Chen (Gerakan) 5,515 30.28% 7,184
Parliament of Malaysia : P106 Segambut, Wilayah Persekutuan[10]
Year Opposition Votes Pct Government Votes Pct Majority
1999 M. Manoharan (DAP) 16,338 39.59% Tan Kee Kwong (Gerakan) 24,926 60.41% 8,588

References edit

  1. ^ Hindraf men DAP members Archived 10 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine New Straits Times
  2. ^ "Election 1999 Results". Archived from the original on 21 March 2005. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 1999 election results
  3. ^ [1] Channel news Asia Report
  4. ^ [2] Malaysiakini Breaking news
  5. ^ "RM85 Million Suit by 4 Lawyers For wrongful arrest & detention" .
  6. ^ "Court frees Malaysian activists", Al Jazeera 27 November 2007.
  7. ^ [3] Archived 1 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine The Star, 27 November 2007.
  8. ^ 5 leaders of HINDRAF namely P.Uthayakumar, M.Manoharan,R.Kengadharan,B Ganabathi Rao and Vasanthan has been arrested under ISA.
  9. ^ Hindraf lawyer's habeas corpus application struck out Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Star
  10. ^ a b "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2010.