Video: Malaysian police break up ethnic Indian rally

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police sprayed chemical-laced water on a crowd rallying to support a detained leader from a banned ethnic Indian activist group, raising the political temperature in this mainly Malay-Muslim country.



Simmering tensions among the major races in this Southeast Asian country of 27 million have built up over the past several years, and is a major challenge for incoming premier Najib Razak, who will take the top job at the end of next month.



Police said 17 people were arrested when riot police used a water cannon to break up a group of 300 Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters after they failed to heed warnings to disperse.



The group had gathered outside a police station in a predominantly ethnic Indian neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur to lodge a series of police reports demanding better medical treatment of P. Uthayakumar, a Hindraf leader.

Uthayakumar was arrested in December 2007 along with four other leaders of the group under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

His family claims that Uthayakumar, a diabetic, had been deprived of proper medical treatment, which the government denies.
"Why are they treating the Indians like this? We have the right as citizens to make police reports," said Hindraf coordinator S Jayathas.

Malaysia's police chief Musa Hassan in a statement warned that police would not hesitate to take stern action against any political party or group if they failed to heed police warnings.

"They do not want to listen and to mock the police and create unnecessary problems to others," said Musa, adding that a number of people had earlier been allowed into the compound of the police station to lodge reports.