KUALA LUMPUR: Pressure is piling on the government to release five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders who have been detained under the Internal Security Act since December last year.

Two Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, through their youth wings, are now calling on the government to release R. Kengadharan, 41, M. Manoharan, 47, V. Ganabatirau, 35, P. Uthayakumar, 47, and K. Vasantha Kumar, 35, dubbed the Hindraf five.

Senator T. Murugiah, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and PPP Youth chief, in a statement today said he met Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak early this morning to seek the release of the Hindraf leaders.

"I told the deputy prime minister that the detention of the five Hindraf leaders had been used as a political tool by certain parties to create ill feelings towards the BN (Barisan Nasional) and this in turn was being used to turn Malaysian Indians against the government.

"The five were merely trying to get the government's attention on problems faced by the Indian community. They chose to demonstrate because they were misguided by certain parties. I also told him that the release of the five would result in the community returning to the BN fold," he said.

He said Najib promised to seriously consider the request and told him that he would discuss the issue with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Meanwhile, the MIC Youth wing, along with some Indian-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at a news conference at the MIC headquarters today also called for the government to release the five now languishing at the Kamunting detention camp.

MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said the five leaders were not a threat to national security, thus they should be set free.

The MIC Youth would like to see the five detainees released before Hari Raya on Oct 1 or before Deepavali at the end of October, he said.

Asked the next course of action if the five were not released he said the NGOs and the Youth wing would submit a memorandum to the prime minister on the matter. (Bernama)