The Personal Dignity Of HINDRAF Supporters

Judging by the report by Malaysiakini “Tear gas fired at defiant protesters”), it seems as if the attempt to impede the HINDRAF Rally has descended into chaos. The police have come down hard, its treatment ‘heavy handed’. Bar Council monitors have declared their unhappiness with the way the police are handling the matter.

From the report it would seem that even before 7.40 am, tear gas was fired into crowds at Jalan Ampang, KLCC and Batu Caves. At 9.30 am, tear gas was still being fired. It appears also that participants are being beaten, women and children not being spared.

The question is why. The police obtained an order allowing officers to arrest on sight (see Malaysiakini report “Cops obtain rare court order against HINDRAF”). If there are persons breaching the order then arrests should be made and, in fact, it appears that arrests have been made already.

The order DOES NOT authorize the use of force. I would go further, the order, in allowing for preemptive measures, lends against the use of force.

And, of course, the question that begs an answer is why stop the rally in the first place. The question of a permit, or the lack of one, is a convenient and self-serving one.

How does this rally, planned for a Sunday morning, differ from the one organized by UMNO Youth during Condoleeza Rice’s visit to Kuala Lumpur on a Friday afternoon? That demonstration took place in the same vicinity, also had fiery and inflammatory speeches and was directed to a person or organisation other than the Malaysian government. That demonstration was aggrandized by the local media, with photographs of a defiant Khairy Jamaluddin, in arm sling to boot, gracing the leading pages (if not the front pages) of the mainstream print media.

It is readily obvious to all that despite the great show, there was never any intention on the part of the police to use force where the UMNO Youth demonstration was concerned. None was in fact used. The contrast with action taken where the HINDRAF Rally is concerned is manifest.

The UMNO Youth demonstration was as much about personal dignity as the HINDRAF Rally is. For, at the heart of the HINDRAF cause is a serious complaint about the marginalizing of the Hindhu community and a plea for recognition of the plight of this particular marginalized community.

I do not necessarily agree with the manner in which HINDRAF has decided to espouse its cause. Though I recognize the point HINDRAF is making, I believe that we should be fighting for the cause of all underprivileged and marginalized Malaysians. Having said that, the apparently inconsistent stance of the Police and the Government where rallies are concerned can only lead one to a conclusion that there may be some truth to what HINDRAF is saying.

I offer a prayer for those on the ground now and brace myself for the possibility of great violence.

The police should have known better than to use force to turn away people who have risen to claim what little dignity circumstance has left them with. Being at the point where one is compelled by sheer force to make a choice between standing firm on one’s principles, and in one’s beliefs, or turning away is not an easy one. Having made the decision to march this morning, many, if not all, would have made the decision that life was not worth living unless one could stand with dignity.

This is a decision that no one, not even the Police, is in any position to challenge.

MIS