Source: https://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/1772/84/
Roadblocks ahead of Protes rally PDF Print E-mail
Posted by admin
Friday, 25 January 2008 17:05
(The Star) - KUALA LUMPUR: The police are setting up roadblocks to ensure peace and order in the city centre in anticipation of the price hike rally near KLCC on Saturday.
Police started setting up roadblocks from Friday as a precaution ahead of the illegal gathering expected to take place in front of the Twin Towers in Jalan Ampang here.
The gathering organised by Coalition Against Inflation (Protes) is expected to begin at 3pm but police believe it could start much earlier.
"We will screen motorists entering the city centre especially into the KLCC area to identify troublemakers ahead of the planned gathering.
"Suspicious motorists would be inspected and their vehicles searched," Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman said.
He told newsmen this at the district police headquarters in Jalan Stadium here Friday.
ACP Zulkarnain said all roads leading to and near KLCC would be cordoned beginning Saturday morning and only be reopened when it was considered safe.
He said a crowd of at least 5,000 people are expected to take part in the protest and police will be "everywhere" to handle the situation.
"Even if they move to a new location in the city to stage their protest, we will be ready for them," he warned.
He said motorists are advised to avoid the KLCC area as all roads leading there will be blocked and traffic congestion is expected.
ACP Zulkarnain said the police did not issue any permit to Protes who submitted a letter to the police on Jan 23.
Comments (17)Add Comment
...
written by Anti Relon, January 25, 2008 17:10:47
Wish Protes all the best.
The repoprt from The Economist (UK) will encourage all.
Malaysia
Indian mutiny
Jan 24th 2008 | KUALA LUMPUR
From The Economist print edition
A hitherto quiescent minority loses faith in the social contract
AP
A minority shares its pain
SOME devotees had been fasting for weeks and shaved their heads. The most zealous pierced their cheeks with skewers or attached large wooden icons to their bodies with dozens of flesh-piercing hooks. On January 23rd tens of thousands of ethnic-Indian Malaysians gathered at the Batu Caves temple outside Kuala Lumpur to celebrate Thaipusam, one of Hinduism's biggest festivals. In past years more than a million have turned out. This year, although ministers and pro-government newspapers denied it, the crowd was much thinner. Many Malaysian Indians seemed to have answered a call for a boycott, amid rising anger at the way their minority—around 8% of the country's population—is treated by the government.
Three days earlier the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, had sought to appease Hindu anger by promising that Thaipusam would henceforth be a public holiday in the capital of the Muslim-majority country. He announced this at a gathering of around 15,000 Malaysian Indians, hoping to show that he still retains their support, despite the emergence in the past year of a radical protest group called the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf.
Last November Indians gathering at the Batu Caves on the eve of a Hindraf street march were trapped when the temple's managers—said to be linked to the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), part of Mr Badawi's ruling coalition—locked the gates and called the police. In the disorder that followed, many were arrested. Even so, the next morning at least 10,000 took part in the Hindraf march, which the police broke up with tear-gas and baton charges.
In the 50 years of peninsular Malaysia's independence from Britain, the ethnic Indians have been more quiescent than the richer, better educated and more assertive ethnic Chinese, who make up about one-quarter of the population. Under an implicit “social contract”, the two minorities, mostly descended from migrant workers, were given citizenship in return for accepting that ethnic Malays and other indigenous groups, together known as bumiputras (sons of the soil), would enjoy privileged access to state jobs and education. All the races have done well from strong economic growth since independence. The Indians and Chinese suffer even lower poverty rates than the bumiputras. But whereas the majority population have, with official help, started catching up with the Chinese in the property and shares they own, the Indians still have few assets (see chart). Often they are stuck in rented homes and low-skilled urban jobs.
The Indians' sense of missing out on the good life has helped to feed their mood of grievance. But what has most fuelled their anger in the past few years is a feeling that “creeping Islamisation” threatens their religious freedom. The issue that triggered Hindraf's formation, according to N. Surendran, one of the group's leaders, was the demolition of a number of “unauthorised” Hindu temples by local governments, often by state workers who were Malays and thus Muslims. The big rally in November came a few weeks after a temple in Shah Alam, west of the capital, was demolished just before Divali, another important Hindu festival, despite the temple committee's pleas to delay its destruction for a few more days.
Many of the threatened temples were constructed by migrant workers in colonial times, without formal permission, on plantations or by roads and railways built by the migrants. Now this land is being redeveloped. Hence the drive to demolish them, says A. Vaithilingam of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the main association of temples. The authorities could try harder to resolve disputes, he says, but they are too anxious to please rich developers.
The heavy-handed response to Hindraf's protests has served to make things worse. Five Hindraf leaders have been detained without trial under a colonial-era security law, and were said this week to have gone on hunger strike. Hindraf denies the government's charge that it has links to Sri Lanka's rebels, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
With an election expected shortly, Mr Badawi has sought to soothe ethnic Indian anger. Besides declaring Thaipusam a holiday he has promised a cabinet committee to look into poverty among all races. But he may also calculate that the unnecessarily harsh treatment of Hindraf will win his party votes among hardline Malays. If so, he risks helping the extremists on each side peddle the dangerous myth that there is a zero-sum game between the races—and that the way to win it is to take to the streets.
Copyright © 2008 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 26
...
written by aryn, January 25, 2008 17:15:39
People, don't forget to bring a spoon and an aluminium plate and drum as loud as you can to send the message home to Badawi and BN. That our pockets are hurting and many of us are tightening our belt because of the high cost of living.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 41
...
written by sampalee, January 25, 2008 17:23:52
The rakyats need bersih to clean up the country.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 23
...
written by DezMalaysia, January 25, 2008 17:28:11
This Bodohwi is hard headed like Taiwanese Ex-president Chen Sui Bian ! Does he really want Malaysians to stage a million people's protest rally before he submit himself to resignation ?
Stupid BN government !
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 44
...
written by panca, January 25, 2008 17:52:45
The ruling gomen must allow the process of democracy to be exercised, do not keep denying The People of Malaysia's Rights to protest, gather peacefully.
Do not abuse the police force to serve your own political whim and fancies. The CITIZEN protest are from well-behaved adults and not bunch of spoilt kids of the elites.
Do not stop the right to a peaceful protest.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 31
...
written by doggone, January 25, 2008 18:02:38
Aiyah polis polis. Ask your wife or mum if it hurts when they go to the market or provision shop for their supplies. You fellas want to tear gas those who find it hard to make ends meet ah? You guys can be there lah, but for once use your compassion instead of your oppression on fellow Malaysian. A little brain goes a long way.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 21
...
written by Jefus, January 25, 2008 18:09:41
It would look stupid to hammer on the protesters when the elections are to be held so close.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 11
...
written by reason, January 25, 2008 18:28:34
referring the report from The Economist, i quote:
Many of the threatened temples were constructed by migrant workers in colonial times, without formal permission, on plantations or by roads and railways built by the migrants.
this isn't entirely accurate. whenever a new plantation was opened and Indians workers brought in, one of the estate manager's first priorities was to construct a temple and a toddy shop. most times, the proceeds from the toddy shop would go towards the upkeep of the temple.
report abuse
disagree 5
agree 7
...
written by miwaki, January 25, 2008 18:32:58
Good,keep up the momentum before the general election.We need lots of these protests to show that BN is no longer relevent to Malaysian's politic.BN is a nuisance to Malaysians.Please vote Oppositions for a change !
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 25
...
written by IbnAbdHalim, January 25, 2008 18:44:49
Signs and symptoms that the ruling BN is on a self-destruct mode.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 19
...
written by hiro, January 25, 2008 19:14:14
Another UMNO terminology: Peaceful protestors = "trouble makers"
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 12
...
written by hiro, January 25, 2008 20:09:03
Riddle: How does the police tell if someone is a protestor or not when they are not wearing any particular t-shirt, wrist band etc...?
Answer: They don't. They'll just harrass enough people and use failed trick to supposedly make people angry that protesting brings about disruption... probably hoping that will upset some Chinese because CNY is near.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 7
...
written by Rasputin, January 25, 2008 20:18:52
Yes avoid KLCC and the businesses in and around KLCC will be compensate by the polis raja diMalaysia. What a way to supress the show of pain in high cost of living for the general masses who felt the pinch and srambling to make end that would not meet.
Be accomodating..be proactive..allow the protestors to gather around the man made lake infront of KLCC and make it like some MSM promotes carnival like jom heboh or what not..it takes about an hour and back to normal weekend scenario...susah ker? Afterall, it is only 5000 of them as the polish barisan najis anticipated.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 7
...
written by fairnessforall, January 25, 2008 22:04:15
Why is it everytime Malaysians want to have a peaceful protest and despite the fact that they make it clear that its going to be peaceful, everytime the police behave as it there is going to be some mafia or gangsters meeting that they have to behave in such stupid manner, put roadblocks and close roads. This only shows its the police who creates the trouble and makes the gathering violent. This is obviously done on purpose by the BN goverment because the protest is a slap on their face. Why didnt the police do the same during the MIC gathering? Such bloody hypocrites and trouble creaters, this is what our police force is.
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 9
...
written by Bill Gates, January 25, 2008 22:46:56
This is the second time the party barang naik has successful obtained court injunction to arrest anyone involved in a rally. The court is playing god for something that has not taken palce yet. I foresee thatthey may also try to obtain a court injunction to arrest anyone from the opposition party that who wins in the election or form the next government!
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 5
...
written by raven1958, January 26, 2008 00:55:34
Shouldnt the police be helping PROTES hold a protest with an impact.....it will benefit the police welfare especially....anak anak....nak hantar sekolah ugama pun kena ambil rasuah untok bayar yuran....berapa lama lag tok...
report abuse
disagree 0
agree 1
...
written by Dogboy, January 26, 2008 08:19:09
No reason is given why the rally cannot proceed, except maybe it would disrupt traffic and business in the area. Oh wait a minute, that is what is happening anyway with the road blocks being set up
