Hisham makes Bersih illegal but leaves Ibrahim Ali alone

The Home Minister finally speaks and it is not the announcement everyone has been waiting for. Not only did he ban the Bersih rally by refusing to grant its organisers a permit, he sinisterly called them to the the Bukit Aman headquarters for a grilling.

This has upset many civil society leaders, who are not part of the Bersih movement, although they support the principles of the rally, which basically is a call to Malaysians to insist that Prime Minister Najib Razak ensures free and fair elections.

"By refusing to issue a permit is to make it illegal. So to punish those who take part is very unfair. Why should the permit be withheld in the first place? By doing so, the government will be seen as forcing the people to take part in an illegal activity," Ramon Navaratnem, past president of Transparency International told Malaysia Chronicle.

"My advice is to let the rally proceed. This is the people's fundamental right under the Constitution. Sure, there will be trouble and crowd control will be tough. But that is the job of the police. Let them do it. Everyone has their role to play in our society. The rakyat or populace, the NGOs, the government and the police."

But to Hishammuddin Hussein, the Home Minister who is also Najib's cousin, the Bersih rally is 'evil'. He tried to show he is fair by not only banning Bersih but also Malay rights group Perkasa and the UMNO Youth. However he only drew criticism as both Perkasa and UMNO Youth are linked to his political party UMNO. He further insists that his priority is the safety of the people.

“My statement today is that all three parties will not be granted permits to gather on that date. I am saying that categorically, all three of them will not get it. I have already stated that immediate action must be taken on this matter and police will call all parties involved because although we have said that we are not going to grant them permits, the statements from Perkasa, UMNO Youth or Bersih, indicate that they plan to proceed," Hisham said on Wednesday.

Behind the shadow-play of Hisham's words

A heroic stance by one who has been so late in stating the government’s stand on the Bersih 2.0 march.

If it is true that the safety of the people are the priority of the Home Minister, than it is only right that any form of racial discord be stopped and any association that promotes such a discord be disbanded and its leaders punished.

Yet, Hishamuddin fails to say if any action will be taken against Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali for his racist remarks towards the Chinese. Must the Home Minister be reminded that it was Ibrahim Ali who brought the racial context into an event that is peaceful and devoid of any connection to race nor religion.

The best Hishamuddin can conjure up is to have the police round up everyone involved and give them a slap on the wrist. Thus, Ibrahim Ali is allowed another day to spread his brand of poison against the Chinese.

Again it is a clear case of a minister seeking to save whatever dignity the current establishment has over the matter. A scant reminder on how desperate they are in trying to look as if they have control over the populace.

This pre-emptive action has been seen by many as a plan hatched by UMNO from the very beginning. UMNO’s hand is seen in the prompting of Perkasa to create trouble and thus warrant the intervention of the police.

And in showing that they are too taking action against UMNO Youth, the police and Home Minister can later claim that they had been fair in their conduct.

No one is fooled

Perkasa has, so far, license to create all manner of trouble with the added guarantee that no hard-handed action will be taken against it. Ibrahim Ali is thus allowed to burn effigies, warn off the Chinese and proclaim his brand of jihad against the Christians of Malaysia.

Such weak-handed action by the Hishamuddin and the police would only fuel the anger, the people would have towards the BN government that has refused to tackle the obvious.

The BN government is applying double standards when dealing with those associated with the opposition while their allies, like Perkasa, are deemed 'angels' even if they are as guilty as hell.

Hishamuddin should correct his statement. It is not the safety of the people that is his priority but instead the political survival of UMNO and their interests.

For this, he is willing to bend over and close his eyes to Ibrahim Ali’s actions at the expense of the people he is suppose to protect.

- Malaysia Chronicle