Grow up and work with Bersih, Najib

If Ambiga can bend over backwards and change the route of the rally, why can't the PM show some maturity as well?

COMMENT

An innocent intention to undertake a walk for democracy has got Barisan Nasional, the police, the National Fatwa Council, the Election Commission, the bogeyman of Umno and even a silat grandmaster going hysterical, to the extent of willing to cause hurt to organisers and participants of the Bersih 2.0 rally.

July 9 has become a date synonymous with anarchy and hidden agenda, as far as Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is trying so very hard to imply.

Looks like the impact made by the inaugural Bersih rally on Nov 10, 2007, still haunts Umno. It was said to have attracted between 30,000 to 50,000 people and played a major role in helping the opposition parties win big in the 2008 general election.

The 2007 rally was intercepted by the police using tear gas and chemical-laced water cannons.

Four years later, Bersih 2.0 is going on another rally, on July 9. The aim, as far as its chief S Ambiga is concerned is to clean up the electoral system, to ensure elections are conducted in a just manner.

Still, Bersih 2.0 failed to realise that the heartburn the 2007 rally caused Umno never went away. This explains the hysteria behind Najib’s actions this time around to leave nothing to chance, to ensure July 9 favours his leadership as the premier.

All means are being deployed by the Najib administration to ensure the July 9 rally never sees the light of the day. Participants of Saturday’s “Walk for Democracy” are being harassed and hounded with threats of imprisonment, including using the Internal Security Act draconian law against the organisers.

The truth however is that the walk, organised by election watchdog Bersih 2.0 is a cry for clean and fair elections, which to BN and Umno is asking for the impossible, hence all attempts by Umno to thwart the spirits of all those behind the rally.

What however is unforgiving is the way the police treated the 30 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists detained in Kepala Batas, Penang, while campaigning for their “Udahlah” Bersaralah” (Enough already – Retire Now) roadshow campaign.

PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan said the 30 were not campaigning for the Bersih 2.0 July 9 rally.

Arutchelvan said the police was mistreating the Hindu detainees, giving them beef to eat, knowing fully well eating beef goes against their religious belief .

‘People first’ – truth or fallacy

Now, with all the rantings about national unity and harmony by Najib, what does he, the Penang police chief Ayub Yaakob, Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein have to say about the police brutality being carried out towards the PSM activists detained in what is seen as Najib’s way of sending a message to Bersih 2.0 chief, lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan.

The detainees were denied visitation rights, visits by their lawyers, proper medical care and treatment and also basic items like toothpaste and soap.

Such is Najib’s desperation that a special team from Bukit Aman was brought in to question the detainees for unreasonably long hours. The Bukit Aman team is said to have abused the detainees with racist and foul languages such as “pariah”.

With so much abuse being meted out by the police, must the rakyat still suffer in silence?

Silat the new ‘weapon’

Another character that has joined the bandwagon of angry and disturbed minds is a silat mahaguru or grandmaster. Omardin Mauju of the Pertubuhan Seni Silat Lincah Malaysia is going ecstatically hysterical over the impending July 9 rally.

So “disturbed” is Omardin that Bersih has not cowered to the BN government ultimatum that he went on to say: “We maintain our stand to go to ‘war’ if they still want to proceed with this illegal rally. I cannot guarantee I can control the emotions of my members because they have been taught to act when faced with opposition.”

Omardin went so as far to say that the exponents were the third line of defence in the country, after the police and military, to ensure national security.

Can Najib, Ismail or Hishammuddin clarify since when Omardin and his band of “thugs” become the third line of defence when the grandmaster has failed to meet the fundamental principle of martial arts, that of self-defence and not to serve as killing machines?

Why has no action been taken against Omardin for threatening participants of the rally?

Umno arrogant as ever

The move by Bersih 2.0 to undertake a walk to press for a reformed electoral system has been twisted and manipulated as something dirty, so much so that the government propaganda arm, the national television station wasted no time in roping in local actors to condemn the July 9 walk.

One skit has actor Bell Ngasri, Ezany Nizariff and another actor chatting over a drink. Bell starts talking about the rally, saying it will help “clean” the rakyat. The other encourages them to invite their friends to join the rally until Ezany buts in and shows them pictures of a chaotic street demonstration, saying the rally is illegal and disrupts peace and harmony.

An upset Bell then denigrates Bersih 2.0 saying it is “dirty” and slams the rally poster down on the table.

A second skit has actress Norseha out with her two children who suddenly cry for food. She looks for foods stalls but all are closed and as she approaches one that is in the midst of closing shop, she asks why the rush to close shop. The stall owner tells her it is the doing of the July 9 rally that has caused all the disruption and instilled fear in people.

Norseha gets all worked up and condemns the walk, saying it is nothing but trouble to the rakyat.

Both skits are Umno’s pathetic attempt at discrediting Bersih 2.0 and its rally. Umno, feeling overwhelmingly threatened by the people’s support towards the walk, has proved it will engage in any move however despicable to halt the move towards reclaiming a true and just electoral system.

EC supports anti-Bersih 2.0 booklet

That is not all. A booklet condemning the July 9 rally is now making its way into people’s houses.

What begs an answer is what was this 12-page booklet entitled “Tuntutan Bersih Yang Perlu Anda Tahu (The 8 Bersih Demands That You Should Know), published by Gerakan Generasi Prihatin Malaysia (GenPrima) doing at the Election Commission luncheon talk held recently at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur?

The booklet was displayed on a table outside the ballroom that was manned by the EC staff, although they were not seen personally distributing it.

Interestingly, the luncheon entitled “Bersih’s demands – what is EC’s explanation” turned out to be a Bersih-bashing affair by EC deputy chairman, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

But then how much more can Umno through BN go on lying to the rakyat? The EC is going about denying that the BN ever indulged in dirty tactics at the polls but the rakyat have become wiser and can tell the wheat from the chaff.

So, best Najib and associates stop insulting the rakyat’s intelligence and also stop testing the people’s patience.

Come clean, Najib

When Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who is also the education minister reacted to the word “pariah” in the school novel “Interlok” nonchalantly, Najib could not care less.

Now, the Hindu detainees are purportedly forced to eat beef by the cops. What does Najib have to say? Will he deny this incident ever happened?

What about the fact that a local non-governmental organisation Suara Anak-Anak Malaysia turned rowdy in preventing a human rights group from delivering a memorandum seeking the release of PSM activists held in remand in Penang?

Will action be taken against its leader Mohamed Ghani Abd Jiman who turned racist towards the group representative Hui Fei when she refused to hand him a copy of the document, to which he shouted: “Who are you? I am Malaysian, how can you distribute such a thing? This is seditious… go away, I do not want to see your face anymore. If you do not want to obey the law, go back to your country of origin.”

Supported by 10 honchos, Suara Anak-anak Malaysia barked: “We need to defend the nation’s sovereignty. Do not let them in (the police headquarters).”

1Malaysia meaningless

Obvious it is that Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan is not helping unite the people. The police have no respect for it.

So, best Najib comes clean and sincerely accords the rakyat the due respect they deserve. The country is not a “private limited” entity reserved for the prime minister and his cronies.

Malaysia is a “public limited” nation and the stakeholders are the rakyat and like it or not, the BN government and Umno have exhausted their bags of tricks in taking the people for a ride.

Using the various laws to terrorise the people is only going to backfire. All however is not lost for BN provided it is willing to embrace humility and work with Bersih 2.0.

If Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga is willing to bend backwards and change the routes according to those identified by the police, why is it terribly hard for Najib to reflect a similar maturity?

Fifty-three years is a long time to remain in the “dark” – the priority is the nation and the people, is it not?