‘Tenacious rakyat kept us going’

The campaign for the release of the PSM6 would not have been possible without the overwhelming support of the public, say two volunteers.

PETALING JAYA: While the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members were undergoing a harrowing ordeal in detention, a core group of volunteers were tirelessly campaigning for their release.

About 10 to 15 people from PSM, Jarigan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) and Suaram sacrifice their time and effort working around the clock to secure their release.

They held numerous campaigns to pressure the government including handing over memorandums to the home ministry or Inspector-General of Police and holding candle light vigils daily.

M Sivaranjani, a volunteer from Jerit, said that the 28 days the six were detained under the Emergency Ordinance were one of the most intense and challenging periods of her life.

The 30-year-old was involved in PSM’s “Udahlah tu…Bersaralah” (Enough already – retire now) campaign, calling for justice and educating people about the pitfalls of voting for the Barisan National government in the next general election.

She took two months off from work when the six were detained under the EO on July 2 to help secure their release.

“I had many accumulated days off. We had anticipated their detention to last for 60 days, so I took a two-month break from my full-time job with an international organisation ,” she said.

She said that there were about 30 members who helped coordinate campaign efforts by sending out e-mails and SMS alerts and organising activities nationwide.

Her daily routine during the campaign period involved coming up with plans to draw attention to their cause and pressure the authorities to free the six activists.

“Every night after the vigil, the core group of 15 people will have a meeting which often times lasts till 1am to 2am to plan the next day’s strategy,” she said.

She said that work will begin at about 6am to prepare for updates for press releases and the PSM website.

“Work was so intense that there would be at least 10 updates in a day, either alerts of new activities or updates on the detainees,” said Sivaranjani.

Sivaranjani, who stays in Kajang, sometimes slept over at the party’s branch headquarters to get work done early.

“It was easier and it saved time. There were fax machines, a number of laptops in the headquarters and you could get a headstart and begin work immediately,” she said.

However, the modest Sivaranjani said that it was the public who made the EO6 campaign a success.

“We had 100 or 200 people during the vigils… And those who came didn’t even know the detainees personally… they made it a success,” she said.

She said that the campaign coordinators had five hours of sleep each night and one of them, D Letchimi Devi, suffered severe gastric pains due to irregular meals.

Overwhelmed by public support

Letchimi, however, was quick to brush it aside. “It happened only on the final day when the six were released. It is nothing, lah. I feel it is just a minor thing,” she said.

The 40-year-old Letchimi, a PSM member, said that the highlight of the campaign for her was the “overwhelming” support from the public.

“I have known the six for the past 15 years. They are my friends and when they were detained unfairly, something didn’t feel right. I had to do my bit to help.

“The public only read about the six, and yet they still came out and supported us. I was in awe of that. It showed that they wanted justice and truth to prevail,” she said.

Letchimi, who also holds a full-time job, sacrified her time and effort after office hours and over the weekends, but played down her contributions.

“I haven’t done much. We outside (of jail) were surrounded by good people who kept us going. But those inside were surrounded by horrible cops and they suffered a lot,” she said.

Suaram coordinator E Nalini said she was overwhelmed by the public support, especially seeing the many new faces during the candle light vigils.

“You can see the change in people’s attitudes. They stood firm when police asked them to disperse. They are not afraid of the government or the police anymore,” she said.

Nalini was hopeful the campaign would continue to keep the momentum going to get the EO abolished, which she has been trying to highlight for some years now.

“I have been trying to get a committee together to highlight the EO since 2008, but the cause was not really that visible. But now, after the EO6 campaign, the response has been good,” she said.

“But we still have a long way to go and we must keep the momentum going,” added Nalini, who is also Suram’s coordinator for detention without trial laws.