Ambiga now Umno’s troubled nightmare

Ambiga Sreenevasan, former Bar Council president and recipient of the US Secretary of State’s 2009 International Women of Courage Award and France’s topmost honour, the Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur(Knight of the Legion of Honour) award, has become Umno’s most troubled nightmare.

The Malay party has post-July 9 left no stone unturned in making life difficult for this former Convent Bukit Nanas student, who has been honoured with the two awards for her dedication to human rights and rule of law.

When Ambiga, who is also election watchdog Bersih 2.0 chairperson, spearheaded the “Walk for Democracy” rally on July 9 and did so successfully, it was the beginning of a nightmare that has since refused to end for Umno. Some 50,000 people turned up in support of the rally, a bitter reality which Umno refuses to digest.

The July 9 rally’s aim was noble – to fight for electoral reforms and put an end to the corruption and dirty tactics employed by the Barisan Nasional at the polls. And the people backed Bersih 2.0 all the way, a move which shell-shocked both the BN and Umno.

While all ways and means are being employed by BN president and prime minister Najib Tun Razak to win the people’s trust, Umno has however turned vindictive against Ambiga, whom it regards as its biggest threat post-July 9.

Ambiga, however, remains unflappable, objective and wise. With all sense of decorum, she had prior to the July 9 rally approached the police and asked that they chart out the rally routes to avoid any untoward incident. But the police, obviously under great pressure from the “powers that be”, refused to cooperate.

Not only that, extremist politicians in a cowardly fashion joined in and demanded that Ambiga be dealt with severely. The likes of Ibrahim Ali, the Pasir Mas MP, and other Umno honchos, went after Ambiga’s blood, so to speak. She was character-assassinated all because this gutsy lawyer dare speak out against injustice.

So threatened had Umno become that Ibrahim and even Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam screamed for Ambiga’s citizenship to be revoked.

Ali Rustam had remarked that it was “better to just lose one person than to lose a lot of lives”.

Now, it is the Malay Education Movement (Gagasan) which is demanding Ambiga’s citizenship be revoked, alleging her “wild” actions could cause chaos in the country, referring to her support for the Seksualiti Merdeka 2011 festival.

Gagasan secretary-general Syed Anuar Syed Mohamad in an Utusan Malaysia report on Nov 6 said Ambiga should no longer be called a human as she had gone against “human norms” by raising issues deemed sensitive in a Muslim-majority country.

“She should be punished accordingly, like banishment or any other severe sentence, to make her realise her mistake,” he told Mingguan Malaysia, the paper’s Sunday edition.

He added that the Conference of Rulers could punish Ambiga as she had touched on Islam when she “spread morality issues” banned by the religion.

“Although Malaysia is a democratic country, it does not mean Ambiga is given the freedom to do whatever she likes with her perverse ideology,” he said.

The Ambiga factor

Eventhough Ambiga agreed to, in her personal capacity, to inaugurate the Seksualiti Merdeka 2011 “Queer Without Fear” festival, an event which provides the much needed space and forum to discuss issues facing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community (LGBTIQ), Umno shamelessly twisted the truth in a desperate bid to portray Ambiga as an enemy of the nation.

The festival which, since its inception three years ago, faced no harassment from the police, Umno and PAS, has now been banned, with the police citing public safety as the reason for it being outlawed.

To make matters worse, the police, Umno politicians and mainstream media kept babbling that Ambiga was the organiser of the event which they claim promotes free sex.

Seksualiti Merdeka organiser Pang Khee Teik, however, concluded that the festival is merely collateral damage; it is Ambiga the authorities are after.

“I think it is because of Ambiga. It is being politicised. The government agencies are using every opportunity to rouse sentiments against Ambiga and (Opposition Leader) Anwar Ibrahim,” Pang had reportedly said.

On Nov 7, she was questioned by the police over her “involvement” in the 2011 Seksualiti Merdeka festival.

Ambiga, meanwhile, had this to say about the banning of any activity organised by Seksualiti Merdeka.

“Have we no shame in this country (to persecute the LGBT community)? Please show some caring for them,” Ambiga told a flock of reporters who had gathered at Tenaganita’s office in Petaling Jaya where her statement was recorded by four police officers.

Mainstream media ticked off

Ambiga, fed up with the discrimination and prejudice adopted by the mainstream media against the LGBTIQ community, chided the government-controlled Press organisations which refused to report factually and truthfully.

She lambasted the mainstream media for repeatedly lying to the public, labelling the festival as a free-sex event.

Ambiga also made it clear she would not hesitate to sue a television station, TV3, if it continued misconstruing the objectives of the Seksualiti Merdeka 2011 festival in its reports.

Without flinching, Ambiga condemned TV3′s prime news which claimed Seksualiti Merdeka was a “free sex festival”. The report, she said, was irresponsible and accused the station of misleading the public.

“Is it because you want to get me or bully a marginalised group which is already being shamed and facing abuse everyday?” Ambiga had asked.

She challenged the Media Prima station to carry her statement or risk facing legal action.

(Media Prima Bhd, which is closely linked to Umno, currently owns 100 percent equity interest in TV3, 8TV, NTV7 and TV9. In addition, Media Prima now owns more than 90 percent equity interest in The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) (NSTP) Bhd, one of Malaysia’s largest publishers which publishes three national newspapers – the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.)

(Media Prima also owns three radio networks – Fly FM, Hot FM and One FM.)

With her relentless pursuit of truth, Ambiga can bet that the tide will always be against her. Despite that, blessed with a perspicacity which Umno sorely lacks, she can rest assure the Umno goons and rogue politicians are no match for her.