Seated in a coffee shop in Hulu Selangor, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) students Muhammad Hilman Adham and Azlin Shafina Mohamad Adza were oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the usually sleepy town in the midst of the by-election campaign in April last year.
They were anxiously awaiting news from course-mates Woon King Chai and Muhammad Ismail Amunuddin, who were in another vehicle but had just been detained at a police road-block.
"Ismail sent me a text-message informing me that Higher Education Ministry officers had arrived, and that he was beginning to worry,” said Hilman (right).
"I thought, this wouldn't do ... my friends had been detained and I must find a way to help, so I cancelled my order for food and finished my drink.
"It was like a Tamil film… When I got up, all the others in the shop got up too, and they tried to detain me.” He laughs.
“There were about 10 to 12 people there at the time. I don't know who they were but when we were detained there was already a black Proton Wira with the words Universiti Malaya Security Department parked outside," he said, expressing puzzlement, since they were UKM students.
“Maybe there was a joint operation by the student affairs department of all the universities.”
Hilman and Woon, both political science graduates, were relating their experiences during a “learning trip” to the by-election. Ismail and Azlin were not able to attend the interview.
Police step in
Fresh from the UKM campus elections, Hilman had invited his course-mates to witness the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign.
Woon (right) repeated Hilman’s words to them: ‘You think just because you’ve contested in the campus elections, you’re very great? You haven’t seen what’s out there yet.’
Having agreed to his suggestion, they chartered a van from a UKM vendor. Since they were not familiar with Hulu Selangor, Hilman - who has relatives there - recruited a friend to be their guide.
Out of courtesy, Hilman and Azlin rode in the guide’s car while Woon and Ismail trailed them in the van.
“(The guide) moved his leaflets and (other election material) to the back of our van to make space for Hilman and Azlin in the car,” explained Woon.
The car made it past the road-block, but the police stopped the van and questioned Woon and Ismail by the roadside for almost half-an-hour.
“After 40 minutes, two UKM vehicles arrived. The university officers in them recognised our faces and told the police to arrest us,” said Woon.
“The police searched our van and found political leaflets and asked if we were campaigning, but we told them these were not our things. We called our friends to come and verify that these belonged to the guide.”
The two were then taken to the police station, where the materials were photographed. When Hilman and Azlin arrived, they too were detained.
Suspicious about the circumstances of their arrest, Hilman, a student activist, said he suspected their van had been marked by the university authorities.
Echoing, this, Woon said UKM officers had immediately asked about Hilman.
“They demanded to know where Hilman was. I replied: ‘Hilman? I don’t know. I do my work, he does his work, why?’
“They told me not to lie and demanded Hilman’s whereabouts. I just kept quiet.”
The four were released on bail that night but Hilman decided to stay back with his uncle in Hulu Selangor, to await the release of the van the next evening.
While waiting, Hilman accompanied a lecturer on his research rounds of the by-election, but was again detained by police.
“That was the first time I really got angry. I was simply detained for being an undergraduate. The police said I could not be in Hulu Selangor,” he said.
Having ‘learnt’ more than they had bargained for, the four went back to their university, expecting nothing more a return to mundane life on campus.
Little did they know that the incident was to lead to a legal battle that would reach the nation’s second-highest court or that this would have far-reaching implications for undergraduates. - Malaysiakini
They were anxiously awaiting news from course-mates Woon King Chai and Muhammad Ismail Amunuddin, who were in another vehicle but had just been detained at a police road-block.
"Ismail sent me a text-message informing me that Higher Education Ministry officers had arrived, and that he was beginning to worry,” said Hilman (right)."I thought, this wouldn't do ... my friends had been detained and I must find a way to help, so I cancelled my order for food and finished my drink.
"It was like a Tamil film… When I got up, all the others in the shop got up too, and they tried to detain me.” He laughs.
“There were about 10 to 12 people there at the time. I don't know who they were but when we were detained there was already a black Proton Wira with the words Universiti Malaya Security Department parked outside," he said, expressing puzzlement, since they were UKM students.
“Maybe there was a joint operation by the student affairs department of all the universities.”
Hilman and Woon, both political science graduates, were relating their experiences during a “learning trip” to the by-election. Ismail and Azlin were not able to attend the interview.
Police step in
Fresh from the UKM campus elections, Hilman had invited his course-mates to witness the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign.
Woon (right) repeated Hilman’s words to them: ‘You think just because you’ve contested in the campus elections, you’re very great? You haven’t seen what’s out there yet.’Having agreed to his suggestion, they chartered a van from a UKM vendor. Since they were not familiar with Hulu Selangor, Hilman - who has relatives there - recruited a friend to be their guide.
Out of courtesy, Hilman and Azlin rode in the guide’s car while Woon and Ismail trailed them in the van.
“(The guide) moved his leaflets and (other election material) to the back of our van to make space for Hilman and Azlin in the car,” explained Woon.
The car made it past the road-block, but the police stopped the van and questioned Woon and Ismail by the roadside for almost half-an-hour.
“After 40 minutes, two UKM vehicles arrived. The university officers in them recognised our faces and told the police to arrest us,” said Woon.
“The police searched our van and found political leaflets and asked if we were campaigning, but we told them these were not our things. We called our friends to come and verify that these belonged to the guide.”
The two were then taken to the police station, where the materials were photographed. When Hilman and Azlin arrived, they too were detained.
Suspicious about the circumstances of their arrest, Hilman, a student activist, said he suspected their van had been marked by the university authorities.
Echoing, this, Woon said UKM officers had immediately asked about Hilman.
“They demanded to know where Hilman was. I replied: ‘Hilman? I don’t know. I do my work, he does his work, why?’
“They told me not to lie and demanded Hilman’s whereabouts. I just kept quiet.”
The four were released on bail that night but Hilman decided to stay back with his uncle in Hulu Selangor, to await the release of the van the next evening.While waiting, Hilman accompanied a lecturer on his research rounds of the by-election, but was again detained by police.
“That was the first time I really got angry. I was simply detained for being an undergraduate. The police said I could not be in Hulu Selangor,” he said.
Having ‘learnt’ more than they had bargained for, the four went back to their university, expecting nothing more a return to mundane life on campus.
Little did they know that the incident was to lead to a legal battle that would reach the nation’s second-highest court or that this would have far-reaching implications for undergraduates. - Malaysiakini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.