Justice a long forgotten word here

For his guts to speak the truth and walk his talk, Adam has landed in the wrong books of the 'powers that be'.

COMMENT

Newly minted Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar is pissed angry with Malaysians for having the guts to revolt against ruling government Barisan Nasional’s wrongdoings.

The rakyat has made it clear that they have had enough of the trickery and sweet nothings uttered by the BN leadership when they turned up in full force for the ‘Blackout 505′ rallies organised by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

If anything, the people’s support for these rallies was a show of disappointment with BN for not willing to do things the honest way, especially in trying to secure a big win in the May 5, 2013 general election.

So the rakyat decided to show their displeasure with a government that is corrupt, and are demanding that it cleans up its act.

In this respect, Khalid must bear in mind that the rakyat is not only angry with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for turning to fraud to win the general election; the people are also very upset that the federal government is trying to repress all dissenting voices that speak in the favour of truth and justice.

One such voice was that of university student Adam Adli Abd Halim, 24, who was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on May 18 for remarks he allegedly made during a post-GE13 forum on May 13.

He was held in remand for five days and later charged under the Sedition Act for allegedly making a seditious statement.

If found guilty of sedition, Adam could be imprisoned for up to three years, fined up to RM5,000, or both.

In the forum, Adam, along with other activists, had called for a street demonstration to protest alleged electoral fraud during the general election.

Adam first made headlines on Dec 17 last year when he lowered a banner depicting a picture of Najib outside ruling party Umno’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

For his guts to speak the truth and walk his talk, Adam has landed in the wrong books of the ‘powers that be’ and ended up victim of a conspiracy undertaken by Najib and his cronies to silence all threats coming their way.

Rakyat’s anger long stifled

Adam is one of the many who decided to give vent to his anger and frustrations at the never-ending felonies of BN; the truth is Malaysians have long been angry with the federal government for refusing to listen to the people’s voice.

For those who support the Pakatan rallies, it is not all about their embitterment with BN for playing dirty to win the general election. The rakyat is unhappy with the abuse of power that has become synonymous with the BN leadership.

From corruption to cronyism, BN has done it all, but at the expense of its own popularity among the masses.

Appointing corrupt politicians as ministers in the new Cabinet is revelation of cronyism at work and Najib’s disinterest in serving the rakyat.

Bringing into Cabinet politicians who cannot care less whether the country is run by good or evil forces has awakened the rakyat to the painful truth that their welfare is not Najib and BN’s priority.

In fact, the ‘People First’ philosophy Najib so hard tried to use to impress the rakyat with was never a well-intended effort anyway.

And still Khalid warns the rakyat of stern action should they support the rallies organised by Pakatan.

Is it too difficult for Khalid to comprehend the rakyat’s sentiments? Or is the new IGP yet another puppet in the hands of Najib, merely echoing what the ‘higher ups’ demand?

BN and justice remains a dream

Each time voices like Adam’s reverberate crying for justice and wanting an end to ‘bad practices’ by the ‘establishment’, does it scare Najib and BN?

Or has justice become a long forgotten word in the dictionary of the 13-party BN coalition which has failed miserably in bringing together Malaysians of different faiths?

Justice as Adam speaks of is about having the freedom to express one’s thoughts and feelings; justice is also about fighting tyranny in all forms and of upholding truth at all costs.

Justice as Khalid and Najib know but refuse to acknowledge is about treating the lay person right and respectfully, unlike what is happening at present where laws are manipulated to suit the political agenda of the day.

Had the laws been upheld as they should have been, the cop who beat up detainee A Kugan to death in 2009 would have received his dues at the hands of the law.

Likewise, the many casualties at the hands of the police would have stopped once and for all had the ‘law’ been allowed to do their job.

But defending the law has never been part of BN’s ‘transformation plan’ – this explains why yet another death in detention has occurred, this time the detainee N Darmindran, 32, dead as a result of severe blunt force trauma.

Like with the previous deaths in police cells, the cry for justice has always come from the families of the deceased; no where was and has there been a word of assurance from Najib that justice would take it course.

This dismal scenario intact, does Khalid therefore still thinks he has the ‘right’ to reprimand the rakyat for fighting for truth and justice in whichever way possible?

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.