The fear of unity

It is about Malaysians of different ethnicities and religious persuasions marching side-by-side, holding hands, looking out for one another and, in one united voice, demanding free, fair and clean elections in the pursuit of better governance.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x3SjSgqXGc

The government wants to stop the planned BERSIH march of 9th July 2011. They government says it fears that the BERSIH event may get out of control and will escalate into an Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, etc., situation.

That may be only part of the reason but is not the more important reason.

The real and more important reason is that the government is worried the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Ibans, Dayaks, Kadazan-Dusuns, Bajaus, Bidayuhs, Orang Ulu, Orang Asli, Muruts, Bugis, Menangkabaus, Boyans, Javanese, Arabs, Pakistanis, Mamaks, Thais, Portuguese, ‘lain-lain’, etc., may unite on 9th July 2011.

Any student of history knows that unity is bad for despotic or autocratic regimes. A mere few thousand colonialists can control a country of hundreds of millions as long as the people are divided. But once the people unite the colonial government is going to face a host of problems.

And that was why the British mastered the game of ‘divide and rule’. Divide and rule works well when a handful of people want to dominate the masses. The local population can outnumber the invaders 100,000 to one. That is not a problem as long as the 100,000 are not united. The problem begins when the 100,000 unite and gang up on the one.

How do you think 191 Umno division heads have been able to dominate a Malaysia of 28 million people? That is because of the system they have set up where 191 Umno division heads decide who becomes the Prime Minister and the rest of the 28 million Malaysians are divided by race and religion.

The BERSIH march of 9th July 2011 threatens to unite all Malaysians irrespective of race and religion. The government saw this happen on 10th November 2007 during the BERSIH 1.0 march. And this has put fear in the government because BERSIH 2.0 may prove to be bigger and better than BERSIH 1.0.

In 2007 the politicians headed BERSIH 1.0, and mostly Malays at that too. BERSIH 2.0 is not being headed by politicians -- and not a Malay on top of that. This is bad news for the government.

The only weapon the government has to use against its own people -- just like many despotic and autocratic governments the world over since thousands of years -- is the fear factor. So the government is throwing everything including the kitchen sink against BERSIH. The government is trying to put fear into the hearts and minds of Malaysians -- the fear that 9th July 2011 may turn into another 13th May 1969.

The race and religion card plus threats of riots and loss of life is being played to the hilt. The government hopes that the ‘gutless’ and ‘selfish’ Chinese will be intimidated and will stay home -- or even better: go down to Singapore or up to Bangkok for a weekend ‘holiday’. The government hopes that the Malays will see BERSIH 2.0 as a Christian plot to undermine Islam and a Chinese conspiracy to erode Malay political power so that the Malays can be reduced to second-class citizens in their own country.

But if all these efforts fail and the Chinese are not intimidated by all this talk of race-religion riots and the Malays are not fooled by all this talk of Christian plots and Chinese conspiracies then the government is screwed big time, super-big time.

So BERSIH 2.0 needs to be thwarted. No stone must be left unturned to ensure that BERSIH 2.0 fails. If it succeeds then all is lost.

It is not about the danger of Malaysia turning into Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, or even Beirut. That is not what the government fears.

It is about Malaysians of different ethnicities and religious persuasions marching side-by-side, holding hands, looking out for one another and, in one united voice, demanding free, fair and clean elections in the pursuit of better governance.

That is what the government fears above all else.

So what are we, Malaysians of various ethnicities and religious persuasions, going to do on 9th July 2011? You tell me.