Fearing of their safety after repeated violent assaults from alleged Umno supporters, the student group campaigning against the government in Pekan, Najib Abdul Razak's parliamentary constituency, decided to withdraw from the hostile zone last night.
In a statement today, Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) secretary Ahmad Shukri Kamaruddin said they departed for Kuala Lumpur on a bus and two cars at 10pm, escorted by two police cars and 10 vehicles driven by local residents.
"We decided to go back to Kuala Lumpur out of concern for the students' security. We were attacked by thugs for four consecutive days in Pekan.
"We need to take precautionary measures as those thugs warned that they would do something harmful to us if we did not leave the Pekan constituency," he said.
According to Ahmad Shukri, their activities in Pekan were shadowed and disrupted by strangers who, he claimed, were Umno supporters.
These strangers repeatedly demanded that the students to leave the royal town of Pahang immediately, he claimed.
After returning to their religious school accommodation, some 10 cars surrounded the place, blocked the entrance and insisted that they leave at once, Ahmad Shukri claimed.
"After discussing with local residents who had helped us since our stay in Pekan, we decided to go back to Kuala Lumpur."
Living democracy signs choked
While distributing pamphlets in Pekan yesterday, two female student activists accused Umno members of tugging their tudung(headscarfs).
They also claimed that some 30 Umno supporters seized andburned their pamphlets on 'Students' letter to Pekan residents'.
Ahmad Shukri said that it was the work of a group of unidentified persons from Pekan Umno headquarters, with one of them in shirt bearing 'Pekan MP' s office' and the 1Malaysia logo.
"They also pulled and choked (one of the student activists) Adam Adli (right). We were not given chance to explain our ideas and agenda.
"They also tried to seize our hand phones and cameras when we wanted to record," he said, adding that one of the thugs shouted "Don't insult our PM" at them.
The student group planned to be in Pekan to distribute the pamphlets for a week until Sunday.
Several NGOs and political parties have condemned the violent acts against the students.
In a statement today, Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) secretary Ahmad Shukri Kamaruddin said they departed for Kuala Lumpur on a bus and two cars at 10pm, escorted by two police cars and 10 vehicles driven by local residents.
"We decided to go back to Kuala Lumpur out of concern for the students' security. We were attacked by thugs for four consecutive days in Pekan.
"We need to take precautionary measures as those thugs warned that they would do something harmful to us if we did not leave the Pekan constituency," he said.
According to Ahmad Shukri, their activities in Pekan were shadowed and disrupted by strangers who, he claimed, were Umno supporters.These strangers repeatedly demanded that the students to leave the royal town of Pahang immediately, he claimed.
After returning to their religious school accommodation, some 10 cars surrounded the place, blocked the entrance and insisted that they leave at once, Ahmad Shukri claimed.
"After discussing with local residents who had helped us since our stay in Pekan, we decided to go back to Kuala Lumpur."
Living democracy signs choked
While distributing pamphlets in Pekan yesterday, two female student activists accused Umno members of tugging their tudung(headscarfs).
They also claimed that some 30 Umno supporters seized andburned their pamphlets on 'Students' letter to Pekan residents'.
Ahmad Shukri said that it was the work of a group of unidentified persons from Pekan Umno headquarters, with one of them in shirt bearing 'Pekan MP' s office' and the 1Malaysia logo."They also pulled and choked (one of the student activists) Adam Adli (right). We were not given chance to explain our ideas and agenda.
"They also tried to seize our hand phones and cameras when we wanted to record," he said, adding that one of the thugs shouted "Don't insult our PM" at them.
The student group planned to be in Pekan to distribute the pamphlets for a week until Sunday.
Several NGOs and political parties have condemned the violent acts against the students.
Cry for authorities to act
Human rights watch dog Suaram demanded that the Inspector-general of Police conduct a thorough investigation on the police report lodged by the students and take all necessary actions against the thugs in accordance with the law.
"Such despicable acts from non-state actors must be stopped immediately and it is the sole duty and responsibility of the police to protect students in their legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression," said Suaram executive director Nalini Elumalai (left) in a statement.
Maria Chin Abdullah from NGO Empower, stressed that the pulling of the female students'tudung is unacceptable, showing total disrespect for Muslims and Islam.\
"Malaysians have freedom of movement and preventing anyone entering into any place violates our human rights.
"The police have to take to task the hooligans who used violence against the SMM activists," she said.
DAP assistant publicity secretary Zairil Khir Johari took Najib to task, saying that its the premier's responsibility to educate his supporters on acting rationally.
"I call on Pekan MP Najib to rectify the mistakes made by his supporters and apologise to the students who had been subjected to extreme violence," he said in a statement.
Human rights watch dog Suaram demanded that the Inspector-general of Police conduct a thorough investigation on the police report lodged by the students and take all necessary actions against the thugs in accordance with the law.
"Such despicable acts from non-state actors must be stopped immediately and it is the sole duty and responsibility of the police to protect students in their legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression," said Suaram executive director Nalini Elumalai (left) in a statement.Maria Chin Abdullah from NGO Empower, stressed that the pulling of the female students'tudung is unacceptable, showing total disrespect for Muslims and Islam.\
"Malaysians have freedom of movement and preventing anyone entering into any place violates our human rights.
"The police have to take to task the hooligans who used violence against the SMM activists," she said.
DAP assistant publicity secretary Zairil Khir Johari took Najib to task, saying that its the premier's responsibility to educate his supporters on acting rationally.
"I call on Pekan MP Najib to rectify the mistakes made by his supporters and apologise to the students who had been subjected to extreme violence," he said in a statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.