KUALA LUMPUR ― Bersih 2.0 refuted today an Umno minister's claim that the #Merah169 rally was a success, pointing out that it achieved nothing but merely displayed racial slurs and violence.
Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah reminded Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan that the polls reform group’s Bersih 4 rally took place peacefully last month, aside from several participants stomping on the pictures of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
She also stressed that the Bersih 4 rally had specific objectives in mind, which were to push for democratic reforms and for Najib’s resignation
“We have already apologised for the picture-stomping incident. At the end of the day, the agenda between the Bersih 4 rally and the red shirts rally was miles apart.
“The ‘red shirts’ rally was about violence and verbal abuse, and having racial slurs used during the rally was disrespectful for Malaysia Day,” Chin told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“Malaysia Day was supposed to be a celebration of unity between Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, not racist remarks and violence. It may have been peaceful in Padang Merbok, but the slogans used by the red shirts was verbal abuse. It promoted violence against a particular ethnic group,” she added.
The #Merah169 protest was marred by sporadic outbreaks of racism, with one attendee recorded calling a reporter “Crazy Chinese pig”, among other insults. The rally also saw placards with racially-tinged slogans in Malay like “Malaysia belongs to the Malays”, “Defend Malay rights”, and “Get rid of SJKC”, referring to Chinese vernacular schools.
Chin pointed out that unlike the Bersih 4 rally, riot police had to use water cannons to control unruly attendees at the pro-Malay demonstration in the city centre here yesterday.
“They (red shirts) lost control in Petaling Street. During the Bersih rally, for 34 hours we had things under control,” she asserted.
Late into the rally which police said were attended by as many as 50,000 people, Federal Reserve Unit officers used water cannons on protesters trying to force their way past a security cordon at Petaling Street.
Najib criticised yesterday the unruliness at the #Merah169 rally, saying that police should investigate the incident that marred an otherwise uneventful protest.
The Petaling Street incident was not the only clash between protesters and police, however, as #Merah169 attendees earlier charged police lines repeatedly along Jalan Bukit Bintang in an attempt to reach the Low Yat Plaza shopping mall.
The rally, said to be in support of Najib’s leadership, was to counter last month’s mammoth two-day Bersih 4 gathering calling for the prime minister’s resignation.
The ruling Malay party has insisted that it did not endorse yesterday’s rally called “Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu” [United People’s Rally], alternately called “Himpunan Maruah Melayu” [Malay Dignity Rally], but did not prohibit members from participating in the demonstration organised by martial arts group Pesaka. - Mkini
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