We will march on Sunday

N Surendran | Dec 7, 07 5:33pm

The Bar Council has called off the Dec 9 Human Rights Day march. I think it was a mistake to have done so but I have no interest in debating the rights and wrongs of that decision here. I write solely to declare that lawyers who are determined to defend the freedom to peaceful assembly will nevertheless march on Sunday at 7.30am from Sogo to Central Market in commemoration of Human Rights Day. We will march for the following reasons: a) It is our inalienable right to do so b) Article 10 of the Federal Constitution gives us the right c) Because they have got some cheek telling us we have to petition the police before exercising our fundamental rights. A right that can only be exercised with the consent of the district police chief is a shriveled up, pitiful kind of right. It is a shadow of the shadow of a right. d) We are not inclined to be part of a culture of obedience to the high-handed directives of a tainted and unjust state apparatus e) We are even less inclined to be menaced by a state which is so pathetically terrified of its citizens peacefully assembling Let us be clear about this. Any march or walk carried out under the authority and indulgence of the local police chief is not an assembly of free citizens. It is nothing more than a chain-gang of miserable citizens marching under a cloud of fear. The Bar Council as an institution has decided to cancel the march. But there is no reason why lawyers in their individual capacities and civil society groups should not carry on with the Sunday march. In view of the increasingly strident attacks by the authorities on the right to peacefully assemble, we have formed the ‘Lawyers for Freedom of Assembly’ to defend and protect that right. Caving in to the threats and hard tactics of the authorities will seriously set back the ongoing struggle for a just and free Malaysia. All lawyers and civil society groups are welcome to join us in our Sunday march. Support this move to preserve the basic rights of all Malaysians.

'A state conspiracy to lock us up'

Dec 7, 07 1:52pm

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan is engaging in cheap methods to counter legitimate concerns raised by Hindraf by accusing the coalition of having links with terrorist groups, chairperson P Waythamoorty said today. Waythamoorthy said Musa’s claims reveal the narrow-mindedness of government officers. “When they don’t have the intelligence to take us on in a professional manner, they engage in cheap methods,” said Waythamoorthy in a statement. He is currently in India to seek support for the Hindu Rights Action Force. "The IGP should attend basic courses on terrorism to understand what it means." Musa yesterday accused Hindraf of seeking support from terrorists, smearing Malaysia's reputation and inciting racial hatred - a serious charge in the multicultural country dominated by Malay Muslims. "Of late there have been indications that Hindraf is trying to seek support and help from terrorist groups," the police chief said in a statement, without giving any details. Musa dismissed as "false, baseless and malicious" the activists' claims that Indians, who make up eight percent of the population, are marginalised in terms of education, employment and wealth. "Their actions also have the potential of creating racial conflict in the country," he said. Responding to this, Waythamoorty said that “lawyers who write letters to the prime minister and advocate the rights of the minority are deliberately and calculatively branded as terrorists”. He added that such labelling as a state conspiracy to divert from the real issue of the marginalisation of the Indian community. “They are out on a personal vendetta because people are behind Hindraf...” he said. 'They want us locked up' Hindraf legal adviser P Uthayakumar meanwhile said the police chief's salvo has raised the prospect of the Internal Security Act (ISA) - which allows indefinite detention without trial - being used against them. "They are trying to lay the foundation to arrest us under the ISA or to charge us for a criminal offence and deny us bail," Uthayakumar told AFP. "At all costs, they want us locked up and behind bars when all we are doing is highlighting the marginalisation and permanent colonialisation and racism against Indians here." Uthayakumar said he would write to Musa demanding evidence of the alleged terror links, or face a RM10 million defamation lawsuit. "If I am detained today, our struggle will still go on. It may be at a slower pace but others will take up this cause and continue," Uthayakumar said. Emergency motion Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang also slammed the police allegations and called on the government to drop the attacks and instead listen to the concerns of Indians. He filed for an emergency debate on the issue in Parliament on Monday, saying that levelling the terror allegations "without any evidence whatsoever is a matter of grave national concern". On Nov 25 Hindraf organised a mass anti-discrimination protest that was broken up with tear gas and water cannon. Earlier this week, 31 protesters were charged with attempted murder in connection with the wounding of a police officer at Batu Caves, hours ahead of the mass protest.