by Sarajun Hoda
Aliran Monthly Vol 25 (2005): Issue 2

	This is a police state. The police�s behaviour�is similar to�US�behaviour�in Iraq. Dr Nasir Hashim, PSM president

As in most countries, it is the ruling Governments that succumb to pressure from the world�s political masters, Bush and Blair. Never the people. Mammoth demonstrations have been held everywhere ever since the US started riding the �global war on terror� and began to police and rule the world.

Everywhere the superpower goes, innocent people often end up being killed in huge numbers. The superpower plunders the resources of these nations and, with no remorse, unleashes carpet bombing to ensure near total destruction.

It is the people who stand up so valiantly, rejecting the terror and violence that the neo-colonialists dispense around the world to achieve global supremacy. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people have regularly demonstrated against such brazen power in major cities around the world. In Malaysia, which is the present head of the Organisation of Islamic Conference and of the Non-Aligned Movement, the situation is no different.

This is a record of yet another occasion when the basic fundamentals of a democracy were trampled upon in Malaysia. How mistaken we are to assume that the freedom and rights guaranteed by the Constitution are respected in this country. What else can you expect in a land where the press has no freedom and where the Internal Security Act hangs like the Sword of Damocles over everybody�s head.

At the anti-war rally organised by the Coalition Against War-Malaysia, comprising non-Barisan political parties and independent NGOs, many were left wondering why the Barisan people were not there. After all, it was part of a global protest taking place in some 80 countries and coinciding with the second anniversary of the invasion and illegal occupation of Iraq by the US and its allies.

It was a beautiful morning away from the roar of Formula One racing at far away Sepang, where most of the top guns, the rich and powerful must have been having a fun time.

At 10.15am, even though there were hardly any protestors around in the area in front of the US Embassy at Jalan Tun Razak, police were already there waiting. They swarmed the area right from the Jalan Langgak Golf junction right up to the Jalan Ampang intersection. The US Embassy was also heavily guarded.

From behind perimeter walls, bushes and parked vehicles, scores of plain-clothes police were already there recording and noting everything that moved. The US security blokes too, sporting dark glasses, were seen among the police, pointing everywhere and recording the fun as well.

Finally, the valiant anti-war demonstrators began walking in from all sides. The crowd began to swell. By 10.30 am around 1,000 protesters gathered, mingling through the crowd of police. Not wanting to be outnumbered, in a show of might probably, more police squads both in uniform and in plain-clothes, were brought in.

The demonstrators were following rules by standing on road-side pavements. They were simple people from all walks of life: elderly men and women, social leaders, activists, university students and children - they were all there. If there was any obstruction to traffic, it was caused by the police, who stood right in the middle of road or parked their vehicles there. The assembly was peaceful and non-provocative.

Children and elderly also tear-gassed

The anti-war chanting started at about 10.35 am. Unsuspecting passers-by would have thought it was some sort of carnival. It was enlivened with sketches, music and songs. Among the favourites bellowed out were �Out, out, Bush out� and chants of �No war, no war�. The fun had only just begun when red buses and trucks belonging to the infamous Federal Reserve Unit rumbled in. Seeing them come must have energised the demonstrators and the chanting grew louder. The slogans were mainly anti-American policies, anti-Bush and anti-war.

Banners proclaimed, �Don�t kill innocent Iraqis�, � No blood for Oil�, �Bush, get out of Iraq�, �Iraq, a capitalist war�, �US Mind your own business�, �Keluar dari Iraq, Hentikan perang Iraq� (Get out of Iraq, stop the war in Iraq), � Bush-Blair get out�, �Say no to imperialism�, and many more in several languages. Leaflets carrying messages for the occasion and statements in various languages by various organisations were also handed out.

There was a touch of comedy. A bearded Japanese took off his shirt to display �Love peace not war� on his belly and �Say no to war� on his back. An American wore a headband on which was written �War is evil�. An Arab in his traditional attire was holding a poster �Bush & Blair are liars�. An African practised his tribal dance to the amusement of those present. He bore on him a message �Bush get out of Iraq�. It turned out to be a multinational affair, after all.

At 11.00am, the water cannons were drawn towards the protesters. Within a minute, after a short warning, light-brownish water, believed to be chemically laced, was shot towards the crowd. No time was given for the aged and the children to find cover or to move out. Those in the traffic that had stopped to make way for the FRU assault watched with horror, clearly shocked and shaken by what they saw. The police were brutal. It was a shame.

The demonstrators were tear-gassed and shot with more jets of water. They were forced out by a huge contingent of marching FRU personnel, fully armed with automatic assault machine guns and shields. The crowd was pushed towards Lorong Kuda, which leads to the KLCC and the Tabung Haji Building.

The organisers were overheard complaining to the media that they had spoken to the police and an understanding had been reached that the protesters would not obstruct traffic, would be non-provocative and would peacefully disperse after reading a declaration at 11.30 sharp. Both parties even shook hands over the final reconfirmation of the negotiated agreement, just 15 minutes before the police assault.

PSM President Dr Nasir Hashim was so agitated, he complained to the media that �this is a police state. The police�s behaviour�is similar to�US�behaviour�in Iraq.� S. Arutchelvan from the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) kept repeating, �The police had promised!� No one seemed to understand why the police had not stuck to their word.

Word had it that the Cheras OCPD ACP Mohamed Noor just walked in and ordered the assault without conferring with the other officers there who were still holding their posts as part of the deal. It was very unprofessional of the police and smacked of arrogance. Very inhuman.

The police later gave their own press conference in front of the See Hoy Chan Building, which is beside the American Embassy. They were nit-picking that it was an illegal assembly. RTM TV the same night reported them as saying that the protestors became �kurang ajar� (unruly). It was a blatant lie, which was nonetheless carried in the mainstream media.

Only after the King�s motorcade passed through the area at about 11.45am, 10�minutes after the assembly was crushed, did the FRU contingent and their assault vehicles finally leave the scene, not realising the many questions they left behind. On whose side is Badawi and his government? Are they not against the war, against aggression, against the killing of innocents? Or is the PM against peaceful demonstrations - a trait he inherited from Mahathir, perhaps?

Why did the government of the supposedly caring premier, Abdullah Badawi, stop the peaceful and unprovocative demonstration? What other assumption can we possibly draw other than that he dreaded displeasing the world�s boss, Bush? While Bush is busy maiming people from other countries, Abdullah never missed his chance to punish his own people. The message is clear and hard-hitting: Bush�s sphere of influence extends to Malaysia too. No public show of dissent or opposition will be tolerated.

What a sad story.

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Aliran exco member Sarajun Hoda is the past president of the Malaysian-Iraqi Friendship Association.

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