UNDEMOCRATIC CLAMPDOWN ON CLOSED-DOOR MEETING

Aliran is distressed that the closed-door meeting, dubbed ‘Gathering of Legal Eagles’, involving invited individuals, at the Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, had to be called off following police intervention.

The 150 people who had gathered peacefully to participate in this meeting were dispersed by police on the pretext that the organisers did not possess or apply for a permit to hold such a function. But then, in the past, no such requirement was insisted upon.

According to the organisers, they had held about 40 such gatherings, which were all well-publicised, before this incident. These gatherings were held without any police intervention or insistence on a police permit.

Cancelling a meeting such as this at the last moment is not only unfair to the organisers but also to the speakers and participants, who had set aside other appointments to be present there. What’s more, it would not have been possible for the organisers to contact those invited to inform them of the cancellation. Some may even have come from out of town to attend the function.

In any case, why shouldn’t it be possible for concerned citizens to meet peacefully to discuss issues of importance to them? What kind of democracy are we if citizens don’t have the right to gather peacefully behind closed doors, without being a nuisance  to others, without disturbing the peace, without infringing upon the rights of others?

Aliran participated in three of these 40-odd functions and none of the events precipitated any violence. The talks were peaceful, orderly and well organised and the discussions very rational.

We bemoan the fact that our youths are uncritical and incapable of thinking. How can we ever hope to produce discerning citizens in a sterile environment that does not allow discussion and debate? Indeed, how are we to bring about a ‘mature democracy’, which is one of the goals contained in Vision 2020?

Mouthing platitudes will not create a civil society; neither will it convince people that ours is a vibrant democracy. A thriving democracy does not curtail the freedom of association neither does it curb peaceful debate and discussion.

P Ramakrishnan
President
2 June 1998