Aliran is flabbergasted that the usage
of a single word ‘Allah’ could be the basis for the denial of a
fundamental right guaranteed under the Federal Constitution. The Herald, a Catholic weekly, has been warned it could lose its
publication permit over its use of the term in its Malay-language
section.
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Aliran welcomes the dropping of
charges of attempted murder against the 31 Malaysians who were
implicated by the police without any incriminating evidence. It was
the only decent thing to do when their case was so flimsy and without
merit. Under the circumstance the police were in no position to
proceed with the case. When the case did not proceed
yesterday, it had nothing to do with compassion or justice. It is as
simple as that.
Aliran condemns the arrest
today of five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders under the
obnoxious Internal Security Act. Those detained were Hindraf legal
adviser P Uthayakumar, lawyers M Manoharan, R Kenghadharan, V
Ganabatirau and organising secretary T Vasanthakumar. These
ISA arrests are certainly a huge step backwards for democracy. When
the Barisan Nasional detains its citizens under the draconian ISA, it
concedes that it has lost its moral authority and has no
justification to frame a valid charge and take them to court under
the existing laws of the country.
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Aliran deplores the thoughtless and
mindless reaction of the state against any democratic expression of
our constitutional rights to exert our freedom. We are appalled that
even a small gathering of marchers to a nearby destination in an
orderly manner without obstructing the traffic or causing any chaos
to the public cannot be allowed or tolerated by this oppressive
regime.
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Tan Sri Zaki Azmi’s appointment as
Court of Appeal president was no surprise. It was predictable from
the time he was catapulted into the Federal Court, making him the
most junior Federal Court judge. Elevating the most junior Federal
Court judge to the post of president of the Court of Appeal is
unprecedented in our judicial history. But that did not seem to
bother the Prime Minister. Neither was he perturbed by the negative
comments following Zaki’s appointment to the Federal Court.
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Aliran, at its 31st annual
general meeting held in Penang today, has expressed its horror at the
heavy-handed way the police responded to the Hindu Rights Action
Force (Hindraf) assembly in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
According to an Al Jazeera
correspondent who witnessed events, “police fired water cannons and
dozens of rounds of tear gas into the faces of the protesters,
turning the demonstration into a street battle.”
Aliran
welcomes the government’s decision to appoint a Royal Commission of
Inquiry following the disturbing disclosures in the Lingam tape. What
Malaysians witnessed through the tape revealed the rot in the
judiciary, which many Malaysians had suspected all along. Their
suspicions have now been removed and we are now convinced that the
rot has pervaded the judiciary through the manipulation of unethical
judges to do the bidding of the authorities.
Aliran is concerned about the arrests of leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) – P Uthayakumar, P Waythamoorthy and V Ganapathy Rao – ahead of a planned gathering on Sunday, 25 November at the British embassy. Many Malaysians are likely to view the police action as being politically motivated.
Well, it looks that the information Minister will have to eat his own words. He will have to believe what he sees. His eyes are not playing tricks. It is indeed true that concerned Malaysians did turn up in their thousands to demand clean and fair elections.
They were not intimidated by the heavy presence of the police and the FRU; they were not discouraged by the water cannons or the riot police with their shields and batons. These are brave Malaysians who have had enough of the arrogance of the powers-that-be. They are here to demonstrate to the democratic world that there are Malaysians who are prepared to stand up and march for justice.
The Chief Justice has forfeited the trust of the people and the confidence of the Malaysian Bar. The only thing for him to do when he no longer commands the trust of the people or the confidence of the Malaysian Bar is to go quietly. That is the best thing to do – the only thing he can do.
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