Going into denial seems to be the only way Najib could think of in reacting to the Bersih 2.0 rally.
The rakyat who turned up for the Bersih 2.0 rally yesterday were no criminals. Yet, the police and the Federal Reserve Unit officers treated them as such, kicking and punching some of the supporters of the rally.
An eyewitness shared an incident where a young man in his 20s was pounced upon by no less than 10 policemen who wrestled him down, twisting his arm.
The ambience that day was one of fright and intimidation with the police going berserk in preventing the huge crowd from walking up to the rally venue, the historical Stadium Merdeka.
Everywhere, the environment was polluted with tear gas and water cannon which the cops splashed with gay abandon at the crowd to force them to disperse. But all these failed to scare the people.
Indeed, conundrum would best describe the July 9 scenario in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. The palpable chaotic situation was certainly not the people’s doing. The rakyat had turned up in good faith to support the Bersih 2.0 ‘Walk for Democracy’. The event was messed up by none other than the police.
Bersih 2.0 in respecting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin’s call to maintain peace and harmony agreed to keep away from the streets and take the rally indoor, to Stadium Merdeka. But no thanks to the lies and manipulation by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, the Bersih 2.0 organisers were refused all access to the stadium.
The police meanwhile at the 11th hour offered to issue Bersih 2.0 a permit for the rally provided it was held outside Kuala Lumpur. Why did Najib and his ‘boys’ stab Bersih 2.0 in the back, an act typically reserved for the cowards?
It is not the Bersih 2.0 coalition but the Barisan Nasional government under Najib and the police who are to be blamed for the chaos that shrouded Kuala Lumpur for over eight hours on July 9.
From the streets to a closed environment – Bersih 2.0 was cooperating with the call to stay away from the roads. In fact, Ambiga even asked the police to map out the routes for it to walk on July 9 but the thuggie-styled police refused to cooperate.
Was Bersih 2.0 asking for much by requesting that the police cooperate with it? Why did Najib turn the entire rally into a topsy-turvy affair and get the Bersih 2.0 key players including chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan arrested?
Had Ambiga harboured malicious intentions, she could have ambushed the government and sprung a surprise by bringing her supporters to the streets to rally.
However, for all intent and purposes, the ‘Walk for Democracy’ was paved with good intentions, that of wanting to raise public awareness and call for a reform of the electoral system.
Stop blaming Bersih 2.0
The mainstream media went to town reporting how businesses in the city centre were paralysed because of the rally. Motorists stuck in traffic jams were quick to blame Bersih 2.0 for the endless hours of delay they had to endure.
The truth is Bersih 2.0 is not to blame. The truth also is that the entire scenario was scarred by the police, when it blocked all entry points to Kuala Lumpur.
How could Najib forget that all Bersih 2.0 wanted was to walk in solidarity and hand over their memorandum for reforms to the electoral system Yang di-Pertuan Agong?
The fact of it all is that all that happened on July 9 was dictated by fear, that too on the part of the BN government and Najib. The fear of not being able to manipulate the electoral process and find themselves losing out to their arch enemy, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat prompted Najib to undertake the least intelligent measure to halt the rally.
Had the coalition been allowed to use the Stadium Merdeka, there would have been no complaints from traders of businesses being affected. Why then conveniently pass the blame to Bersih 2.0 and ask the coalition if it would shoulder the losses suffered by the traders?
Also, had the police the decency to oblige Ambiga and plan out the route for the walk, the supporters of democracy could have been spared the tear gas, water cannons, punching and kicking.
Bersih 2.0 rally a success
The Bersih 2.0 steering committee estimated that 50,000 people had turned up for its ‘Walk for Democracy’. Maybe such a huge turnout is too much of a failure for the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar to admit, so he went on to claim it was a mere 6,000 who showed up.
To Najib, the number was small. Just how did he deduce this, when the entire city of Kuala Lumpur had come to a standstill and the IGP had to bring in just about all his men to unleash their terror on the supporters?
Going into denial seems to be the only way Najib could think of in reacting to the Bersih 2.0 rally. Instead, he heaped praise on participants of the National Cooperatives Day 2011 held in Putrajaya and said:
“It’s obvious that the thousands present today are against the illegal rally planned by a section of our community. If there are people who want to hold the illegal rally, there are even more who are against their plan.”
But what a surprise that the premier could not even reveal the number of participants who attended the National Cooperatives Day 2011. Yet, it pleased him that they stayed put in Putrajaya, maybe against their will.
A lot of the truth which the Bersih 2.0 rally has revealed will never be acknowledged by the Najib administration. One truth is that the Bersih 2.0 rally succeeded in getting its message across to the rakyat.
The other truth is that the people are no willing to tolerate the abuse and corruption the BN government indulges in during elections.
Another truth is that the persecution and repression used by Najib to get things his way is now passé. The rakyat is all out to seek the truth and as the July 9 walk showed, the truth is out there.
The chaos and fear of July 9 was all Najib’s doing. His band of Umnoputeras were out to create nothing less than ruckus, as seen from the showdown at Menara Maybank between Umno Youth and Bersih 2.0 on the day of the rally.
Likewise, all talks that the ‘Walk for Democracy’ was spearheaded by the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is bullocks. It was a walk to reclaim what rightfully belongs to the people, an electoral system free of manipulation.
As far as Bersih 2.0 is concerned, it is innocent. And it has succeeded in its mission, all thank you to the rakyat who turned up in full force yesteday.
Comment by Jeswan Kaur
pelbagai reaksi yang timbul. namun dapat dilihat, perhimpunan ini telah memberikan pelbagai kesan...
ReplyDeletewajarkah penyokong2 Bersih diperlakukan seperti ini oleh pihak polis? seolah-olah mereka ni penjenayah
ReplyDeleteperhimpunan ini juga dilakukan di luar negara, tapi bagaimanapun ia dpt dikawal.
ReplyDeleteEach and everyone has their own opinion regarding this matter. And with this kind of situation happening in M'sia right now, the government will get more bad images because people are speculating the democracy in this country.
ReplyDeleteWhen will this matter come to end? It only creates more hatred and chaos which eventually ruining the unity in our country.
ReplyDeletebersih bukan cara yang terbaik untuk menangani masalah sebegini. Jadi kita mengharapkan perhimpunan haram tidak akan berlaku lagi.
ReplyDeleteumno tidak hormat AGONG langsung. umno adalah pengkhianat kepada negara dan Agong kita.
ReplyDeleteUmno sengaja tidak kasih permit untuk BERSIH dibuat di stadium merdeka walaupun Agong dan najis kata OK bersih boleh buat perhimpunan dalam stadium.
semua orang umno cakap tidak serupa bikin. Sudah anjing umno akan pupus dalam PRU13.
Harap matlamat mereka akan dicapai.
ReplyDeletekarulnaim,
ReplyDeletesaya pasti semua saluran sudah dicobain. termasuk meminta utk berbincang dgn SPR dan kerajaan. Tetapi SPR nyata lebih bijak dlm ilmu 'putar alam'. kerajaan pun putar2 juga. dlm parlimen, kalau ada usul dari pembangkan berkenaan SPR, cpt kena reject atas alasan tidak penting oleh speaker umno. padahal demand 8 perkara itu bukanya susah. simple saja. kalau nak penuhi pun tidak perlukan budget 1 billion. so lain kali kalau nak kasi pandangan, bacalah banyak sikit blog yg neutral. jgn terlalu tengok tv1,tv2,tv7, tv9, AWANI dan lebih2 lagi tv3.
patutnya pemimpin2 Pakatan dan penganjur2 Bersih berada dibarisan hadapan.. mereka berani buat ini perhimpunan sebab mereka tahu rakyat akan jadi perisai mereka..
ReplyDeletemereka memang berada bersama-sama peserta lain. dlm perhimpunan sebegini, rakyat atau pemimpin adalah sama. ertinya sama rata. tiada yg perlu ditandu (angkat pakai tandu). tiada yg perlu dikipas atau nak kena kasi aircond. berarak bersama-sama. kena kanister (gas pemedih mata) sama2. kena meriam air sama2. berdiri duduk sama2. pendek kata, tak perlu kerusi empuk berserta portable aircond atau kipas air utk sejukkn para pemimpin yg menyertai perhimpunan. so ini baru boleh kata pemimpin bersama rakyat dan rakyat bersama pemimpin. juara rakyat umno jauh dari setanding dgn perhimpunan spt ini. ialah kan, nda pernah2 kita dgr pemimpin sama2 berpanas dgn rakyatnya dlm terik mentari. selama beberapa jam yg tertentu. apa lagi kalau sama2 merasa gas pemedih mata. sanggupkah najib bersama rakyat mengharungi kesusahan sebegitu. sanggupkah najib berpedih mata utk rakyatnya. rasanya tidak. lihat saja 'tinjauan mesra 1malaysianya'. contoh terbaik semasa juara rakyat umno, rakyat berpanas, pemimpin bersejuk dlm kemah siap dgn kerusi empuk, airkon mudah alih dan kipas air berserta makan minum yg enak2. cuba terbaliknya, rakyat dlm kemah dgn kemudahan serta layanan spt yg mereka dpt, atau sekurang-kurangnya sama2 berpanas. tak perlu pondok. kalau lapar sama2 lapar. baru nampak adil. so peluru, apa macam? ada setuju?
ReplyDeleteIts better to sit and discuss the matter professionally than to have a demo . Demo is not a solution to this problem.
ReplyDeleteNeway, i hope the government will give what the people want so that Malaysia peace will not be disrupted.
ReplyDelete