P Dev Anand Pillai | Jun 18, 09 5:23pm iThe first thing that the opposition must do if it ascends to federal power in the near future is to ensure that the leadership of the police force publicly bows down in apology to the people for their cruelty and total disregard for human rights and civil liberties which every citizen in this country of ours enjoys.
The police have clearly and convincingly shown the people that they are on the side of politicians whom they feel they have a duty to ‘protect’ and return to power. Therefore, if ever the BN wants to have its past glory again, it is totally dependent on a compliant and fiercely ‘loyal’ police force to do the job for them.
Be it to the run up to any general election or by-election and now more recently to candlelight vigils and even group walks to the courts to file suits, the police are being ordered to arrest at whim and incarcerate.
Little do they realise that all this makes the witnessing public and the young voters even more eager to vote for Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties as opposed to BN. The police have failed miserably in their duties to protect society from petty crimes, organised crime, snatch theives, car-jackers, child-nappers, road bullies, rapist, murderers and the list goes on but seem super efficient when it comes to policing Pakatan politicians.
This was how it was during the occupation of the Japanese from 1941-1945 where the secret police of the Japanese army called the Kempetai did as they pleased and the people of Malaya were at their mercy begging and pleading that their lives be spared.
We have already arrived at the police state with many new recruits mainly from one ethnicity ever eager to go out and show what powers they have against the public and how they choose to exercise these powers.
The Police Act 1967 is a very arbitrarily drafted act which does not take into account human rights and the fundamental liberties guaranteed under our federal constitution. We will be able to control the police force if we had an active rights-minded judiciary but that being a rarity today makes the police even more tyranical in the exercise of their wide and unquestionable powers.
Little do they realise that by taking sides, they could very well be at the mercy of Pakatan if the coalition takes over the federal government. It looks that the police are indeed working very hard to ensure that that does not occur but with the way they are abusing their wide powers, such a reality could come sooner then they expect.
The fact that two members of the special forces within the police force have been convicted for murder and a group of 10 policemen have been assigned to desk duties for suspected involvement in the death of a suspect whilst in their custody speaks volumes of the quality of police personnel that we have today.
By being politically subservient to their chosen masters, the policemen of today do not see their positions as a duty and calling to serve and protect the nation and her people.
They see it more as a means to an end; in the sense that if they serve their political masters well, their chances of promotion immediately becomes brighter and the chances of doing business outside the scope of their duties is also enhanced. Therefore policing is the last thing that is in their minds.
A subservient, loyal and obedient police force is a necessity for any regime that wishes to control its people with little regard for the rule of law, natural justice and most of al, human rights. If one were to look at how the German Fuhrer controlled and cowed his people into submission, it was with the assistance of a police force that carried out orders without question.
Similarly, the Italians and the Japanese did the same and no form of dissent was allowed or entertained. The people had no other alternative but to submit as it was their lives which were at stake. One wonders what would happen to a youth who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and due to his bad luck, is arrested and remanded on suspicion of committing a crime.
Whilst being remanded pending investigations, a confession is extracted by using force and eventually the youth dies due to the severity of the abuse and the subsequent investigations show that the youth was not connected to the crime at all. This seems the state of affairs in which our police force has allowed itself to deteriorate to.
If we can't walk in a group, sing songs and hold candlelight vigils for a cause that we believe in, wear T-shirts of the colour that we like or speak at forums on issues that concern us and the institutions of the nation or fast for a cause without being harressed and arrested by the police, what more can it be called other than a police state?
It is really sad to note that we will have to train an entire new generation of policemen who will be aware of human rights and the federal constitution before their empowerment under the Police Act.
Until then, the situation will not change as long as the current ruling regime continues to govern. We may have lived through the harsh times of the Japanese Occupation and you just have to ask anyone above 65 and they will narrate what horrors they had witnessed during that period.
One's own grandfather was slapped so hard by the Japanese that he had hearing difficulties in one ear.
Similarly, we are seeing and witnessing for ourselves the harressment, arrests and deaths that occur whilst in police custody. This may not be akin to what horrors our forefathers may have gone through but in today's free and borderless world, this is horror enough.
The police have clearly and convincingly shown the people that they are on the side of politicians whom they feel they have a duty to ‘protect’ and return to power. Therefore, if ever the BN wants to have its past glory again, it is totally dependent on a compliant and fiercely ‘loyal’ police force to do the job for them.
Be it to the run up to any general election or by-election and now more recently to candlelight vigils and even group walks to the courts to file suits, the police are being ordered to arrest at whim and incarcerate.
Little do they realise that all this makes the witnessing public and the young voters even more eager to vote for Pakatan Rakyat coalition parties as opposed to BN. The police have failed miserably in their duties to protect society from petty crimes, organised crime, snatch theives, car-jackers, child-nappers, road bullies, rapist, murderers and the list goes on but seem super efficient when it comes to policing Pakatan politicians.
This was how it was during the occupation of the Japanese from 1941-1945 where the secret police of the Japanese army called the Kempetai did as they pleased and the people of Malaya were at their mercy begging and pleading that their lives be spared.
We have already arrived at the police state with many new recruits mainly from one ethnicity ever eager to go out and show what powers they have against the public and how they choose to exercise these powers.
The Police Act 1967 is a very arbitrarily drafted act which does not take into account human rights and the fundamental liberties guaranteed under our federal constitution. We will be able to control the police force if we had an active rights-minded judiciary but that being a rarity today makes the police even more tyranical in the exercise of their wide and unquestionable powers.
Little do they realise that by taking sides, they could very well be at the mercy of Pakatan if the coalition takes over the federal government. It looks that the police are indeed working very hard to ensure that that does not occur but with the way they are abusing their wide powers, such a reality could come sooner then they expect.
The fact that two members of the special forces within the police force have been convicted for murder and a group of 10 policemen have been assigned to desk duties for suspected involvement in the death of a suspect whilst in their custody speaks volumes of the quality of police personnel that we have today.
By being politically subservient to their chosen masters, the policemen of today do not see their positions as a duty and calling to serve and protect the nation and her people.
They see it more as a means to an end; in the sense that if they serve their political masters well, their chances of promotion immediately becomes brighter and the chances of doing business outside the scope of their duties is also enhanced. Therefore policing is the last thing that is in their minds.
A subservient, loyal and obedient police force is a necessity for any regime that wishes to control its people with little regard for the rule of law, natural justice and most of al, human rights. If one were to look at how the German Fuhrer controlled and cowed his people into submission, it was with the assistance of a police force that carried out orders without question.
Similarly, the Italians and the Japanese did the same and no form of dissent was allowed or entertained. The people had no other alternative but to submit as it was their lives which were at stake. One wonders what would happen to a youth who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and due to his bad luck, is arrested and remanded on suspicion of committing a crime.
Whilst being remanded pending investigations, a confession is extracted by using force and eventually the youth dies due to the severity of the abuse and the subsequent investigations show that the youth was not connected to the crime at all. This seems the state of affairs in which our police force has allowed itself to deteriorate to.
If we can't walk in a group, sing songs and hold candlelight vigils for a cause that we believe in, wear T-shirts of the colour that we like or speak at forums on issues that concern us and the institutions of the nation or fast for a cause without being harressed and arrested by the police, what more can it be called other than a police state?
It is really sad to note that we will have to train an entire new generation of policemen who will be aware of human rights and the federal constitution before their empowerment under the Police Act.
Until then, the situation will not change as long as the current ruling regime continues to govern. We may have lived through the harsh times of the Japanese Occupation and you just have to ask anyone above 65 and they will narrate what horrors they had witnessed during that period.
One's own grandfather was slapped so hard by the Japanese that he had hearing difficulties in one ear.
Similarly, we are seeing and witnessing for ourselves the harressment, arrests and deaths that occur whilst in police custody. This may not be akin to what horrors our forefathers may have gone through but in today's free and borderless world, this is horror enough.
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