While citizens have the right to gather peacefully, as laid out in the Federal Constitution, the two "acts of intimidation" are an invasion of Ambiga's privacy and religious standing, the NGO said in a statement today.
"What
is more worrying is the insensitivity of selling beef burgers in front
of an individual who is a vegetarian and a Hindu," it said, comparing
the incident to the ‘cow head' protest by a group of Muslims in response to the planned relocation of a Hindu temple in 2009.Proham was referring to the May 10 protest where hawkers group Ikhlas set up a burger stall outside the Bersih leader's house, and the May 15 protest where a group of army veterans conducted ‘butt exercises' at the same location.
Furthermore, the group claimed that the protests would set precedents, since the authorities seemed to have turned a "blind eye" to the events, especially the potentially threatening remarks made by the group of army veterans.
Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Association president Mohd Ali Baharom had warned Ambiga not to "cause problems" for the country again, saying: "We will act if you smear the country's name."
The group urged protesters to refrain from carrying out demonstrations in private residential areas in order to avoid such violations of cultural sensitivities and personal intimidation.
"Proham also calls on both the police and local authorities to ensure that the perception of apparent selective enforcement and justice is not created in the public mind," it added.
Proham, or Association for the Promotion of Human Rights, is a relatively new human rights watchdog led by a group of former Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) members.
The press release today was signed by Proham chairperson Simon Sipaun, members Hamdan Adnan, Denison Jayasooria and Ramon Navaratnam.
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