Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Nato prepared to hunt Taliban fighters who executed woman for adultery
General John Allen, commander of
American and Nato forces, said: "Let's be clear, this wasn't justice,
this was murder, and an atrocity of unspeakable cruelty." Photo: Reuters
Nato troops…
General John Allen, commander of
American and Nato forces, said: "Let's be clear, this wasn't justice,
this was murder, and an atrocity of unspeakable cruelty." Photo: Reuters
Nato troops were prepared to join a manhunt for the Taliban fighters who publicly executed a young woman for adultery in an incident that has drawn worldwide condemnation.
Footage of the execution of 22-year-old Najiba showed men cheering as she was shot several times in the back and head.
The incident in the Shinwari area of Parwan province recalled similar public executions which were commonplace during the Taliban's government of the 1990s.
General John Allen, commander of American and Nato forces, said: "Let's be clear, this wasn't justice, this was murder, and an atrocity of unspeakable cruelty.
"The Taliban's continued brutality toward innocent civilians, particularly women, must be condemned in the strongest terms." He added that his troops were "ready to assist the Afghan security forces in tracking down and holding accountable the perpetrators of this heinous act".
The killing reportedly took place late last month after the woman was accused of being married to one Taliban figure and having an affair with another.
Troops and police had been sent to the area, the governor of Parwan said, but the killers had escaped, perhaps by wearing women's burkas.
His spokesman said the manhunt would be hampered by mountainous terrain in the area. Parwan province has long been considered relatively safe, but security has slid in the past two years.
A spokesman for Nato forces in Kabul said they had not yet been called on by the Afghans for help with the search.
Hamid Karzai ordered his security officials to police to "not to spare any efforts in arresting and punishing the perpetrators".
He added: "The murder of a woman who has had no voice to raise for her self-defence against the weapon and brutality of a number of criminals is a clear symbol of the cowardice and wickedness of her murderers".
In the mobile phone footage, a man is seen reading verses from the Koran condemning adultery, before saying: "We cannot forgive her, God tells us to finish her. Juma Khan, her husband, has the right to kill her."
As the young woman squats, huddled in a burka facing away from the camera, a man walks up behind her to within a few feet and opens fire with his assault rifle.
The first two shots miss her, but on the third she collapses and he continues to fire into her motionless body.
A crowd of around 100, looking on from a hill, cheer her death, shouting "Long live Islam", "Long live Mujahideen (holy warriors)".
MIC lost relevance 38 years ago, says Niat chief
"It started becoming irrelevant much earlier, but (former MIC president) S Samy Vellu had his own way of making the party appear relevant," Thasleem told Malaysiakini in an interview last week.
His statement contrasts with the popular view that S Samy Vellu, who assumed office in 1979, was the cause of MIC's downfall, culminating in the 2007 Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally, which brought some 30,000 protesters onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
Thasleem,
a long-time Tamil education activist, claimed that the MIC in 1974
forwarded a memorandum to the Cabinet Committee on Education, but its
proposals got nowhere.The memorandum, he said, called for the upgrading of Tamil schools and syllabi, better teacher training and residential schools to be set up to "enable Indian students to overcome the debilitating effects of their socio-economic environment."
"If the cabinet committee did not agree to this, why didn't (then MIC president) V Manickavasagam walk out of the Alliance Party?" he asked, adding that the time then was ripe because MIC had no competition for Indian support.
Answering his own question, Thasleem said the MIC kept silent and stayed on with the Alliance - all for the survival of its leadership.
"They thought that it was more important that they are okay and their families are okay," he said.
He added that of the many opportunities MIC had to "put its foot down" for the Malaysian Indian community, this was the greatest.
MIC member for three decades
Thasleem is best known for spearheading the opposition against the controversial book Interlok until its withdrawal from the Malay literature syllabus last year.
Back
then, Niat stood for ‘National Interlok Action Team', but was changed
to National Indian Rights Action Team after the government withdrew Interlok, so that the organisation can continue to campaign on other educational issues for the community.A long-time MIC member - he was in the party from 1974 until 2007 - Thasleem praised Samy Vellu as a leader who did the best under his circumstances, but said the former MIC chief had a fatal flaw.
"He did a lot of good things. He started the (MIC education arm) Maju Institute for Educational Development (MIED), sort of started the Tafe (Technical) College, and all those things.
"The only problem with Samy Vellu was he didn't want to keep good people with him. All the intelligent ones around him - unless you are a yes-man - you can't survive!" Thasleem said.
He attributed the former works minister's fall from grace in 2010 entirely to his poor selection of advisers.
Asked about the current MIC president's leadership, he said, "G Palanivel is a good man - there are no two ways about it. But I don't think he is an effective leader."
Pressed further, Thasleem said no BN leader was truly concerned about the respective community he claimed to represent.
Asked about Hindraf's place in the Indian community, Thasleem appealed to the movement to give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.
Five years after its mammoth rally of November 2007, the movement has since splintered into groups like the pro-BN Malaysian Makkal Sakhti Party (MMSP) and the anti-BN Human Rights Party (HRP).
Hindraf de facto leader P Uthayakumar has decried Pakatan's failure to address the needs of the Indian poor and intends to contest in a number of its seats, creating the possibility of three-cornered fights in the coming general election.
Hindraf has since distanced itself from Uthayakumar's statement, saying that it was his 'personal view'.
'I share Hindraf's pain'
Thasleem said: "My appeal to my friends in Hindraf is: I share all the pain. I share all the trouble and whatever they have gone through.
"Like what Pakatan is saying - if they go to Putrajaya now, the whole scenario would be different.
"Another
four or five years is not going to bury the community for good. We have
already gone through this for 55 years. I have lost hope that BN would
ever, ever look at the Indian issues genuinely."Thasleem also said Hindraf should be given due credit for catalysing for what would become known as the 2008 political tsunami.
"Of course, the Chinese votes did matter. There was a lot of change within the Malay community also.
"But to me, I think Hindraf played a very, very, prominent role because everybody was going around campaigning using the term ‘makkal sakthi' (people power).
"Right from (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim all the way through Pakatan to DAP, PKR and even PAS were saying ‘makkal sakthi', which was basically Hindraf," he said.
However, Thasleem is of the opinion that the rally would have been an even bigger success if it had championed Indian Muslim issues as well.
"Why should you call it as ‘Hindu rights'? Why can't you call it ‘Indian rights', where people like us... I have said that even Indian Muslims have problems!"
He added that were Indian Muslims who ‘quietly' turned up at the Hindraf rally, wearing their songkok so that they could be identified.
However, more Muslims would have come if the rally's cause was not confined to Hindu issues, Thasleem said.
Labels:
MIC
MIC moots CM and wife to undergo lie detector
An MIC leader has suggested that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, his wife Betty Chew Gek Cheng and Lim's former employee Ng Phaik Kheng subject themselves to a lie…
An MIC leader has suggested that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, his wife Betty Chew Gek Cheng and Lim's former employee Ng Phaik Kheng subject themselves to a lie detector test to end the controversy linked to them.
MIC welfare and social bureau deputy chairperson Ramanan Ramakrishnan said the test would be the best way for the three of them to clear their name in the wake of the controversy.
"The three of them should undergo a lie detector test to prove to the people that no scandal had occurred (between Lim and Ng)," he said when contacted.
The controversy involving Lim, Betty Chew and Ng erupted last week in the Malacca state assembly sitting after Duyong state assemblyperson Gan Tian Loo asked Betty Chew (DAP-Kota Laksamana) whether she knew Ng.
At a news conference last Saturday, Betty Chew denied that her husband, Lim, had had an affair with Ng, who had been an employee at the Penang Chief Minister's Office.
Ramanan asked why Ng had opted to remain silent and not comment on the matter.
- Bernama
Labels:
MIC
PKR’s Surendran gets SMS acid splash threat
The PKR vice-president puts the blame squarely on MIC and say that they are behind the SMS.
PETALING JAYA: PKR vice-president N Surendran received an SMS, threatening that his face…
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PETALING JAYA: PKR vice-president N Surendran received an SMS, threatening that his face…
The PKR vice-president puts the blame squarely on MIC and say that they are behind the SMS.
PETALING JAYA: PKR vice-president N Surendran received an SMS, threatening that his face will be splashed with acid.
Surendran claims that MIC is behind the threats and he thinks it is because of him being critical of the party.
Surendran has gone on record as saying that the MIC has not helped stateless Indians to get their MyKad and birth certificates.
“The MIC is furious with my comment about them. I am sure that the MIC is behind the threats, like they attacked us at Putrajaya.”
“This is an act of gangsterism” he said .
Two months ago, there was a scuffle in front of the Prime Minister’s office where Puchong PKR division leader S Murali sustained injuries to his face.
Surendran lodged a police report at the Jalan Travers police station and he was accompanied by PKR vice-president, Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is also the Lembah Pantai MP.
MIC could not be reached for comments.
Read more: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/07/10/pkrs-surendran-gets-sms-acid-splash-threat/#ixzz20FPSzPpy
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PETALING JAYA: PKR vice-president N Surendran received an SMS, threatening that his face will be splashed with acid.Surendran claims that MIC is behind the threats and he thinks it is because of him being critical of the party.
Surendran has gone on record as saying that the MIC has not helped stateless Indians to get their MyKad and birth certificates.
“The MIC is furious with my comment about them. I am sure that the MIC is behind the threats, like they attacked us at Putrajaya.”
“This is an act of gangsterism” he said .
Two months ago, there was a scuffle in front of the Prime Minister’s office where Puchong PKR division leader S Murali sustained injuries to his face.
Surendran lodged a police report at the Jalan Travers police station and he was accompanied by PKR vice-president, Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is also the Lembah Pantai MP.
MIC could not be reached for comments.
Read more: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/07/10/pkrs-surendran-gets-sms-acid-splash-threat/#ixzz20FPSzPpy
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PKR
Ambiga furious over ‘hate’ booklets
In the latest twist to the Bersih saga, the electoral watchdog's chairperson sees red over booklets condemning the movement.
PETALING JAYA: Booklets purportedly printed by the Information Department condemning Bersih…
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PETALING JAYA: Booklets purportedly printed by the Information Department condemning Bersih…
In the latest twist to the Bersih saga, the electoral watchdog's chairperson sees red over booklets condemning the movement.
PETALING JAYA: Booklets purportedly printed by the Information Department condemning Bersih has got the electoral watchdog chairperson S Ambiga fuming.
“I am very angry. Enough is enough!” she exclaimed.
Ambiga stressed that the government must cease demonising Bersih and peddling lies to the public about the movement and its call for free and fair elections.
“The public must know the truth since public funds are being used in this process of demonisation,” she said, adding that she was alerted about the booklets by several NGOs.
The former Bar Council president said there was a concerted campaign against Bersih and this revealed the disconnect between the country’s leaders and Malaysians.
“I would have no objection if the reporting was fair. But since the Bersih 3.0 rally, all they have shown is a skewed perspective,” she said.
“This is deliberate lying by the government organs with improper motives,” she added.
Ambiga also asked if this was an attempt to influence the government’s own panel tasked to probe the violence during the April 28 rally.
Commenting further, she said the government was behaving as if it was at war with Bersih.
“They must realise that it is then a war with the rakyat.
“From April 28 till now, they have been using the heavy artillery against the unarmed rakyat. Yet I am confident that it is the unarmed rakyat fighting for justice who will prevail,” she added.
Booklet found in taxi
Meanwhile, social activist Adrian Anthony told FMT that he had chanced upon the booklet when he took a taxi from Damansara Utama this morning.
The Youth coordinator for the Catholic Graduates Movement said the booklets were in the pouch behind the front passenger’s seat.
Among others, the booklet depicted scenes of protesters attacking police vehicles during the rally, with the words: “Hidup biar beradap bukan biadap!” and “Bersih 3.0 yang kotor”.
It also called on the public to think carefully and warned them not to support the recalcitrant troublemakers or to be used as their tools.
Despite numerous attempts, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz and Information, Culture and Communications Deputy Minister Maglin D’Cruz could not be reached for comments.
The Bersih 3.0 rally drew tens of thousands to the streets but violence erupted when the protesters crashed through the barricades, leading the police to fire tear gas and water cannons.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak later claimed that it was an attempt to topple the government, a charge which both Bersih and the opposition denied.
Read more: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/07/10/ambiga-furious-over-hate-booklets/#ixzz20FP5pVwf
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PETALING JAYA: Booklets purportedly printed by the Information Department condemning Bersih has got the electoral watchdog chairperson S Ambiga fuming.“I am very angry. Enough is enough!” she exclaimed.
Ambiga stressed that the government must cease demonising Bersih and peddling lies to the public about the movement and its call for free and fair elections.
“The public must know the truth since public funds are being used in this process of demonisation,” she said, adding that she was alerted about the booklets by several NGOs.
The former Bar Council president said there was a concerted campaign against Bersih and this revealed the disconnect between the country’s leaders and Malaysians.
“I would have no objection if the reporting was fair. But since the Bersih 3.0 rally, all they have shown is a skewed perspective,” she said.
“This is deliberate lying by the government organs with improper motives,” she added.
Ambiga also asked if this was an attempt to influence the government’s own panel tasked to probe the violence during the April 28 rally.
Commenting further, she said the government was behaving as if it was at war with Bersih.
“They must realise that it is then a war with the rakyat.
“From April 28 till now, they have been using the heavy artillery against the unarmed rakyat. Yet I am confident that it is the unarmed rakyat fighting for justice who will prevail,” she added.
Booklet found in taxi
Meanwhile, social activist Adrian Anthony told FMT that he had chanced upon the booklet when he took a taxi from Damansara Utama this morning.
The Youth coordinator for the Catholic Graduates Movement said the booklets were in the pouch behind the front passenger’s seat.
Among others, the booklet depicted scenes of protesters attacking police vehicles during the rally, with the words: “Hidup biar beradap bukan biadap!” and “Bersih 3.0 yang kotor”.
It also called on the public to think carefully and warned them not to support the recalcitrant troublemakers or to be used as their tools.
Despite numerous attempts, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz and Information, Culture and Communications Deputy Minister Maglin D’Cruz could not be reached for comments.
The Bersih 3.0 rally drew tens of thousands to the streets but violence erupted when the protesters crashed through the barricades, leading the police to fire tear gas and water cannons.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak later claimed that it was an attempt to topple the government, a charge which both Bersih and the opposition denied.
Read more: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/07/10/ambiga-furious-over-hate-booklets/#ixzz20FP5pVwf
Labels:
Ambiga
Slain assailant paid tribute to Dr M
In his last blog posting, Khalil Afandi Abd Hamid pours scorn on Najib, Anwar, PAS leaders and the Sultan of Selangor.
PETALING JAYA: Khalil Afandi Abd Hamid, who was gunned…
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PETALING JAYA: Khalil Afandi Abd Hamid, who was gunned…
In his last blog posting, Khalil Afandi Abd Hamid pours scorn on Najib, Anwar, PAS leaders and the Sultan of Selangor.
PETALING JAYA: Khalil Afandi Abd Hamid, who was gunned down when he went on a rampage at the Prime Minister’s Office, had praised Dr Mahathir Mohamad and poured scorn on Najib Tun Razak.
In his last posting, the 47-year-old blogger described the former premier as the “kindest human being” whom he had come across in Malaysia.
(His blog Jaya Negara has since been rendered inaccessible.)
Khalil added that he would “very much agree” if Mahathir wanted to become the prime minister again.
However, he noted that Mahathir might not choose to do so since he was old and frequently fell ill.
He also claimed that Mahathir deliberately moved the sodomy and corruption charges against his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim because the latter would “bring a huge catastrophe” for the nation.
“You can ask Mahathir about this,” he said.
Khalil criticised Anwar for idolising the late Indonesian president Gus Dur, saying that like the latter, “Anwar too was blind in sight and heart”.
In the lengthy June 30 posting in Jaya Negara, Khalil cautioned readers about Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
“…do not follow this man with little hair [on his head]… this old man is a liar,” he wrote.
PAS, Sultan not spared
Not sparing those in PAS, Khalil took a swipe at spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, president Abdul Hadi Awang and Ulama council head Harun Din.
“You have been praying every night, shivering and crying in your prayer. For years, you have been doing this, and I am curious why Allah does not love you?” he asked in reference to the trio.
In another paragraph, he said that Nik Aziz prayed for “the eyes of voters to be blinded and that they be allowed to only see the moon [PAS' official logo]”.
Without mincing his words, Khalil also launched a vitriolic attack on the Sultan of Selangor with regard to him being the protector of Islam in the state.
Apart from this, he also criticised independent preacher Kazim Elias.
“Is it right for him to claim that ‘pencuri Islam’ [Muslim thieves] who do not eat pork have iman [faith]?
“Muslim thieves who do not eat pork can enter heaven whereas Chinese towkays who get robbed but eat pork are cast into hell,” he added.
Khalil also condemned those who criticised Christians and lamented that the Islam practised now had degenerated.
‘We will meet again’
Towards the end of his posting, Khalil said this would be his final meeting with the readers in the form of his writings.
“But it is certain that we will meet again and I promise to end my duties so that I can go [home] without having to return again,” he added.
The posting, titled “Hidup dan Mati… apa yang dipertaruhkan”, had drawn 98 comments from readers, including Khalil’s responses to their questions.
In one particular reply, Khalil had described himself as a person without rules, and that it was difficult to change.
He also alluded to having a problem with managing anger, which prompted him to stop working eight years ago because he was “tired of being angry with others”.
“When fate decrees, let us see if my anger can overcome their pride… I have not been defeated in any battle be it physical or mental…,” he stated.
Khalil and his female accomplice were shot when they whipped out samurai swords, held a policeman hostage and smashed several cars at Complex B of the Prime Minister’s Department yesterday.
Khalil, who was shot twice, succumbed to his injuries while his unidentified accomplice was undergoing treatment at Hospital Putrajaya.
News reports claimed that Khalil considered himself an Imam Mahadi, a Muslim leader who would restore justice and return mankind to the path of God before the End of Time.
Read more: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/07/10/slain-assailant-paid-tribute-to-dr-m/#ixzz20FOg1kfG
▲
PETALING JAYA: Khalil Afandi Abd Hamid, who was gunned down when he went on a rampage at the Prime Minister’s Office, had praised Dr Mahathir Mohamad and poured scorn on Najib Tun Razak.In his last posting, the 47-year-old blogger described the former premier as the “kindest human being” whom he had come across in Malaysia.
(His blog Jaya Negara has since been rendered inaccessible.)
Khalil added that he would “very much agree” if Mahathir wanted to become the prime minister again.
However, he noted that Mahathir might not choose to do so since he was old and frequently fell ill.
He also claimed that Mahathir deliberately moved the sodomy and corruption charges against his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim because the latter would “bring a huge catastrophe” for the nation.
“You can ask Mahathir about this,” he said.
Khalil criticised Anwar for idolising the late Indonesian president Gus Dur, saying that like the latter, “Anwar too was blind in sight and heart”.
In the lengthy June 30 posting in Jaya Negara, Khalil cautioned readers about Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
“…do not follow this man with little hair [on his head]… this old man is a liar,” he wrote.
PAS, Sultan not spared
Not sparing those in PAS, Khalil took a swipe at spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, president Abdul Hadi Awang and Ulama council head Harun Din.
“You have been praying every night, shivering and crying in your prayer. For years, you have been doing this, and I am curious why Allah does not love you?” he asked in reference to the trio.
In another paragraph, he said that Nik Aziz prayed for “the eyes of voters to be blinded and that they be allowed to only see the moon [PAS' official logo]”.
Without mincing his words, Khalil also launched a vitriolic attack on the Sultan of Selangor with regard to him being the protector of Islam in the state.
Apart from this, he also criticised independent preacher Kazim Elias.
“Is it right for him to claim that ‘pencuri Islam’ [Muslim thieves] who do not eat pork have iman [faith]?
“Muslim thieves who do not eat pork can enter heaven whereas Chinese towkays who get robbed but eat pork are cast into hell,” he added.
Khalil also condemned those who criticised Christians and lamented that the Islam practised now had degenerated.
‘We will meet again’
Towards the end of his posting, Khalil said this would be his final meeting with the readers in the form of his writings.
“But it is certain that we will meet again and I promise to end my duties so that I can go [home] without having to return again,” he added.
The posting, titled “Hidup dan Mati… apa yang dipertaruhkan”, had drawn 98 comments from readers, including Khalil’s responses to their questions.
In one particular reply, Khalil had described himself as a person without rules, and that it was difficult to change.
He also alluded to having a problem with managing anger, which prompted him to stop working eight years ago because he was “tired of being angry with others”.
“When fate decrees, let us see if my anger can overcome their pride… I have not been defeated in any battle be it physical or mental…,” he stated.
Khalil and his female accomplice were shot when they whipped out samurai swords, held a policeman hostage and smashed several cars at Complex B of the Prime Minister’s Department yesterday.
Khalil, who was shot twice, succumbed to his injuries while his unidentified accomplice was undergoing treatment at Hospital Putrajaya.
News reports claimed that Khalil considered himself an Imam Mahadi, a Muslim leader who would restore justice and return mankind to the path of God before the End of Time.
Read more: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/07/10/slain-assailant-paid-tribute-to-dr-m/#ixzz20FOg1kfG
Backsliding in Burma and Malaysia?
Malaysia and Burma remain poles apart in most aspects of
life—religion, ethnicity, and politics—but where they seem more akin in
recent times has been in trying to improve relations with…
Malaysia and Burma remain poles apart in most aspects of
life—religion, ethnicity, and politics—but where they seem more akin in
recent times has been in trying to improve relations with the West while
introducing much needed reforms at home.
Those reforms have been welcomed by the people of both countries and the international community but it remains a difficult process with Malaysia again raising fears of a revival of media oppression and Burma living up to its past with the detention of political activists.
Reporters San Frontiers (RSF) said it was disturbed to learn that the well-known Malaysian blogger Syed Abdullah Hussein Al-Attas is being held under the Official Secrets Act following complaints by 30 people about controversial posts which were apparently unflattering about the Sultan of Johor.
Another woman, who was with him, is also being held.
The posts about the Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim have been described as provocative, insulting and seditious. There were also claims that confidential documents were posted by Syed Abdullah, whose followers say he enjoys paranormal powers.
“Syed Abdullah’s arrest is unacceptable,” RSF said. “Why was the complaint filed by 30 people and not the person targeted in the posts? Why did the authorities think it was necessary to detain two people because of what appears in reality to be nothing more than an ordinary defamation suit?”
In Burma, the arrests came near the 50th anniversary of the July 7, 1962, military crackdown against students, ordered by Gen Ne Win. The generals had seized power four months earlier and on July 8, the army blew up the student union building in Rangoon University.
The final death toll was not known but dozens of students were believed to have perished.
Activists said the detentions over the weekend were proof that the country’s government remains a repressive regime despite the widely praised reforms augmented by President Thein Sein.
The students were freed with authorities saying the arrests followed a “misunderstanding” but this simply indicated they should never have been detained in the first place.
Unfair and wrongful arrests remain an issue across the 10-members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their strictly observed policy of non-interference in a neighbor’s affairs ensures any international response to this type of detention is limited.
But as ASEAN continues to open its borders and markets in anticipation of a fully integrated economic community by 2015 numbering half-a-billion people, such arrests should raise alarm bells across a region that hopes to be seen as genuine force to be respected and reckoned with on the international political stage.
Those reforms have been welcomed by the people of both countries and the international community but it remains a difficult process with Malaysia again raising fears of a revival of media oppression and Burma living up to its past with the detention of political activists.
Reporters San Frontiers (RSF) said it was disturbed to learn that the well-known Malaysian blogger Syed Abdullah Hussein Al-Attas is being held under the Official Secrets Act following complaints by 30 people about controversial posts which were apparently unflattering about the Sultan of Johor.
Another woman, who was with him, is also being held.
The posts about the Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim have been described as provocative, insulting and seditious. There were also claims that confidential documents were posted by Syed Abdullah, whose followers say he enjoys paranormal powers.
“Syed Abdullah’s arrest is unacceptable,” RSF said. “Why was the complaint filed by 30 people and not the person targeted in the posts? Why did the authorities think it was necessary to detain two people because of what appears in reality to be nothing more than an ordinary defamation suit?”
In Burma, the arrests came near the 50th anniversary of the July 7, 1962, military crackdown against students, ordered by Gen Ne Win. The generals had seized power four months earlier and on July 8, the army blew up the student union building in Rangoon University.
The final death toll was not known but dozens of students were believed to have perished.
Activists said the detentions over the weekend were proof that the country’s government remains a repressive regime despite the widely praised reforms augmented by President Thein Sein.
The students were freed with authorities saying the arrests followed a “misunderstanding” but this simply indicated they should never have been detained in the first place.
Unfair and wrongful arrests remain an issue across the 10-members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their strictly observed policy of non-interference in a neighbor’s affairs ensures any international response to this type of detention is limited.
But as ASEAN continues to open its borders and markets in anticipation of a fully integrated economic community by 2015 numbering half-a-billion people, such arrests should raise alarm bells across a region that hopes to be seen as genuine force to be respected and reckoned with on the international political stage.
Malaysia Tilts Towards China
Such good friends
The failure of Malaysia to show any solidarity with the Philippines and…
Such good friends
The failure of Malaysia to show any solidarity with the Philippines and Vietnam in the face of China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea will come to haunt it. The ruling self-styled defenders of the Malay race, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) are clearly far more concerned with short term advantage, political or pecuniary, than the principles at stake in the sea.
This week the four ASEAN nations facing China’s claims to almost the whole South China Sea – Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei – should be teaming up to confront Beijing, and urging fellow ASEAN members, notably Indonesia, to provide support. But in practice, while the ASEAN nations signed a collective agreement this week to spell out rules governing maritime rights and navigation in the South China Sea, it is likely to be toothless. Malaysia is burying its head in the sand and staying silent on the region’s most important long term issues. An UMNO source told Asia Sentinel recently that the government is determined to quietly tilt towards China, despite the fact that it carries on largely covert joint military training exercises with US Marines.
Nothing of course should surprise observers given the revelations of massive UMNO-linked corruption in the case of the French submarines that should be guarding Malaysian waters but in practice are just port-bound monuments to politicians’ greed. But the South China Sea is a far more serious case than the submarines because of the implications for vast areas of Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the sea as well as its actual possession of some islets in the Spratly group.
Malaysia controls roughly one fifth of the South China Sea coastline, or one sixth if one excludes the southwest portion nearest to Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore which is not, as of now, subject to Chinese claims. China’s overall claim is imprecise because it has never been precisely delineated. It includes all the islets and shoals within the dotted line that constitutes its general claims area.
This line goes at least as close to the shores of Sabah and Sarawak as it does to the Philippines. Thus some of Malaysia’s current as well as future offshore oil and gas production within its EEZ is at least as vulnerable to China’s recent use of force as the Scarborough shoal, which lies just 130 miles off the coast of Luzon, or the waters due east of central Vietnam where China is offering exploration blocks which are clearly well within Vietnam’s EEZ.
China however is relatively smart. It may have upset some of its neighbors with its aggressive stance – a stance seemingly the result of domestic politics in China at a time of leadership transition and when the PLA is flexing its nationalist muscles. But it is not going to upset Malaysia just yet. It is easier to knock off the smaller but closer claimants one by one meanwhile taking full advantage of the greed and gullibility of Malay politicians.
Malaysia is trying hard to be on all sides at once. It is cosying up to China in the hope of investment and tourism but also in part reflecting the Mahathir-era preference for any country opposing western influence in the region.
Aside from the possibility of China buying influence along the French submarine lines, Malaysian policy seems influenced by two factors. Firstly, concerns that standing up to China on the South China Sea would encourage Beijing to interfere in domestic politics in support of the ethnic Chinese community. So a defense of narrow UMNO political interests is taking precedence over Malaysia’s national patrimony, which should belong to all its races and religions. And secondly, and perhaps not even consciously, the assumption that the waters off Sabah and Sarawak are somehow less part of the nation than those off the peninsula, the centre of political power and of Muslim supremacy. In turn that may reflect the inability of ethnic Malay Muslims to identify with the wider ethnic Malay world of predominantly Christian Philippines and even with predominantly Muslim but proudly multi-religious Indonesia.
The Malaysian Malay assumption that all Malays are Muslims and cannot be otherwise stands in the way of recognition of Malaysia’s pre-Islamic past. This was a past which left numerous now-ignored Hindu and Buddhist monuments as well as cultural symbols. As in neighbors Indonesia and Thailand, Indian script was applied to the local language. It was also a past of navigators who sailed the South China Sea and Indian Ocean before the Chinese.
But do not imagine that Malaysia’s current leaders care a toss about either the Malay past or the Malay future. They are content to focus on staying in office, lining their pockets and imposing Islamic intolerance at home.
=========================================================
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Return of Mahathirism triumphant
Last week, Tun Mahathir asked why I hated him so much. Yesterday, he asked why I am so afraid of him.
It is neither. As I had said on Saturday,…
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It is neither. As I had said on Saturday,…
Last week, Tun Mahathir asked why I hated him so much. Yesterday, he asked why I am so afraid of him.
It is neither. As I had said on Saturday, “like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and Tun Abdullah and the majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in the 13th general election”.
Mahathir is in his cynical best.
Tongue-in-cheek, he made the grandiloquent announcement that “Mahathirism” is dead, that it “died” when Tun Abdullah took over from him as Prime Minister in 2003.
In actual fact, “Mahathirism” is not only alive and thriving, the return of Mahathirism is enjoying its most triumphant phase since the unceremonious exit of Abdullah as Prime Minister and his replacement by Datuk Seri Najib Razak 39 months ago.
This is most evident by the almost ceaseless spouting of “Mahathirism” recently, viz:
• Mahathir’s Sunday interview with Mingguan Malaysia where he castigated Malay “kebodohan” (stupidity) resulting in a major ethnic group bowing down to demands of minority groups, which included the government recognition of certificates by Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC), and claiming that the community had failed to “exploit its majority since Independence to consolidate power”;
• his speech in Penang last night that if Barisan Nasional is rejected in the 13th General Election, the Opposition will destroy the country;
• his recent stoking of racial fears among the Malays with his warnings and baseless allegations that (i) Malay will lose power if Umno loses next general election; (ii) that Najib is a weak Prime Minister and reforms could spark unrest; (iii) that the 13GE will be about race and that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers for the 13GE and will decide who forms the government.
The question at issue is whether the forces representing the “Return of Mahathirism Triumphant” is at the core of the massive anti-national conspiracy of lies and falsehoods to create racial distrust, suspicion, panic and fear particularly among the Malays in the 13GE, totally in utter disregard of their destructive effects on 54-years of nation building, including the Bangsa Malaysia concept of Vision 2020 as well as Najib’s 1Malaysia concept.
Yesterday provided a classic example of such dangerous, racist, anti-national and treacherous campaign tactics when the UMNO publication, Utusan Malaysia plumbed a new depth of dishonest and unethical journalism and front-paged the lie that DAP would contest 90 of the 222 parliamentary seats in the 13GE to dominate Pakatan Rakyat and appoint the Prime Minister.
Although DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders had yesterday itself denied and debunked the Utusan report as “utterly wild and baseless”, and I said in my media statement that although final seat allocations between Pakatan Rakyat parties have still to be fully completed, “DAP is not contemplating contesting more than 60 parliamentary seats or less than 28 per cent of the total 222 parliamentary seats”, Utusan Malaysia completely ignored these denials and today continued to publish reports and articles on the basis that its lies about “DAP to contest 90 seats” are true!
This is one example of “Return of Mahathirism Triumphant” at its worst and most irresponsible!
It will be interesting to find out how many Malaysians believe Mahathir or agree with him that “Mahathirism” died when Abdullah took over as Prime Minister.
Mahathir charged that Abdullah “changed UMNO, the BN and the Government so much that they no longer resemble the institutions I used to know” and he had to resign from UMNO.
Abdullah’s greatest tragedy is his failure to dismantle the Mahathirish architecture of racism, authoritarianism, corruption and cronyism to make the return of Mahathirism (as distinct from the return of Mahathir) an impossible agenda.
This is now among the issues that have to be resolved in the 13GE – for a new start in Malaysia that could put the Mahathirish past of abuses of power, corruption and cronyism completely behind the country, where Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class, region, gender or age could come together in a common national endeavour as on Bersih 3.0 on April 28 to build a united, harmonious, democratic, just, competitive, progressive and clean Malaysian nation.
▲
It is neither. As I had said on Saturday, “like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and Tun Abdullah and the majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in the 13th general election”.
Mahathir is in his cynical best.
Tongue-in-cheek, he made the grandiloquent announcement that “Mahathirism” is dead, that it “died” when Tun Abdullah took over from him as Prime Minister in 2003.
In actual fact, “Mahathirism” is not only alive and thriving, the return of Mahathirism is enjoying its most triumphant phase since the unceremonious exit of Abdullah as Prime Minister and his replacement by Datuk Seri Najib Razak 39 months ago.
This is most evident by the almost ceaseless spouting of “Mahathirism” recently, viz:
• Mahathir’s Sunday interview with Mingguan Malaysia where he castigated Malay “kebodohan” (stupidity) resulting in a major ethnic group bowing down to demands of minority groups, which included the government recognition of certificates by Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC), and claiming that the community had failed to “exploit its majority since Independence to consolidate power”;
• his speech in Penang last night that if Barisan Nasional is rejected in the 13th General Election, the Opposition will destroy the country;
• his recent stoking of racial fears among the Malays with his warnings and baseless allegations that (i) Malay will lose power if Umno loses next general election; (ii) that Najib is a weak Prime Minister and reforms could spark unrest; (iii) that the 13GE will be about race and that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers for the 13GE and will decide who forms the government.
The question at issue is whether the forces representing the “Return of Mahathirism Triumphant” is at the core of the massive anti-national conspiracy of lies and falsehoods to create racial distrust, suspicion, panic and fear particularly among the Malays in the 13GE, totally in utter disregard of their destructive effects on 54-years of nation building, including the Bangsa Malaysia concept of Vision 2020 as well as Najib’s 1Malaysia concept.
Yesterday provided a classic example of such dangerous, racist, anti-national and treacherous campaign tactics when the UMNO publication, Utusan Malaysia plumbed a new depth of dishonest and unethical journalism and front-paged the lie that DAP would contest 90 of the 222 parliamentary seats in the 13GE to dominate Pakatan Rakyat and appoint the Prime Minister.
Although DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders had yesterday itself denied and debunked the Utusan report as “utterly wild and baseless”, and I said in my media statement that although final seat allocations between Pakatan Rakyat parties have still to be fully completed, “DAP is not contemplating contesting more than 60 parliamentary seats or less than 28 per cent of the total 222 parliamentary seats”, Utusan Malaysia completely ignored these denials and today continued to publish reports and articles on the basis that its lies about “DAP to contest 90 seats” are true!
This is one example of “Return of Mahathirism Triumphant” at its worst and most irresponsible!
It will be interesting to find out how many Malaysians believe Mahathir or agree with him that “Mahathirism” died when Abdullah took over as Prime Minister.
Mahathir charged that Abdullah “changed UMNO, the BN and the Government so much that they no longer resemble the institutions I used to know” and he had to resign from UMNO.
Abdullah’s greatest tragedy is his failure to dismantle the Mahathirish architecture of racism, authoritarianism, corruption and cronyism to make the return of Mahathirism (as distinct from the return of Mahathir) an impossible agenda.
This is now among the issues that have to be resolved in the 13GE – for a new start in Malaysia that could put the Mahathirish past of abuses of power, corruption and cronyism completely behind the country, where Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class, region, gender or age could come together in a common national endeavour as on Bersih 3.0 on April 28 to build a united, harmonious, democratic, just, competitive, progressive and clean Malaysian nation.
PM: ISA scrapped as it gave no political benefit
The Malaysian Insider
By Lisa J. Ariffin
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By Lisa J. Ariffin
PUTRAJAYA,
July 9 — The Internal Security Act (ISA) was repealed because it no
longer provided a political edge to the government of…
The Malaysian Insider
By Lisa J. Ariffin
▲
By Lisa J. Ariffin
PUTRAJAYA,
July 9 — The Internal Security Act (ISA) was repealed because it no
longer provided a political edge to the government of the day, Datuk
Seri Najib Razak said today.
“We
abolished ISA because it doesn’t help us politically. You don’t kill
anyone politically by putting them in ISA,” Najib said today during the
opening of a dialogue with public service personnel here.
“It only enhances them by putting them in ISA,” he added.
Najib stressed, however, that “all the (existing) ISA detainees’ positions still remain”.
The
premier also said he had decided to remove the Emergency Ordinance
(EO), which had allowed for indefinite detention without trial, as it
has been rendered irrelevant by technology.
“Previously, when someone commits an offence, we would catch them and send them far away,” he said.
“Now,
there is no use for that because when that person is away, he can use
his cell phone to continue his work. That’s why we got rid of EO,” he
added.
On
September 15 last year, Najib had announced his plan to repeal the ISA
and the three Emergency Declarations in his Malaysia Day address to the
nation.
The
ISA was originally drafted to address the communist insurgency of its
day, but was later said to have been subverted into a tool for the
government to stifle political dissent.
It
developed notoriety when it was used during the 1987 political
crackdown known as “Ops Lalang”, when over a hundred people — primarily
opposition leaders and activists — were arrested under the law.
Following
Najib’s announcement, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government
admitted to having used the ISA in the past for “wrongful reasons” but
urged their detractors to look forward instead of dwelling on history.
Najib
came to power in April 2009 with the promise of reviewing the ISA but
decided on doing away with the security law that critics say has been
abused by Barisan Nasional (BN) for political purposes.
But
his administration replaced the ISA with the Security Offences (Special
Measures) Act, which has since come under similar criticism.
Labels:
ISA
31 hauled up outside Pahang MB’s office
Update: The group is expected to be charged tomorrow in court
under the Peaceful Assembly Act for failing to notify the police of the
gathering. (So much for transformasi!) About…
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Update: The group is expected to be charged tomorrow in court
under the Peaceful Assembly Act for failing to notify the police of the
gathering. (So much for transformasi!) About half a dozen lawyers are
expected to be on the defence team.
Thirty one people from Cameron Highlands were detained outside the Pahang Mentri Besar’s office, where they had turned up to insist on an appointment.
The group is now being held at the Kuantan District Police Headquarters. The 31 comprises 13 men, 12 women and six children.
Their problems range from lack of even temporary titles to the land they have been toiling on, to worries over landslides to issues related to applications for stalls.
PSM sources claimed the Pahang MB had said he would visit the villagers in Cameron Highlands to try and resolve their problem. But after two months, the residents had not succeeded in getting an appointment with him.
So they decided to go to the MB and insist on an appointment.
Meanwhile Bukit Jalil estate workers are asking 4 acres for 41 families after staying for four generation in the estates. Prime Minister Najib has agreed to meet three of their representatives today.
At the meeting, the PM said he needed more time to study the issue. The workers said they hope he had the political will to resolve the issue.
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Thirty one people from Cameron Highlands were detained outside the Pahang Mentri Besar’s office, where they had turned up to insist on an appointment.
They refused to leave when asked to disperse.
The group is now being held at the Kuantan District Police Headquarters. The 31 comprises 13 men, 12 women and six children.
Their problems range from lack of even temporary titles to the land they have been toiling on, to worries over landslides to issues related to applications for stalls.
PSM sources claimed the Pahang MB had said he would visit the villagers in Cameron Highlands to try and resolve their problem. But after two months, the residents had not succeeded in getting an appointment with him.
So they decided to go to the MB and insist on an appointment.
Meanwhile Bukit Jalil estate workers are asking 4 acres for 41 families after staying for four generation in the estates. Prime Minister Najib has agreed to meet three of their representatives today.
At the meeting, the PM said he needed more time to study the issue. The workers said they hope he had the political will to resolve the issue.
Labels:
Malaysian Indians
Upanishads to fire Sunita Williams’ spiritual odyssey in space
The Indian American astronaut — who will spend six months in space from July 14 — is carrying with her an English translation of one of the most important Hindu…
The Indian American astronaut — who will spend six months in space from July 14 — is carrying with her an English translation of one of the most important Hindu scriptures.
AHMEDABAD: When Sunita Williams is thousands of miles above the earth taking a bird's eye view of the universe from her space shuttle window, she will try to understand universal truths of the Upanishads. The Indian American astronaut — who will spend six months in space from July 14 — is carrying with her an English translation of one of the most important Hindu scriptures.
Her father, Deepak Pandya, is hoping that the farther she goes from earth, the closer she will come to understanding her Indian roots. It was his idea that she carry a copy of the Upanishads with her.
"The last time she went into space, I had given her a copy of the Bhagavad Gita," Pandya told TOI. "She was full of questions when she came back. She wanted to know why it became necessary for Krishna to narrate the Gita, what were its eternal teachings, was it not possible to gain similar knowledge from other works, and many such questions. I feel that she will find some of the answers in the Upanishads."
Pandya, himself a Shiv bhakt, says that up in space his daughter will perhaps be able to better chart her spiritual journey with the Upanishads assisting her.
"All the same, we don't discuss space when she calls amid her preparations," Pandya adds. "We have normal father-daughter conversations."
The astronaut is all set to go into quarantine ahead of her second space odyssey after which it will become increasingly difficult for the family to stay in touch with her. Williams last worked aboard the International Space Station for six months in 2006. She will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with two other astronauts, a Russian and a Japanese.
Labels:
India
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