Investigate all police killings

Hindraf calls for a royal commission of inquiry into police killings based on the recent admission by the Home Minister of his tacit crime busting policies.
COMMENT

By N Ganesan

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is creating very dangerous tendencies within Malaysian society with what are totally irresponsible statements, firstly total violation of the freedom to life and liberty contained in the Federal Constitution, and secondly inflammatory given the racial profiling contained in it.

This calls for an urgent reset if we are not to get into more serious trouble.

Implying that since crime affects the Malays and so it is serious is a grave implication. The dangerous part for Malaysian society is that statements such as these, coming as they do from a senior minister in government and senior leader in Umno, opens up all kinds of possibilities for the most right wing elements in government and party, the underworld aligned with the ruling elite and the racially bent elements in our society.

They are all being given open licences to muscle their positions along this racial line and extend what the Home Minister has implied, deeper into the fabric of our society.

The statement from the Home Minister that “I think the best way is that we no longer compromise with them ( the suspects). There is no need to give them any more warning. If (we) get the evidence, (we) shoot first.” This is clearly a violation of the supreme law of the land.

We have to conclude from these statements that what we have been fed, up to now, is a pack of lies that the police were independently responsible for the shooting and killing of suspects.

The admission by the Home Minister that he gives the orders, lays bare the true source of the decisions to shoot and kill.

Given the numbers of shootings and killing around, in the words of international law, this works out to crimes against humanity and therefore the minister is not only in violation of Malaysian law, he is violation of international law as well.

To maintain the esteem of Malaysia in the community of nations and also for us to exorcise our country of these bedeviling tendencies, Hindraf calls upon the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry to investigate all the police killings that have occurred in the past.

This is to attempt to move the country truly forward instead of pursuing these regressive policies and laws.

This may look like a tall call given the trend of things, nevertheless it requires that human rights defenders speak up no matter. Otherwise we would be condoning the eventual death of human rights in our country.

The writer is Hindraf’s national advisor.
- See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/10/08/investigate-all-police-killings/#sthash.hdwxNmQz.dpuf

‘Zahid should quit and join Tiga Line’

An anti-crime activist has hit out at Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for saying that the secret society, Tiga Line, were his friends.
UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should resign and join the secret society Tiga Line for having a soft spot for the gang, said Peoples Welfare and Rights Organisation (Power) president S Gobikrishnan.

At a government forum in Malacca on Saturday, Zahid said Tiga Line members were not thugs because they get-together during kenduri (big gathering) and at big projects.

This was revealed in a 20-minute speech recorded by a participant of the forum which was closed to reporters half way through Zahid speech.

The home minister said Tiga Line were his friends and “urging them to do what they needed to do.”

Zahid said in jest that Umno supreme council candidate Shahidan Kassim as the biggest Tiga Line gangster during the function.

In August, the Home Ministry revealed the list of 49 illegal secret societies, including Tiga Line, consisting of Malays.

Gobikrishnan said Zahid’s remarks was a political stunt for the Umno vice-presidential elections and could be a tactic to gain more Malay support to clinch an easy win against his rivals.

However, he said the Zahid’s “shoot-first” policy to tackle serious crime should be used to bring down the real thugs.

The anti-crime activist added that Zahid had insulted his own race by stating that Malays were the biggest patron of internet gambling, drugs and prostitution.

Proving to be a Malay hero

Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (MIPAS) secretary-general S Barathidasan slammed Zahid for making such insensitive statements just to gain political mileage and was unfit to be a minister.

Barathidasan said the home minister was trying to be a Malay hero before the Umno elections.

He said Tiga Line was a secret society and questioned why Zahid was saying the gang members were not thugs.

“Is he rallying to gain support from Tiga Line members for his Umno vice-presidential elections?” asked Barathidasan.

He said during the Mahathir era, the home ministers were more decent and better mannered but not anymore under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

“It looks like Najib has lost control of the ministers,” he said.

Suaram says sack Zahid

Meanwhile Suaram coordinator R Thevarajan said the government should establish a special inquiry to investigate the personnel behind the Three Line Gang, their connections with Umno and the home minister, apart from sacking Zahid from his ministerial post.

Thevarajan also hit out at Zahid for coming across as a racist in the meeting as he was seen instigating his Umno audience with racist imputations by stereotyping gangsters and crimes, attributing the gangs to be headed by Chinese, the operators to be Indians and the victims to be Malays.

“Such ignorant and bigoted prejudices show that Zahid is not only unfit to be a minister but should be dealt with under the law for his rabid racism,” he said.

He also said that Zahid, by claiming that the police had been told to implement the ‘shoot-first’ policy, had only confirmed what Suaram had been saying for years – that the police are trigger happy.

In the meeting, Zahid had allegedly that “if there was enough evidence, the police would shoot first”.

“This gaffe by the Home Minister calls for a complete overhaul of the standard operating procedure of the Malaysian police force before more people are shot dead.

“It is indeed a sad day as while the prime minister pays lip service to reform and transformation, we have a Home Minister who secretly supports gangsters, who is a rabid racist and who does not understand the meaning of the rule of law,” added Thevarajan.

He said that Najib should immediately sack Zahid as Home Minister.
- See more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/10/08/zahid-should-quit-and-join-tiga-line/#sthash.Fdb26caC.dpuf

Dr M wants Science, Maths in English

He recounted a recent incident when 333 graduates went for a job interview and only seven were employed because the rest couldn't speak English.

KANGAR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is concerned over the poor grasp of the English language among students as it will adversely affect their future.

The former prime minister said there were some graduates from institutions of higher learning who did not master the language, resulting in them not getting a place in the employment sector.

Speaking to reporters after delivering his keynote address at the 2013 Asian University Presidents Forum (AUPF) at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Pauh Putra campus near here yesterday, he said those who mastered English were readily accepted.

For example, he said, recently 333 graduates of institutions of higher learning were called for a job interview related to information technology.

“However, only seven were recruited as the rest did not know English.

“Some of them even requested that the questions during the interview, which was conducted in English, be translated into Malay!,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said, while he was a fighter for Bahasa Melayu since 1947, he was pragmatic as English could not be sidelined.

He hoped English would be widely used in science and mathmetics for the future of the students.
He said certain words and terms were difficult to translate, especially for science, and should be maintained with the use of English for the subject.

Prior to that, in his address, he also stressed on the use of English for Science and Mathmetics in school.

Did Zahid play out Pakatan over PCA changes?

ANALYSIS Pakatan Rakyat MPs have been left feeling ‘misled’ by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in relation to the cabinet’s apparent ‘willingness’ to consider their revisions to the Prevention of Crime Act (Amendment and Extension) Bill 2013.

Events over the final 24 hours in the Dewan Rakyat before the Bill was passed last Wednesday proved to be a stark contrast to signals that Pakatan MPs had been receiving since Monday - that the cabinet may consider accepting some of their revisions.

On Tuesday their representative - Gombak MP Azmin Ali (left) - met the speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia and expressed concern with the way the Bill was being rushed through, and was advised to approach Zahid to try and defer the Bill.

He then confirmed getting an indication that the debate would run until Thursday, the final day of this sitting, and that the other 12 accompanying Bills would be deferred.

But Zahid caught the opposition bench unawares by wrapping up the second reading on Wednesday evening and then pushing on with passage of the Bill late that night.

This happened at a time when many opposition MPs were absent from the House, presumably anticipating that the committee stage would take place only on Thursday. Only 66 of them were present.

In winding-up the debate, Zahid (right) barely answered any concerns or arguments raised by the opposition, swatting these away with one-sentence replies. All 10 of Pakatan’s revisions were bluntly rejected.

On Saturday, he shed some light on the process when speaking at an event in Malacca, when he called the amended PCA Bill "my law".

"I (discussed) with (minister in charge of parliamentary affairs) Shahidan Kassim so that when the time comes (for a vote), the ... speaker would be on our side, the Dewan Rakyat secretary will be on our side," he was recorded as telling his audience.

‘Two-faced Zahid’

Yesterday, one Pakatan parliamentarian described the process as a “conspiracy by the government”, while another expressed certainty that the absence of some opposition MPs was part of the calculation.

"This is what we can call the tyranny of the majority. There's nothing else that describes this,” he said.

PKR's Kapar parliamentarian G Manivannan said the tone of parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday alone were enough to display Zahid’s "two-faced" nature.

Saying that the Dewan Rakyat had rushed through a Bill that serves Zahid’s "personal interests", Manivannan labelled him a “shameless minister”.

"Some BN MPs voted for the Bill without even knowing its ingredients. How can you do that when you are responsible to your people?" he asked.

Shortly before the vote in the House was ratified, Azmin had sarcastically congratulated Zahid and told him that he would "definitely" win the Umno vice-president's post now.

Contacted yesterday, Azmin agreed that Pakatan was "misled" to a certain extent, but argued that the Executive had also misled the Dewan Rakyat.

This is because the amendments are not in line with provisions in the federal constitution, he said.

"This Bill was rushed through (because of) the (upcoming) Umno general assembly,” Azmin claimed.

“Many Umno MPs have communicated to me privately that (Zahid, as home minister) needs to be seen as being tough on crime. But they are not sure if the minister will execute the powers (under) this Bill after the assembly.”

Going by Zahid's boast in Malacca and the reaction of his mainly Malay audience, Azmin may not be too far off the mark in terms of the likely impact on the Umno polls.

But the party’s representatives in the Dewan Rakyat must surely come from another planet if they are 'not sure’ if Zahid will enforce the amended provisions, including detention without trial.

---

RAM ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

Retract 'shut down' threat, Chinese editors tell Zahid

The Chinese newspaper editors association has urged Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to retract his threat to close down newspapers.

In a statement issued yesterday, the editors expressed regret over the minister's remarks made during a briefing in Malacca.

The association also noted that the event was a "security briefing ceremony with community leaders" and carried the federal and Malacca government emblems, therefore it clearly was a government function.

Even if Zahid chose to campaign to retain his vice-president post in the coming Umno elections at the government event, which he later claimed was a closed-door meeting, the editors said he should not have made improper remarks and threats against the journalists.

The association said race relations in Malaysia had been deteriorating steadily since the May 5 general election, with certain politicians raising sensitive issues to gain political mileage.

"As a member of the cabinet, one should speak and act cautiously and should not threaten to close down newspapers," the association said in reference to Zahid's threat.

The association comprises senior editors from Sin Chew Daily, China Press, Nanyang Siang Pau and Guang Ming Daily.

Zahid had told the reporters present at last Saturday’s event to leave and warned them against reporting his remarks.

The threat succeeded in silencing most of the media, although Oriental Daily News and Guang Ming Daily reported his warning, which they said came in the wake of his "sensitive remarks". However, there was no elaboration on this.

Malaysiakini reported parts of his speech after obtaining a 20-minute audio recording from DAP Ayer Keroh state assemblyperson Khoo Poay Tiong.

Gerakan: Zahid must clarify or retract 'shoot first' assertion

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi must clarify or retract his statement that it is okay for the police to shoot criminals first and ask questions later, a Gerakan vice-president said today.

A Kohilan Pillay warned that such a statement would "institutionalise" abuses by the police, raise public furore and would completely destroy the already poor reputation of the police force.

"By using such a policy, the government is once more demonstrating its sheer arrogance towards the people who are crying for a competent, not an abusive police force.

"This will only anger the people more, causing the reputation of the force, which is already in the gutter, to plunge deeper," Kohilan (left) said in a press statement.

Calling it "unbecoming of a minister," he said Zahid's statement also flies in the face of Malaysia's human rights obligations.

"Gerakan and other-like minded parties" are therefore sceptical about giving more power to the police.

A controversy arose last week when Gerakan and MCA turned around to vote in favour of the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) Amendment Bill despite earlier protests.

DAP's Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming called Gerakan and MCA "coffeeshop heroes" who didn't walk their talk.

Gerakan retorted back, asking why some Pakatan Rakyat MPs were also absent in the voting that saw the amendments to the PCA law, which give police the power of detain without trial for two years, passed by Parliament.