Way back in 2003 at the height of police lock up murders at the rate of one such murder in every two weeks and police shoot to kill murders at the rate of one such murder in every week of almost all Malaysian Indians, then Senior Malay Mail reporter Neville Spykerman told me politely (and with no bad intentions) that if there were a few more such police murders in the next few weeks it would then take a national dimension with the public outcry and the media reporting the same and perhaps these deaths in police custody and by police shooting would come to an end.Note: Public outcry by Malay-sian standards means protest and public statements by the 90% majoritarian Malay muslim and Chinese, PKR, DAP, PAS, NGOs’, Bar Council, “Malaysian civil society and the mainstream print and electronic media and alternative medias wide coverage of the same.
I replied that I begged to disagree. I also replied that he (Neville) would be right if it was a few more Malays or Chinese who were similarly killed in a short space of time.
As I anticipated the state police sponsored killings and murders went on unabated and with impunity as it was “merely” the Indian poor who were the victims.
Even the 25th November 2007 Hindraf Rally and my subsequent detention without trial under the ISA did not really make the difference.
The real difference started with Teoh Beng Hock and now Ahmad Sarbani Mohamad as they were (rightly) given the widest possible mainstream print and electronic media coverage’s the alternative media also carrying the public protests and immediate and urgent public statements by the top leaders of PKR, DAP, PAS, NGOs’ Bar Council, “Malaysian civil society”.
In the case of Ahmad Sarbani Mohamaed at least the local dailies and alternative media carried the following top headlines if not front page news including the three Tamil dailies are as follows:
1) “Death and furry (The Star headlines 7/4/2011)
2) Customs officer found dead (The NST headlines 7/4/2011)
3) MACC Hq death fall (The Sun headlines 7/4/2011)
4) Saksi SPRM Maut (The Sinarharian headlines 7/4/2011)
5) Death of Customs Officer at MACC Building Malaysian Nanban headlines (7/4/2011
6) Fell to his death Selangor Customs Officer Makkal Osai headlines 7/4/2011)
7) Pegawai Kastam mati di perkarangan pejabat SPRM (Utusan Malaysia front page7/4/2011)
8) Pegawai kastam maut di pejabat SPRM front page 7/4/2011)
9) Selangor Customs Deputy Director falls to death from MACC Building Tamil Nesan front page 7/4/2011)
10) Lim Kit Siang calls for justice and immediate probe into death (The Star 7/4/2011 at page N3)
11) PAS Vice President Salahuddin Ayub “Thorough Investigations on Sarbani’s case.(The Sinarharian 7/4/2011 at page N4)
12) Police HQ Bukit Aman Special Task Force to investigate on Sarbani’s case (BH 7/4/2011 at page 4)
13) Bar Council wants immediate inquest, Royal Commission of Inquiry on Sarbani’s death. (The Sun 7/4/2011 at page 6)
14) Form RCI – Perkasa (Utusan Malaysia 7/4/2011 at page 7)
15) 800 demo on Sarbani’s death (Sinarharian 7/4/2011 at page S7)
16) PM: Sarbani’s death different from Teoh’s & 5 others article (Malaysiakini.com)
17) PM defends MACC amid latest death & 3 others article (Freemalaysiatoday.com)
18) ‘Suicide’ claims twist knife in Sarbani’s mourners & 7 others article (The Malaysian Insider)
19) Customs Officer Falls To Death At MACC Office & 5 others article (The Malaysian Mirror)
And in the next few days many more PKR, DAP, PAS leaders, and especially Indian elite in the blogs, etc will rightly be howling for justice for the family of Sarbani Mohamed. They will all be outraged and stand up for the rights of the Chinese and Malay killed. No howling for Indian deaths.
We commend PKR, DAP, PAS, Bar Council, NGO’s the police and the Malaysian civil society.
But on the very same day Teoh Beng Hock was killed at the MACC HQ, P. Gunasegaran was brutally killed at the Sentul Police station. But all of the aforesaid PKR, DAP, PAS, Perkasa, Bar Council, NGOs’,
Malaysian civil society mainstream print and electronic media coverage, the alternative media etc did not broadcast/speak up for justice for P. Gunasegaran simply because Gunasegaran was a Malaysian Indian. In fact One malay-sia has never heard of P. Gunasegaran again because he was “merely an Indian” and they want to be “politically correct, play to the 90% Malay muslim natives and Chinese gallery or fear losing the 60% malay muslim voters.
If P. Gunasegaran had been killed in a police lock up in London or L.A being a soft target and vulnerable minority the white Christian 90% majority community and their media would have bend backwards to condemn, speak up and champion for Justice for P. Gunasegaran.
This is the reality “Malaysian civil society” as opposed to the Western Civil Society.
P. Gunasegaran’s case is only the tip of the iceberg.
Hundreds if not thousands of other Indians have been similarly killed by the Malay-sian state sponsored police force. But it never mattered to the Malay-sian civil society, including the Malaysian Indian elite, the usual howlers if Malay and Chinese rights are questioned! These are the ultimate jokers in the country.
But when we point out this level of Malay-sian racism both by commission and by omission we instead are accused of being racist by no less than the Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, that it is Hindraf & HRP that is racist, a bizarre definition which exists in no other part of the world except by “civil society”, masyarakat madani Malaysia and the Opposition Leader who hiself has been accused of sodomy and adultery.
Res Ipsa Loquiteour (The facts speak for itself).
“Rights not Mercy”.
P. Uthayakumar
