Images of Gaza in Taiping at the funeral procession of the two brothers who were mercilessly killed by the Malaysian Police

You would have seen images of coffins being carried in the open over people’s head in a parade in scenes from Gaza, of Palestinians mercilessly killed by the Israelis. For the first time in the history of Malaysia, the coffins of the two brothers, Satchithananthan and Logeswaran, who were mercilessly killed by the Malaysian Police were taken in an open procession through the main streets of Taiping in defiance of Police orders. One could not help but think of the Gaza analogy. Only the coffins were not draped in Palestinian flags, they were just adorned by large flower garlands.
This merciless killing has shattered the family of the two brothers. The father was in deep grief, not to mention the rest of his family. Our deepest condolences go to the family in this terrible hour of their grief.
The funeral procession started from the house at around 2.00pm led by a small lorry bearing the funeral band and Hindraf/HRP activists. The lorry carried a large banner which read “ POLICE BUNUH MASYARAKAT INDIA” and “WE WANT A ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE SHOOT TO KILL POLICY” . The lorry was followed by the two hearse vans and about two hundred friends and family members in cars and motorbikes. There were chants of “Polis Pembunuh” and “Police Kejam” right through the streets of Taiping.
The police attempted to stop the procession at four points on the way to the Police Station. But the crowd did not allow the Police to stop them , they just went on ahead. At the last point when the OCPD of Taiping completely blocked off the road leading to the Balai Police, the family decided to take the coffin out from the hearse vans and with pall bearers carried the coffins at the head of the procession through the road that the OCPD had blocked.
At two of the blocked roads on the way, Uthayakumar who was leading the Hindraf/HRP activists got into several serious arguments with the police officers and the OCPD. Here are some of the comments I picked up as he spoke in anger at the murderous attitude of the Malaysian police – “ The IGP of Malaysia is a Bodoh, for he cannot deal with live criminal suspects. He can only deal with them shot mercilessly dead. Where is the law that the police can shoot to kill. Which law in the country allows the police to murder and kill? The Police have no right to stop a funeral procession. What are the police afraid of?
The anger in the crowd was very evident as they did not heed the many police calls to stop or to divert to other roads. There were several Police light strike force members with guns and tear gas all ready to act against the crowd if they needed to. But none of this deterred the angry crowd. They just carried on and occasionally they burst out into loud chants of “Police Pembunuh” .
The Procession was blocked by the Police Light Strike Force unit from getting any closer to the Balai Polis. The members of the family and gathered friends and activists then decided to perform a Mritunjaya Mantram prayer before moving away with the coffins still on the shoulders for a while more before resuming their rest of the journey to the crematorium for the cremation in the hearse vans. The crowd kept chanting Polis Pembunuh all the way to the crematorium. Finally the remains of Satchithananthan and Logeswaran were cremated at about 4.00pm. May their souls rest in peace. Om Shanti.
When is this wanton killing going to stop. When is the Malaysian Police and their bosses the UMNO/BN government going to come to their senses. They cannot solve the problem of crime by killing off suspects. They already have too much blood on their hands. They must remember that things are never fixed and history has a way of reversing positions of its players. See what happened to Sadam Hussein, the once powerful ruler of Iraq. Finally he got an end worse than anything he meted out – a public hanging.
Nothing is fixed dear Home Minister Hishamuddin, and dear IGP Musa Hassan. Do not think you do not have accounting to do, just because you hold the reins of power now.