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Thursday, October 16, 2014

THE PEOPLE HAVE TO 'BANGKIT": Sedition Act will only be repealed if public fights it - Syed Husin

THE PEOPLE HAVE TO 'BANGKIT": Sedition Act will only be repealed if public fights it - Syed Husin
Putrajaya will never repeal the Sedition Act 1948 if the public does not mount a massive and sustained opposition towards the colonial-era legislation, said a former Internal Security Act detainee.
Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali said he believed that the repugnant Sedition Act could be removed if there was a massive people's movement against it.
“The sad fact is that in Malaysia, there are still no massive and sustained protests or opposition on these types of issues," Syed Husin told a forum at Universiti Malaya last night.
The forum, entitled "From class to Kamunting: remembering academic repression", was held at the Tun Mohamed Suffian Auditorium at the law faculty.
"Without the sustained protests by a large number of the rakyat, Putrajaya will continue to ignore the opposition towards the Sedition Act 1948," Syed Husin said.
His call comes as the Malaysian Bar takes the lead in the protest against Putrajaya’s recent Sedition blitz against opposition and activists in recent weeks.
Today, lawyers will hold a walk in protest against the Sedition Act from Padang Merbok to Parliament.
Bar Council president Christopher Leong said at the end of the walk at Parliament, the lawyers would present relevant documents to the prime minister or his representative.
Syed Husin recalled his incarceration at the Kamunting detention camp in Perak between 1974 and 1980, where he had been detained under the Internal Security Act 1960.
Syed Husin, the former Parti Rakyat Malaysia president, had been detained under the ISA for his involvement in a farmers' protest in Baling.
"I was questioned repeatedly by the police on whether I was a communist supporter due to my socialist beliefs," Syed Husin said, adding he also spent six months in solitary confinement.
"The communist phobia had arisen due to the Cold War and the Vietnam War. I was accused of supporting the communists due to my socialist beliefs.
"Due to that phobia, being a socialist meant you supported Marxism, which in turn meant you supported communism.”
Syed Husin was also forced to resign as a professor of University Malaya's Anthropology and Sociology Department despite almost 30 years of service because of his political activities.
Although he had been detained under the ISA, Syed Husin said he did not regret it because Malaysia had progressed in leaps and bounds since then.
Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali
"The rakyat are more courageous now, they are willing to voice their opinions and ask tough questions instead of accepting everything meekly.
"What kept me going during my incarceration was my faith in God, the rightness of my struggle and my wife's support," said the 78-year-old former PKR vice-president.
He did lament the introduction of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, saying those arrested under this act were almost treated like criminals.
"At least under the ISA, we could claim to be political detainees. Unfortunately, if you are arrested under Sosma, you are no more than a criminal."
Suaram adviser Dr Kua Kia Soong echoed Syed Husin's comments, saying he had never regretted returning to Malaysia from London where he had been living.
Kua had spent 445 days in Kamunting after being arrested with more than 100 opposition figures and activists during Ops Lalang in 1987.
"I do not regret being detained under the ISA or returning to Malaysia. It makes me proud when I see how the next generation is voicing their opinions.
"In my day, the ISA hung over our heads like a pall, always there if we took one wrong step. But today, there is no ISA and no two-thirds majority for Barisan Nasional.
"This shows that the rakyat are bold and courageous enough to make their point and choice. However, the fear of the ISA has been replaced by a fear of the Sedition Act."
Kua said the Sedition Act would be around for quite some time as Putrajaya appeared to be reluctant to continue with its reforms.
"The proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission never came to fruition while the National Harmony Act does not appear to be doable."
Syed Husin said true courage would only emerge once BN’s monopoly of power had been broken, citing the Arab Spring as an example.
"After the establishments in Egypt and Libya were toppled, then the people's courage was fanned as they believed change could be effected." –TMI

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