Crossing the Line

FROM what he allegedly told reporters outside the Selangor state secretariat last Friday afternoon, Ahmad Mahyuddin Abdul Manaf, chairman of the "action committee" of the Residents' Association of Shah Alam's Section 23, cannot wash his hands of what transpired there. He was highly provocative, reportedly saying the residents he represented were prepared to shed blood to prevent a Hindu temple being relocated to their neighbourhood. Ahmad Mahyuddin cast these statements as a warning but they came across as a threat -- indeed, a boast. Had that been the extent of it, however, perhaps this little protest could also have been swallowed and digested like all the other public displays of disaffection now de rigueur among aggrieved citizens. But there was that cow's head, not just dumped on the road outside the state government's gates but kicked and spat on by some of those who may or may not have taken that gruesome object there.

The group's leader and spokesman claims they were not part of his party. That's not good enough. Blaming infiltrators and agents provocateur is standard among organisers of rallies that turn ugly and violent. If it cuts no ice when these protests draw tens of thousands, how much less can it be believed with a few dozen? Even if the event chairman had not known what a few thugs were planning to do with his little parade, he cannot take charge of their cause without assuming responsibility for their action.

And their action was vile, perhaps gambling that against a Pakatan Rakyat state government it would not incur the wrath of the federal authorities. Indeed, the police have had to apologise for letting the spectacle unfold that Friday afternoon, while the protesters are now being investigated for illegal assembly and under the Sedition Act. Why not the Internal Security Act, the traditional recourse for actions engineered for racial conflict? The ISA is under fire, being "reviewed" as opponents demand its repeal, but it's still on the books, and this could be one instance where few would object to its use. Or perhaps this ugly little episode will test the oft-stated proposition that the Police Act is sufficient against crimes for which the ISA was once used. Whatever the case, this should serve to remind us that there are those who deserve to be shunned by all, and such sociopaths may need to be isolated from our society and allowed to work out their salvation however they might, away from decent Malaysians.