I see the handling of the Bersih Rally last Saturday as a
tragedy i.e a tragedy of errors . Now that the physical aspect of the Rally is over the emotional , political and economic aspects of the Rally remain vibrant in the minds of the people .
Indeed there was no outright winner . In a tragedy normally no one wins . All sides lost except that each differ in the degree of the pains inflicted .
One would have expected a win win situation for all parties in the event but given the ruckus ,the loss of a precious life , the injuries and the continuing ugly debate on democracy and the unsettling effect on the nations economy and the conduct of the police the only conclusion is that it was a loss loss situation .
I had always held the view that putting pressure on the government is never a desirable thing to do . Bersih for instance could have capitalised on the Agong's intervention by accepting the Agong's advice with grace and postpone the scheduled Rally .In times of such national anxiety, a postponement would have made Bersih appeared descent .Their readiness to comprise in the light of the Agong 's titah would look heroic to the older generation of Malays whose forefathers held that taat setia to the sovereign is unquestionable .
That way Bersih would have gone miles in their battle for the hearts of the people . Of course it is a step back but there can be many steps forward .
If that had happened , the government could not have claimed victory because the issues of electoral reforms still remain on their plate. It is not going to be easy to gainfully dispose the issue .
Although the 9th of July has passed the match of political wisdom is far from over . The government claimed victory and said that the Rally had little of people support . The IGP said that only a handful 6000 people came., and this in spite of the fact that pictures taken by various people show otherwise .
On the other hand , Bersih claimed that it was a major win because of the thousands that turned out to support the Rally .They claimed victory over the fact that the demonstrators had shown restraint during the Rally.They proved that in a peaceful march there was no need for the use of violence . And like their earlier claims it would indeed be a peaceful walk if the police did not intervene the way they did. There would have been no the tear gas and water cannons .
We have seen very few demonstrations in other countries where protesters do not retaliate at the police . In our case there was no throwing of stones ,sticks or water bottles etc . Isn't that great?.In the images shown around on the Internet we do not see protesters running away from arrest but they were running away from the tear gas and water cannon .As a matter of fact the demonstrators were prepared to be arrested . If the police had wanted to arrest the protesters all that they have to do is to ask them to line up and get into the trucks .I think many will volunteer .
The march was never a security issue . It was a political issue and should be dealt with in a political style with the political leaders on both sides in the forefront . The issue was the need for an avenue for people to exercise their right of expression in a democracy. Is it security or political ?
I have said earlier that such issue could not and should not be an entirely a police matter . It is wrong for government leaders to say so. .
If the matter is left entirely to the police they will look at the problem entire from a law and order perspective. . If the government declares it as a an illegal assembly ,then it is an illegal assembly to them , no matter what the plea is . The declaration was made well before the event takes place .Was it an illegal event before the event takes place ? If the government had not come out with such declaration July 9 would have been an entirely different day .
The worst had already happened . The government had gained nothing from the event .The debate now is within the government with the big question being : could matters be different ?
There is now a need for damage control . The time and energy available now will be used instead to map out new strategies for the coming election . For the government it is like going back to the drawing board . The old plans and designs will now appear obsolete and irrelevant.
Therefore we cannot blame the police if they had brought in water cannons ,tear gases ,road blocks ,city lock downs , mass arrests etc.That is what their books say .And they had to follow them .
There is a flood of views expressed by concerned people on the event of the Rally . The alternative media described more succinctly the virtues of Bersih while the mainstream media report on the evils brought about by the event .
Nowadays it is fitting to remember that Malaysians generally are level headed .They are no more colour blind as they were once before .They know how to evaluate things and know how to express their disappointments and disillusionment the way people do in other parts of the world . This is where the danger is . And this is where Tuan Guru Dato Seri Hadi's remarks on the probability of another rally becomes pertinent . Being more aware of the happenings in other parts of the troubled world is also no longer a bliss.Therefore it is best that our pronouncements conform to some universal judgements. Hence Najib' remarks on the silat exponents and the role they can play as the 3rd line of the nation's defence is a cultural distaste and a national embarrasment . It is an insult to the intelligence of Malaysians .
Marina's posting on the subject of the Rally and Mathias Chang's posting are excellent exposures and combined together provide a helicopter view of the event .Marina with her journalistic skill gave a twist of the human interest while Mathias in typical fashion was there to hit hard at the core .
We are on the way forward for the better .
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