KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 9: Today's rally by all estimates easily surpassed the earlier rally in 2007. Little wonder then that Bersih 2.0 - the group at the centre of a witchhunt launched by the government - has declared it a huge success.
But more importantly, it has claimed its first martyr.
Baharudin Ahmad, 58, passed away in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. He had earlier fainted after being hit with tear gas and water cannon. Baharudin is the husband of Setiawangsa Wanita PKR chief.
Baharudin has paid the greatest price among many more who had been injured or severely beaten. They include none other than the Opposition Leader himself Anwar Ibrahim, who has to be warded at Pantai Hospital, while PAS's Shah Alam member of parliament Khalid Samad was injured by the solid gas canister shot at him.
More than 1,600 people were thrown into awaiting police trucks, including top PAS leaders Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang and his deputy Mohamad Sabu, as well as vice presidents Mahfuz Omar and Salahuddin Ayub.
Like a rubber ball springing up when pressed, the huge rally attracted some 50,000, probably more if the pockets of crowds that could not join the main crowds are counted. It was a scene which the government had been trying to avoid through preventive arrests and a witchhunt on anything 'yellow'. Eventually, it materialised despite months of threats, arrests and repeated 'final' warnings splashed on government-controlled media, mosque sermons and even on digital traffic announcement boards on highways.
The UMNO rally that wasn't
Like past anti-government protests, a peaceful assembly was met with excessive force. Police indulged in beating up protesters, firing volleys of tear gas into the air, and pushing the crowd away with water cannon, only to be met by crowds which suddenly grew out of nowhere. Of course, the beating of their batons on their shields in an attempt to scare away people failed miserably in its objective.
Elsewhere, a gathering of some 150-200 UMNO Youth members, orchestrated by its chief Khairy Jamaludin, perhaps to get a share of the limelight when news of the rally is splashed across the globe, paled into insignificance, and quickly thinned, their oblivion hastened by the heavy rain.
A few of their compatriots from Perkasa, supposedly their more 'radical' offshoot who threatened Bersih with everything but doomsday, had been enjoying the Saturday afternoon in a restaurant near Lake Titiwangsa.
The rest has been well documented and reported almost every minute by online portals including Harakahdaily's main edition, and no longer requires repetition here.
Hours after the rally ended, Bersih announced its admiration.
“Bersih 2.0 is proud that in spite of all the obstacles and hindrances that we were forced to face, Malaysians of all walks of life overcame the oppressive acts of the police to come out peacefully and in incredibly large numbers to show their love for their country and for the principles of justice,” said its statement.
United Malaysia
National laureate A Samad Said, who has become another symbol of the movement for electoral reform, led a press conference after Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreevenasan was arrested, saying he had never seen Malaysians being so united in championing a common cause.
"I have never seen all the races in Malaysia so united in one cause before. The authority looks really harsh and unprofessional. I see some women being pushed and fell,” said the soft spoken literary activist.
PAS vice president Husam Musa said the whole episode had severely hit Barisan Nasional.
"Now, the world sees Malaysia on the same path of the falling evil regimes in the world," he said.
"The Election Commission has been exposed as stooge to UMNO-Barisan Nasional," added Husam.
Bullets and cuffs
PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat meanwhile summarises the gist of the message for the government - that bullets and cuffs can no longer able to frighten the people.
“The actions only serve to intensify the people's hatred towards UMNO. Although it was carried out by the police, everybody knows who controls them - the Prime Minister, the President of UMNO,” he said in a message posted from Makkah.
While Bersih has failed to pass the memorandum for electoral reforms to the Agong, it has failed little else. The message is now loud and clear. Bersih now lives by the sacrifices of the thousands who dismissed their fears.
The ultimate sacrifice by Baharudin, however, will occupy a special place for a long time to come. May Allah bless his soul and place him among the martyrs, amin.
But more importantly, it has claimed its first martyr.
Baharudin Ahmad, 58, passed away in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. He had earlier fainted after being hit with tear gas and water cannon. Baharudin is the husband of Setiawangsa Wanita PKR chief.
Baharudin has paid the greatest price among many more who had been injured or severely beaten. They include none other than the Opposition Leader himself Anwar Ibrahim, who has to be warded at Pantai Hospital, while PAS's Shah Alam member of parliament Khalid Samad was injured by the solid gas canister shot at him.
More than 1,600 people were thrown into awaiting police trucks, including top PAS leaders Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang and his deputy Mohamad Sabu, as well as vice presidents Mahfuz Omar and Salahuddin Ayub.
Like a rubber ball springing up when pressed, the huge rally attracted some 50,000, probably more if the pockets of crowds that could not join the main crowds are counted. It was a scene which the government had been trying to avoid through preventive arrests and a witchhunt on anything 'yellow'. Eventually, it materialised despite months of threats, arrests and repeated 'final' warnings splashed on government-controlled media, mosque sermons and even on digital traffic announcement boards on highways.
The UMNO rally that wasn't
Like past anti-government protests, a peaceful assembly was met with excessive force. Police indulged in beating up protesters, firing volleys of tear gas into the air, and pushing the crowd away with water cannon, only to be met by crowds which suddenly grew out of nowhere. Of course, the beating of their batons on their shields in an attempt to scare away people failed miserably in its objective.
Elsewhere, a gathering of some 150-200 UMNO Youth members, orchestrated by its chief Khairy Jamaludin, perhaps to get a share of the limelight when news of the rally is splashed across the globe, paled into insignificance, and quickly thinned, their oblivion hastened by the heavy rain.
A few of their compatriots from Perkasa, supposedly their more 'radical' offshoot who threatened Bersih with everything but doomsday, had been enjoying the Saturday afternoon in a restaurant near Lake Titiwangsa.
The rest has been well documented and reported almost every minute by online portals including Harakahdaily's main edition, and no longer requires repetition here.
Hours after the rally ended, Bersih announced its admiration.
“Bersih 2.0 is proud that in spite of all the obstacles and hindrances that we were forced to face, Malaysians of all walks of life overcame the oppressive acts of the police to come out peacefully and in incredibly large numbers to show their love for their country and for the principles of justice,” said its statement.
United Malaysia
National laureate A Samad Said, who has become another symbol of the movement for electoral reform, led a press conference after Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreevenasan was arrested, saying he had never seen Malaysians being so united in championing a common cause.
"I have never seen all the races in Malaysia so united in one cause before. The authority looks really harsh and unprofessional. I see some women being pushed and fell,” said the soft spoken literary activist.
PAS vice president Husam Musa said the whole episode had severely hit Barisan Nasional.
"Now, the world sees Malaysia on the same path of the falling evil regimes in the world," he said.
"The Election Commission has been exposed as stooge to UMNO-Barisan Nasional," added Husam.
Bullets and cuffs
PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat meanwhile summarises the gist of the message for the government - that bullets and cuffs can no longer able to frighten the people.
“The actions only serve to intensify the people's hatred towards UMNO. Although it was carried out by the police, everybody knows who controls them - the Prime Minister, the President of UMNO,” he said in a message posted from Makkah.
While Bersih has failed to pass the memorandum for electoral reforms to the Agong, it has failed little else. The message is now loud and clear. Bersih now lives by the sacrifices of the thousands who dismissed their fears.
The ultimate sacrifice by Baharudin, however, will occupy a special place for a long time to come. May Allah bless his soul and place him among the martyrs, amin.
http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php/headline/3104-bersihs-first-martyr-as-another-50000-defied-threats.html
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