'Rally and riot, which part did you misunderstand?'

Harakahdaily

Aug 12: PAS today took to task deputy Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar for attempting to liken the riots in British cities to the massive Bersih rally in Malaysia on July 9.

The party's deputy information chief Nizar Jamaluddin questioned whether Khalid had problem understanding the difference between a 'riot' and a 'rally', which was something planned and accompanied by the organiser's request for cooperation from the police.

WORLDS APART ... (Top): Bersih participants on July 9 queueing up at a store in the city centre to buy refreshments. (Bottom): Looters at a store during the riots which engulfed several British cities.

“That statement (by Khalid) is utterly wrong because we did not riot, but participated in a peaceful rally that took the NGOs months of planning, ” the Bukit Gantang member of parliament and former Perak Menteri Besar told Harakahdaily.

Khalid had earlier remarked on his Facebook that the riots in London and surrounding cities were proof that street protests could lead to "nightmares".

Nizar however stressed that the riots there, the worst social unrest in Britain in recent times, were also attributed to widespread unemployment and rising prices of goods.

On the other hand, Bersih, he said, was solely to seek electoral reform.

“In London, the riots erupted suddenly ...there was no planning and there was no one to take responsibility.

"In Malaysia, we have responsible NGOs, we have a leader and the rally was discussed with authorities over a long period before it finally took place,” added Nizar.

'Our police more cruel than Britain's'

Nizar (left) said what the riots in Britain proved was the Malaysian police's over-reaction to a peaceful rally, adding that it behaved more agressively on peaceful protesters even when compared with the British police's handling of violent youths.

“In spite of the chaos there, the police did not resort to drastic measures such firing of tear gas and water cannons. They only used their batons and some of them were not armed to face a riot, which means they still hold to ethics of professional policing."

"In Malaysia, the police was cruel as they used hard measures to clampdown on a rally that had been planned way ahead and of which the police had been informed earlier,” said Nizar.

Khalid's remarks echoed that of Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein, who suggested that the Bersih rally could also turn violent like the London riots.

“We should be thankful what happened in UK did not happen in our country. We cannot take these sorts of things lightly...what more in a multiracial and multireligious society like ours,” said the Umno vice president, who stopped short of saying whether the gratitude should be expressed to Bersih 2.0 for ensuring a peaceful rally or to the police for arresting more than 1,600 participants.

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