Sunday 28 September 2008

2,000 People At Anti-ISA Peaceful Gathering








About 2,000 people from non-governmental organisations and opposition parties staged a peaceful gathering near Puduraya, here Saturday night, calling for the abolition of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

They started gathering there at 8pm and dispersed one hour later.

Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman said police had received information that a gathering was scheduled to be held at Dataran Merdeka, according to Bernama.

Police had had been placed at various roads leading to Dataran Merdeka and this had caused the group to change the location of the gathering to an area near Puduraya.

Malaysiakini reports (Anti-ISA vigil turns into peace march) that the crowd was peaceful throughout and there was a festive atmosphere.

Several supporters of detained blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin were also at hand to sing ‘Happy Birthday Raja Petra’ as today was his birthday.

In a statement immediately after the crowd had dispersed, Hindraf leader-in-exile P Waytha Moorthy thanked the police for allowing the march to proceed.

“The government should now accept that Malaysians have sent a loud and clear message that the use of the ISA cannot be tolerated,” he said.


Pictures: Courtesy of Malaysiakini

Report & more pictures by Zorro-unMasked here .

10 comments:

J.T. said...

The government is so thick-skinned that I wonder if events like this will even change their minds. I am not saying it is a waste of time. It is good that people are taking a stand against it.

ChengHo said...

in Jakarta they have a professional peaceful demonstrator every weekend for various issue

don't you have tarawikh prayer last night??

mamasita said...

So glad to hear there was no baton-beating or pepper-water jet spraying or any form of clashes.The police must now believe that peaceful demonstrations can exist unless provoked otherwise.Sometimes somebody is planted to create chaos in the march to make the police take action and be more stringent in issuing out permits.We Malaysians are peace-lovers.We just dont want our leaders to be 'deaf'!

kacheek said...

kudos, demonstrators! :)

chengho,
tarawikh can be performed at any time of the night.. no issue at all.

Anonymous said...

chengho,

I'm not sure if you are a Muslim. If you are, then your knowledge on tarawikh needs improvement. The gathering ended at 9pm and you still have plenty of time to perform it, not necessarily in mosques. You can do it in your own home. Those who did both (gathered at Puduraya and performed tarawikh) are much better than those performing tarawikh only. Showing your displeasure towards cruelty and injustice is as noble if not more than, as performing the tarawikh, in the eyes of Islam.

frm: justice seeker

Anonymous said...

hi kak ton!

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Batin!" to you and yours!

hugs!

mn said...

Kak Maria,

Selamat Hari Raya maaf zahir dan batin dari saya sekeluarga.

Pi Bani said...

Hi Kak Ton! Esok takut tak sempat nak bloghop sebab sibuk memasak... wishing you Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri... maaf zahir batin.

Anonymous said...

Dear Kak Ton,

Here is wishing you and your family Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri, Maaf Lahir Batin.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I am Malaysian and I accept ISA.
So I guess the "message" is not that clear.
What I don't accept is liars about Sept 16.
"Sedekah" of Chinese woman for projects and
HIndraf accusation of enthnic cleansing.
Happy Raya!
WoiGoGovernYourStatesProperlyFirst