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Malaysian Islamist Says People Lack Channel To Express Feelings
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (IslamOnline) - Nik Aziz Nik Mat, spiritual leader of the Party Islamic Se Malaysia (PAS), clad in Islamic dress and wearing Islamic headgear (Amamah), said Monday that Malaysians are suffering from a lack of proper channels to express their feelings, resulting in forcing people to revert to street demonstrations in order to express themselves.
Nik Aziz is chief minister of Kelantan, a state that has been controlled by the Islamic party for the past 12 years.
Speaking after the launching of the Kelantan PAS Dewan Muslimat (Women's wing) website on Monday, Nik Aziz said expression of thoughts and feelings were part and parcel of being human.
"That's why there is such a thing as newspapers. People want to know what's happening. However, the channels of communications are being blocked here and there, and this gives rise to discontent," he said.
Nik Aziz was referring to the numerous cancellations of permits and refusals to grant permits for public speeches and rallies organized by the Islamic party and the opposition.
Police in Malaysia seldom grant permits for rallies and other political speeches, even in the PAS controlled states of Kelantan and Terengganu. They almost never grant a permit, the application of which must sometimes be made 24 hours or a week away from the event, in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, let alone in the most remote areas of the country.
The all-Malaysia ban on rallies and speeches, which have been drawing numerous enthusiastic crowds even in villages, according to opposition parties, worsened the situation.
Nik Aziz, however, has said he opposes violent demonstrations and has urged authorities to allow the opposition to carry on with peaceful talks in public.
The Malaysian deputy prime minister, also the Home Minister, said Tuesday he has ruled out mass street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur, adding that police were capable of handling massive street demonstrations in the country. He also warned the opposition, particularly the National Justice Party (NJP), of strict measures in place in order to prevent such demonstrations.
The NJP renewed its call for "reformasi" and organized several street demonstrations in February and March in the wake of the second anniversary of what it calls "the unfair and biased verdict against Anwar Ibrahim."
It was in April 1999 that Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister, was sentenced to six years in jail for abuse of power and corruption. The verdict against him was met with international outcry, mainly over the credibility of the Malaysian justice system.
Massive street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur since then have led to the police taking what the opposition calls brutal and anti-democratic actions against peaceful demonstrators.
An inquiry is currently underway under the auspices of the Malaysian Human Rights association (SUHAKAM) on numerous complaints concerning violence perpetrated by the police against demonstrators in Malaysia.
A government campaign on local television this week showed street demonstrations in Indonesia and how it could lead to demonstrations in Malaysia, with the emphasis upon the possibility that they could become like those in Kalimantan. The show also focused on anti-demonstration statements by members of the public who were asked specific questions.
The government's fear of demonstrations has stretched to the point that it has accused NJP youth chief, Mohamad Ezam Noor of planning to overthrow the Mahathir regime by violent means, through the daily street demonstrations. Ezam is currently under arrest.
Meanwhile, PAS youth chief, Mahfuz Omar, denied Monday having told the newspaper daily Mingguan Malaysia that he supported plans to topple the government by force.
He said it was the PAS' stand that any change in the ruling government must be through the democratic process.
NJP deputy president Chandra Muzaffar allied himself with Omar's statements and said that none of his party's leadership had ever advocated overthrowing the government through violence either.
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