A blackly comic whodunit

ARCHIVES 2011

By admin-s On Feb 11, 2011

Hanif Omar says he consulted Mahathir before swinging into action, and even though Mahathir was against it, the police took it upon themselves to steam ahead. Whoa! Is this a black comedy? The PM was against it but he had no power to forbid the IGP from carrying it out? Who’s the boss? The CEO of the country or the IGP?

By Kee Thuan Chye

OPERATION Lalang was a black day in Malaysian history. On Oct 27, 1987, 106 people were detained under the ISA in one fell swoop. Most of them were from opposition parties and NGOs. A few newspapers were suspended. It traumatised Malaysians and made them submit to the culture of fear. Some have yet to recover from it.

Whoever initiated Operation Lalang did a strong disservice to the nation. It was a shameful exercise of power. Whatever the reason or reasons may be for invoking the ISA on that occasion on so many individuals, there is no fair justification for doing so.

Perhaps that is why Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was the prime minister then, has recently come out to say he was not responsible for it. In typical Mahathir fashion – for he is accustomed to blaming others for things he might have done – he blamed it on the police.

In his interview with Tom Plate for the recently published book Doctor M: Operation Malaysia – Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad, he said:

“Well, I would have handled it differently, except that the police wanted to do these things because they say it is necessary …

“I actually met all of the opposition members (beforehand) and assured them that they would not be arrested. And you know what the police did? They arrested them. My credibility is gone.”

It’s almost laughable – in a scary way – to note that the PM had no control over what the police were going to do on such a large scale and with such disastrous effects. How could the police have been given so much power then? Are they still as powerful today? Does that make Malaysia a police state?

Apparently, in 1987, the police did have that power – according to Hanif Omar, who was the inspector-general of police (IGP) at the time. He has just come out to corroborate Mahathir’s finger-pointing the police for launching Operation Lalang.

But more than that, he says he consulted Mahathir before swinging into action, and even though Mahathir was against it, the police took it upon themselves to steam ahead. Whoa! Is this a black comedy? The PM was against it but he had no power to forbid the IGP from carrying it out? Who’s the boss? The CEO of the country or the IGP?

Well … “(The police) were independent, at least during my time,” says Hanif.

Really scary! Are we safe any more? Who protects us from the police? During Operation Lalang, did Mahathir renege on his duty to protect the people?

Well, most of the 106 were released before the 60-day detention order was up, but at least 40 others were authorised to be detained for two years. This authorisation could only have come from the Home Minister. And the Home Minister then was Mahathir.

Wow! The plot thickens! Mahathir tells Plate he was against Operation Lalang and yet he signed the orders to detain at least 40 people for another two years! Where’s the logic? Was Mahathir unaware of what he was signing? Did he have his eyes closed? Did he say, “I don’t want to know la, just let me sign.”?

Racial flare-up

Mahathir certainly has some heavy explaining to do.

He also has to explain the suspension of the three newspapers, namely, The Star, Watan and Sin Chew Jit Poh. Did the police order the suspension too? Of course not! That could only be done by the Home Minister. And who, pray tell, might that be?