PPS arrests: A case of overdoing it

By admin-s On Sep 3, 2014

If the intention was to prevent a crime, a stern warning before the start of the march would have sufficed.

Ishmael Lim, FMT

The timing of Sunday’s police action against the PPS contingent marching in the Merdeka parade in Penang appears calculated to send the strongest possible message.

To the man on the street it is unclear which law has been broken, except that it has to do with a bureaucratic process of sorts.

If the intention was to prevent a crime, then a stern warning before the start of the event should have sufficed to cause the contingent to stand down, especially with the threat of arrest looming. What has happened instead is the sensational spectacle of the police escorting the PPS participants in their parade gear to their detention.

Demonstrators in illegal assemblies have been given more leeway to disperse than what has happened to this group, out on a Sunday morning among friends in a patriotic celebration.

If this sudden interest in the PPS was precipitated by the assault on a strident critic of the DAP, then by all means throw the book at the perpetrators of that dastardly assault. If there are some bad elements in the organisation, then weed them out. The mass arrest certainly looks overdone.

Malaysians have a penchant to disagree on just about anything. However the logic of this episode must be seen clearly for what it is. It is misdirected and, contrary to what the Penang police chief has said, appears very much politically motivated.

With such a vague directive prohibiting the PPS from participation in “any activities”, a game of football among PPS members might also be interpreted as defiant.