Sarawakians go to the street for marginalised communities
Jimmy Adit, The Ant Daily
The peaceful and orderly street demonstration held in Kuching city in conjunction with the World Human Rights Day on Dec 10 is significant for two reasons.
One, there is space yet for this form of freedom of expression for any responsible citizen whose objectives do not bear any tendency to sow discord and hatred but to educate and inform.
Two, it shows that the police know when to issue or not issue permits to allow holding of street demonstrations. A blanket ‘no’ ruling is not only human rights-ly wrong, but that it could deny authorities access to useful information needed in making sound decisions and policies.
Wednesday’s event was organised by Gerakan Anak Sarawak (Gasak). It was one of three other similar street demonstrations held simultaneously in Miri, Sibu and Sabah. These other three were organised by Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia Sarawak (Brimas) and Save Rivers.
In Kuching, social activist Peter John Jaban, leading about 500 people holding banners screaming “Sarawak for Sarawakians” and demanding for equal rights and fair wealth distribution, said: “They are standing up and speaking out and we must ensure that that they are allowed to do so. And that is why an event like this is so important.”
In a hand-out to the press, Gasak said it planned to draft a memorandum to the prime minister and chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak as well as representatives of the United Nations.
It said the memorandum, which would cover such touchy areas as the encroachment of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land by planters and loggers as well as dam construction without the prior and informed consent of the communities affected, would be endorsed by a broad spectrum of civil societies and non-governmental organisations.
The memorandum would also call for the land rights of the indigenous people protected under the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples to be equally protected under the Malaysian Constitution. Such an issue relating to the trampled rights of natives deserves to be made known to, and acknowledged by, the government.
