What protests can achieveSingapore Democrats
04 Dec 07
The recent protest in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysian Indians has led to the government there sitting up and paying attention to the plight of the group.
The huge rally was aimed at protesting against unfair treatment of ethnic Indians in the country.
As a result, the government of Abdullah Badawi has announced that it will set up a complaint hotline for the Indian community to air its grievances.
The protesters held pictures of the Mahatma Gandhi to signify their peaceful approach to the demonstration. It has been reported that the ensuing violence was caused by the riot police who shot teargas and fired water cannons at the peaceful demonstrators.
And even though activists criticise the hotline as a political ploy to distract the people, it is not a comment that the protest has been ineffective.
If anything the activists are vowing to keep up the pressure through such open and peaceful show of strength by the people.
Whatever the analysis the plight of the ethnic Indians in Malaysia have, while previously been ignored and neglected, been brought to the fore.
Together with the Bersih protest where opposition parties and NGOs came together in another massive peaceful demonstration to demand free and fair elections in Malaysia the weekend before, the Indian protest is the most effective way yet of making the government responsive to the needs and desires of the people.
This is the power of political and civil rights; this is the how democracy can make our own Government more sensitive and responsive to our needs.
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articleprotest_Malaysia.html
