Duduk Bantah means Sit-In. Why so difficult?
The Bersih 3.0 steering committee has earlier announced that their initial plan was to organize the electoral reforms rally at Dataran Merdeka via Sit-In or better known as "Duduk Bantah".
However, the home affairs ministry in collaboration with the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) has decided not to allow the Sit-In rally to be held at the Dataran Merdeka on grounds that the square was not a designated area to do so. They instead offered the stadium (which was disallowed during the Bersih 2.0 last July 2010) to the Bersih 3.0 organizers.
And if the Bersih 3.0 steering committee were to accept the offer to use the stadium to host the rally, will the stadium authorities then sincerely allow the rally to be carried out there in the first place? It was because the stadium authorities and the federal government were never sincere during the Bersih 2.0 rally on last July 2010 when the organizers wanted to use the stadium, and the government agreed, and then in the end the stadium authorities did not want to allow to rally to be held there due to some sort of "technical reasons" which they claim to be inappropriate for a rally to be carried out there.
That means Bersih 2.0 has been cheated in 2010 and Bersih 3.0 did not want to be cheated again yesterday and that is why they insisted on Dataran Merdeka as the most suitable and strategic public venue to launch their rally. Yes, strategic in the sense that the public transportation and other facilities are very much available for the all Bersih 3.0 participants to gather, assemble and then to disperse because everything was there. So what's the big deal with the authorities, especially the DBKL and the police?
Furthermore, we all knew that it was planned "Duduk Bantah" which also means Sit-In in simple English and it means, all the participants will Sit-In the Dataran Merdeka and listen to the speakers and leaders' addresses. It was initially not going to be a street demonstration in the first place. Remember, they only want to "Duduk" and "Bantah". Why so difficult? Thry only plan to sit down and protest!
In the end, when the "Duduk Bantah" was not even allowed, the Bersih 3.0 participants have no choice but to rally on the streets to voice their electoral grievances in open.
So, in actual fact, who causes all these troubles in the beginning? If the home affairs ministry, police and the DBKL were to allow the "Duduk Bantah" to proceed within the Dataran Merdeka compound, while the police and DBKL personnel work closely on ensuring smooth traffic flows, nothing as "bad" as yesterday would happen at all. Again, we are asking, why so difficult?
Why on earth, when they knew that it was such an easy job was made so difficult to handle in the end? We just don't understand. Is because the authorities wanted to save BN, Umno and Najib's face by putting all those policemen for some sort of sacrificial rites?
As such, we urge the top brass of the police force to think carefully. Are you all willing to continue your roles as personal tools and running dogs for the ruling BN and Umno leaders? Why benefits would you all have to get from all these? Did they reward you gracefully for what you had done yesterday (shooting and firing at the Bersih 3.0 participants)? No, maybe some of the top police officials would be awarded with some promotions, medals or whatsoever, but not the police constables, corporals, sergeants, sergeant-majors, inspectors, assistant superintendents and so on.
Think about it again! Why make things so difficult?
However, the home affairs ministry in collaboration with the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) has decided not to allow the Sit-In rally to be held at the Dataran Merdeka on grounds that the square was not a designated area to do so. They instead offered the stadium (which was disallowed during the Bersih 2.0 last July 2010) to the Bersih 3.0 organizers.
That means Bersih 2.0 has been cheated in 2010 and Bersih 3.0 did not want to be cheated again yesterday and that is why they insisted on Dataran Merdeka as the most suitable and strategic public venue to launch their rally. Yes, strategic in the sense that the public transportation and other facilities are very much available for the all Bersih 3.0 participants to gather, assemble and then to disperse because everything was there. So what's the big deal with the authorities, especially the DBKL and the police?
Furthermore, we all knew that it was planned "Duduk Bantah" which also means Sit-In in simple English and it means, all the participants will Sit-In the Dataran Merdeka and listen to the speakers and leaders' addresses. It was initially not going to be a street demonstration in the first place. Remember, they only want to "Duduk" and "Bantah". Why so difficult? Thry only plan to sit down and protest!
In the end, when the "Duduk Bantah" was not even allowed, the Bersih 3.0 participants have no choice but to rally on the streets to voice their electoral grievances in open.
So, in actual fact, who causes all these troubles in the beginning? If the home affairs ministry, police and the DBKL were to allow the "Duduk Bantah" to proceed within the Dataran Merdeka compound, while the police and DBKL personnel work closely on ensuring smooth traffic flows, nothing as "bad" as yesterday would happen at all. Again, we are asking, why so difficult?
Why on earth, when they knew that it was such an easy job was made so difficult to handle in the end? We just don't understand. Is because the authorities wanted to save BN, Umno and Najib's face by putting all those policemen for some sort of sacrificial rites?
As such, we urge the top brass of the police force to think carefully. Are you all willing to continue your roles as personal tools and running dogs for the ruling BN and Umno leaders? Why benefits would you all have to get from all these? Did they reward you gracefully for what you had done yesterday (shooting and firing at the Bersih 3.0 participants)? No, maybe some of the top police officials would be awarded with some promotions, medals or whatsoever, but not the police constables, corporals, sergeants, sergeant-majors, inspectors, assistant superintendents and so on.
Think about it again! Why make things so difficult?
