The reactions of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to the Jerit cycling campaign are not only disproportionate but unprofessional and malicious. The IGP, Deputy IGP, state police chief district OCPDs seem to have mobilised the entire national police force to try to stop a small group of cyclists from reaching Parliament to hand over a memorandum on issues of concern to all Malaysians such as fair wages, combating rising prices, affordable housing and greater government accountability.
The Light Strike Force, the Special Branch and the Federal Reserve Unit have been mobilised to counter the serious threat to national security posed by subversive school children. The blatant misuse of the Printing and Publications Act and the Child Act is despicable.
In a stroke of policing genius, the PDRM has turned a relatively innocuous event into an international spectacle that makes the Malaysian government look desperate and vulnerable to a group of cyclists.
This Keystone Cops routine is being paid for by Malaysian taxpayers and presumably enjoys support at the highest levels of government. This is not some rogue police operation given that the top PDRM leadership is involved.
The PDRM has deployed hundreds of policemen at road blocks to intimidate, bully, harass, arrest, abuse and manhandle a tiny group of committed individuals who are campaigning for a better Malaysia through peaceful, lawful and respectful means.
Does the PDRM have any evidence that these Jerit activists are out to embark on some mass nationwide criminal activity? If so, they need to make this evidence public and take them to court.
If not, the PDRM is duty bound to uphold the laws of Malaysia which allow peaceful expression (including cycling for a cause) and get on with its real job of fighting crime, which the PDRM has not been terribly good at.
Instead, the PDRM makes wild allegations and resorts to stale and crude scare mongering tactics to try and both turn public opinion against the campaign and stop the cyclists in their tracks.
As the campaign now enters the final stretch after more than two weeks, the PDRM is the obvious loser by acting increasingly desperate, reckless and highhanded as witnessed in Rawang.
The Jerit cyclists and activists have already won resoundingly even if they do not make it to Parliament on December 18. They have caught the nation’s imagination, won widespread public support and displayed tremendous courage and fortitude in fighting for the rights of every Malaysian.
For the IGP, his deputy and other senior PDRM officials responsible for this fiasco, especially the chiefs of police for Penang and Selangor, this can only be another blow to the already tattered reputation of the PDRM.
Their embattled political masters in turn must be wondering why this entire gambit is backfiring so badly. If only they learn from their previous mistakes and really listen to the rakyat for a change.
