COMMENT Broadly, there is a pattern to the dialectic between organisers/supporters of demonstrations and law enforcers/opponents of the same: the former insists on their right to assemble peacefully to demonstrate their concerns about issues sizzling in the public arena while the latter does all it can to discourage and demonise the event.

The script has seldom departed from this norm that has marked demonstrations, from the first edition of the Bersih demo followed by the Hindraf one in November 2007 to the Turun Kos Sara Hidup (Turun) protest on New Year's Eve held Tuesday last.

One side is determined to stage what they insist as their constitutional right while the other side is on its discouraging best, doing all it can to pour cold water on the demo-organisers' plans.

Just once there was a shift in the pattern - for the Jan 12, 2013, Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (Peoples' Uprising) rally at the Merdeka Stadium - when the authorities appeared to depart from their dissuading mode and allowed the demonstration to proceed largely unhindered at the Merdeka Stadium...