Police should be transparent and release all information on the Kampung Medan clashes to defuse tension and dismiss rumours regarding the situation, an opposition leader said today.
Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua said that until today, the public have no clear idea on the actual sequence of the incidents and reason for the outbreak of violence.
"It is unclear whether different cases were interconnected with each other. The police should also reveal the basis for the detention of the 154 people," he told malaysiakini .
"It is totally unnecessary to conceal basic information of the situation from the public and, more importantly, the residents themselves," he added.
About 200 people clashed in Kampung Medan, off Old Klang Road, Petaling Jaya, on Thursday, resulting in one death and about a score of people wounded.
Petaling Jaya OCPD acting SAC II Sheikh Mustafa Sheikh Ahmad said in The Sun on Saturday that the clash started when several youths playing with slingshots broke a car windscreen at the Desaria flats.
He said it had nothing to do with a previous dispute the Sunday before last between a group of people holding a wedding reception and another arranging a funeral.
Since Thursday, however, six people have died after sustaining serious injuries and 37 others wounded.
'Not ethnic conflicts'
Yesterday, Deputy Inspector-General Police Jamil Hohari said that the police have arrested 154 people of whom 95 were Malays, 56 Indians and two Indonesians.
Of the 37 people who were injured in the clashes, with four seriously wounded, 34 were Indian and three Malay.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Selangor Mentri Besar Mohd Khir Toyo have stated that the incidents in Kampung Medan were not ethnic conflicts.
According to police, the situation is calm at the moment.
Meanwhile, Chua said that transparency in handling sensitive communal sentiment is the key to prevent further erosion of public confidence.
"The government should mobilise civil society and neighbourhood organisations to restore goodwill," he said, adding that such efforts must involve both Barisan Nasional and Barisan Alternatif component parties.
Meanwhile, Parti Sosialis Malaysia S Arutchelvam urged the authorities, to calm down the situation without prejudice and dismiss all rumours and misunderstandings related to the incident.
"The situation has to be addressed immediately. At the same time, we have to find out why all this is happening," he said.
Commission of inquiry
DAP chief Lim Kit Siang called on the cabinet to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate into the causes of the clashes.
He added that the cabinet must also find out why the police have failed to take pre-emptive measures after clashes on the Sunday before last.
Lim also urged the cabinet to take a serious view of the 'inflammatory' statement made by local Umno state assembly representative for Kampung Medan, Norkhaila Jamaluddin, who said that the Malays have "long been patient although the Indians have attacked us again and again".
Last Friday, Norkhaila had told malaysiakini , "Every three or four months, we hear of incidents such as these. We (the Malays) have long been patient and many have been ' terkorban ' (ending up as victims)."
Of her statement, Lim said, "The cabinet should ask Attorney-General Ainum Mohd Saaid to study as to whether Norkhaila had committed sedition in inciting ethnic clashes in her constituency and whether sedition charges should be filed against her."
