Legal NGO Lawyers for Liberty urges the authorities to keep vigilant against racially-motivated violence in the rally by Malay NGOs in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 16.
Its executive director Eric Paulsen said this is because the rally, said to be to defend Malay dignity, is likely to turn violent.
"We therefore call on the authorities to maintain vigilance and to take all law enforcement measures necessary to prevent any untoward incident like the racially-motivated riot at Low Yat Plaza in July – a likely scenario to be repeated given the fact that the protest sites include Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street," he said.
Organiser, the National Silat Federation (Pesaka) said it will hold the rally at Padang Merbok, but other Gabungan NGO-NGO Malaysia who wants to join the rally earlier said they want to march at Bukit Bintang and Petaling Street to disrupt trade of the mostly ethnic Chinese traders in the area.
Gabungan NGO-NGO Malaysia later, however, said it will follow Pesaka’s lead in choosing the protest site.
The Kuala Lumpur City Hall has approved Pesaka's application to hold the rally at Padang Merbok.
The rally was earlier referred to as 'Himpunan Maruah Melayu' (Rally for Malay Dignity, with posters showing a man in a silat pose.
It is now called 'Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu' (People's United Rally), and is meant to uphold the Rukunegara.
Unconvinced, Paulsen said the rally appears to be an act of "intimidation intended to inflame the relationship between Malays and non-Malays".
He said all citizens have the right to protest peacefully, but a demonstration "clearly designed to provoke, intimidate and bully the non-Malays" is deplorable.
Minorities have equal rights under the Federal Constitution, he said, and must not be subjected to tyranny by the majority.
In July, inter-ethnic violence broke out when a mob of Malay youths attacked ethnic Chinese press photographers and bystanders over a dispute about a mobile phone in front of popular digital mall Low Yat Plaza.
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