What I Think

June 11, 2012

JUNE 11 — Putrajaya says 967 tear gas canisters and grenades were fired during the April 28 Bersih rally, which the Information Ministry said was only attended by 22,270 people. Simple maths would mean that there was one grenade or canister fired for every 23 people. That’s a bit excessive, isn’t it, especially when the Peaceful Assembly Act is already in force? Let’s not forget the complaints of police brutality or any other kind of violence for what was a largely peaceful assembly. Was there a need for such an extravagant use of tear gas to quell a crowd asking for clean and fair elections? I wonder who will end up crying once the general election is over if such extreme force continues to be used by Malaysians on fellow Malaysians.