Hindraf rally roadblocks – Would it be not better if the police can fully utilize these personnel and release them for genuine crime prevention duties?

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Media Statement
by Lau Weng San
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(Petaling Jaya, Friday): I found it totally ridiculous for police to set up numerous roadblocks across Selangor on roads leading to Kuala Lumpur, causing major traffic jams since yesterday morning bringing the rush-hour traffic to a crawl.

It is reported that the roadblocks are set-up to prevent criminal activities. However it was widely believed that the roadblocks are to slow down the traffic in order to prevent people from attending a massive public rally organized by Hindus Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Sunday morning in front of the British High Commission to present a petition to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to support a class-action suit against Her Majesty's government for bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured laborers and exploiting them for 150 years.

Such roadblocks are totally unnecessary as the said public rally is to take place on Sunday morning and the roadblocks have cause massive and unnecessary inconveniences to motorists.

Right to peaceful gathering is a fundamental human rights enshrined under the Federal Constitution. So long so public order is maintained, no party including the police should bar people from attending any peaceful gathering.

It is even more ridiculous for the police to try to ‘lock’ traffic flow in the Klang Valley as it is not to the benefit of the country’s economy and productivity.

Today is another working day and some could be working tomorrow. Such roadblocks should be removed at once, especially when some of these roadblocks are not properly manned by police personnel.

Or the police not have any other better things to do until they have to waste taxpayers’ monies for such unnecessary roadblocks which serve no improvement to crime prevention?

Would it be not better if the police can fully utilize these personnel and release them for genuine crime prevention duties?

(23/11/2007)