The yawning gap between the rhetoric spewed by the Malaysian government and ground reality is quite telling, especially since last year.
Since the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal broke, smearing Prime Minister Najib Razak’s image globally, the government has become even more blatant in selective treatment.
Najib has been trying to keep a fine balance by endearing himself to Islamists PAS, appeasing his critics from within UMNO to quell dissent while trying to stay relevant to Malaysians.
This also extends to his cabinet members and even the police tolerating unruly behaviour, hooliganism and bully-boy tactics or allowing much more leniency to certain individuals.
Today, we see it’s far-reaching consequences when fake photographs of Bersih Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah and activists Ambiga Sreenevasan and Mandeep Singh held captive by ISIS are circulated to create fear ahead of a planned rally calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation.
We simply cannot allow for threats of violence and agitation to become the norm in politics or to be used as a tool to stay in power.
The police, while quick to nab opposition politicians, civil society members and activists choose to treat individuals close to the ruling elite differently.
For example, over the last few weeks, we have seen the pro UMNO Red Shirts leader Jamal Md Yunos issuing statements that threaten national security and tear down the social fabric of the society.
He has challenged Bersih against holding the street protest, threatening to create another racial riot similar to that of May 13.
The police didn’t act swiftly enough to bring him in for questioning and Jamal even had ample time to leave for overseas, while his lawyer talked to the police.
It’s this failure to treat all citizens equally without going to the mat for the government that emboldens certain people to circulate such threatening photographs.
Street protests are part of a functioning democracy. And it’s well within the rights of every citizen to call for their elected leaders to throw in the towel. The government and its institutions need not get so emotional or rattled by it.
We should instead be very concerned about the continuous deployment of threat and intimidation for personal and political gains.
The police must not just investigate the origins of these photographs quickly but also provide around the clock security for Maria Chin, Ambiga and Mandeep.
We need to move on to become a civilised society that allows for dissent, differences of opinion, tolerance and critical thinking.
We certainly cannot allow issues and sticking points to continue clouding our logic with such ease.