How Many Deaths Does it Take?
By Farish A. Noor ~ January 29th, 2009. Filed under: TOM_Main.
Commenting on the loss of credibility and legitimacy of the Burmese state security forces in the eyes of the Burmese people and the international community, the Burmese activist leader Aung San Su Kyi once said: “All they have left are their guns”.
Indeed, if the possession of a badge is the only thing that differentiates a law enforcement officer from the ordinary public or the criminal fraternity, then it can be said that the line between law enforcement and the absence of law and order is a fine one. It has become a truism worldwide that once that line is fatefully and fatally crossed, it would be next to impossible to redeem the reputation and standing of any law enforcement agency again. This was the case of the police in South Africa during the days of Apartheid, whose job it was not to protect all South African citizens but rather to prop up the Apartheid regime at the cost of the freedom of others. The same applies to the stained reputation of the security forces of many other developing countries, from Zimbabwe to Pakistan to Sri Lanka to the Philippines, whose job it seems is to protect the ruling parties and the political elite rather than to provide for the safety of the population at large.
Today Malaysia seems to be heading down the same path as more and more revelations of misdemeanours among the state security forces come to light. The most recent case being that of Kugan Ananthan, a 22-year old who was arrested by the Malaysian police on suspicion of being part of a luxury car-theft racket. Kugan was later found dead at the Subang Jaya police station, and the initial explanation for his death was ‘water in the lungs’.
However the relatives of Kugan were able to get photographs of the young man’s body that showed signs of physical abuse and fresh wounds. Once again the Malaysian police is in the limelight for the wrong reasons, and several police officers have been called to an enquiry.
What is deeply troubling about the death of Kugan is the fact that there seems to be a pattern of young Malaysian men of Indian descent dying under police custody for some years now. Among the other notorious cases that have made the headlines are that of B Prabakar, who reported that he was not only beaten and kicked by policemen but also had boiling water thrown upon his body. Then there is the case of Sanjeev Kumar who alleged that he was not only forced to drink urine but was also sodomised with a broom. Deaths in custody have now become a regular occurrence, and other Malaysians of Indian ancestry like K. Letchumanan and Uthaya Chandran were found dead in their cells.
Coming at a time when race relations are at a low point in the country, the death of Kugan in police custody has presented the administration of Prime Minister Badawi with another problem. With less than two months at the helm to go before his declared date of retirement, Prime Minister Badawi’s action over the Kugan case may well determine his fate and how he will be judged in the months and years to come.
But the Malaysian government’s official position thus far has been to maintain that order must be maintained and that there should be no outpouring of support for Kugan. The Minister for Home Affairs, Syed Hamid Albar has taken the line that Malaysians ‘should not regard criminals as heroes or the police as demons’. Though in this case the controversy lies not in the arrest of Kugan, but what was done to him and the circumstances of his death.
For politicians on the opposition benches, the case of Kugan’s death under police custody marks yet another dip in the reputation of the Malaysian government and its capacity to maintain law and order. For Parliamentarian Sivarasa Rahsia of the People’s Justice party (PKR), ‘Kugan’s shocking death by torture has unleashed an unprecedented level of outrage’ among the Malaysian public, notably the Malaysian Indian community. Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad of the Malaysian Islamic party (PAS) noted that ‘this must be the last case of police brutality and death in custody. Our civilised society can no longer stomach this.’ The final judgement, however, will fall on the performance of the Badawi administration during its last weeks in power according to Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action party (DAP), for ‘Kugan’s death marks the abysmal and final failure of Abdullah (Badawi’s) reform programme – standing out as a tragic symbol of the pathetic end of his pledge for police and institutional reform’.
Just how the Badawi administration will handle the outpouring of grief, anger and frustration from the Malaysian public – and the Malaysian Indian minority community in particular – remains to be seen, but for the moment it can be concluded that the death of Kugan in police custody has once again driven a wedge among the communities in Malaysia and has emphasised the marginalised position and status of the Malaysian Indian minority especially.
With a weakened Badawi about the exit the stage of politics for good and hid deputy Najib Razak poised to take over control of a ruling UMNO party in disarray in March, the ship of the Malaysian state is in chopping waters for certain. Coupled with the global economic downturn that will also contribute to further demands from the Malaysian public for state assistance and protection, whoever runs Malaysia will have to cater to a myriad of needs; all of which are equally urgent and all of which need to be satisfied now.
But one thing is certain at this juncture at least: Whatever the state of the Malaysian economy and government may be in the months to come, the state-apparatus will only work if it has credibility in the eyes of the Malaysian public. At the moment the institution of the Malaysian police force has lost credibility and standing among a significant section of the Malaysian people, and unless there emerges the political will to deal with the record of abuses in the police seriously and openly, this credibility is not about to be recovered soon. By then, as Aung San Suu Kyi once said, ‘all they will have left are their guns’.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:29
We look up to the police to protect us citizens. However, much is desired from the men in blue from top to the bottom. Every other person on the road has a whole load of stories to share about the corrupt practices the men in blue are involved in. Foreign workers are not spared. So where is problem and what needs to be done? The outgoing PM should take the following actions:
1) Sack the Home Minister
2) Sack the IGP & Deputy
3) Sack the Selangor CPO
I still believe that there are many other clean individuals that can take these critical posts.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:16
Everybody knows that the police regularly torture detainees. Even a former IGP bashed Anwar Ibrahim almost to pulp. I myself have been subjected to insults from police, and have even been robbed once by these police thugs.
It is a fact that many of our police personnel believe like thugs and tormentors, rather than peacekeepers and our protectors. In fact, the public has scant respect for the men in blue. It is also an accepted fact that the most corrupted civil servants are the police.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:25
Dr. Noor
An articulate and precise article that I have always come to expect from you.
Kadir Ahmad in his article on Ezam, his choice of words to describe low life, aptly describe the Home Minister, IGP and his Deputy, Selangor CPO and the perpetrators of Kugan’s death.
These people certainly do not have any beliefs in any religion, let alone the Islamic faith for they must not fear the wrath of God. Not only are Malaysian outraged at what has happened, even us Ex-Malaysian are equally outraged. I hope that they all burn in hell for what they have done.
January 30th, 2009 at 18:11
Where is the credibility of the PDRM when the AG returned the report, ordered a more thorough probe and demanded to see the second post-mortem report of Kugan?
I agree with ‘Fed-up’ that Syed Hamid Albar, the IGP, the Deputy IGP, and the Selangor CPO should be sacked immediately!
February 2nd, 2009 at 20:02
Dear Farish,
I am appalled at your article entitled Gaza and the Liberal Conscience. Posting it at the Malaysian Bar website, you do not offer non-lawyers the fair opportunity to rebut your hypocritic views and selective historical events that seems to lend credit to it. FYI, I am one of the “Liberals” you speak of and hence I am compelled to post my views here regardless of the topic.
I apologise if my comments are directed at you personally (which is not my usual style) as I find that all your arguments are flawed and reeked with hypocrisy! I do not intend to spend much time over the matter and will only mention a few to drive my point through.
You speak of history having no relevance to the right of the Isrealis to occupy the land and yet you seem to think that the Palestinians are the “aborigines” of the same land. How is that so, is it because they are there today or a few years ago, or 1,400 years ago? How far back does it go before it becomes “irrelevant history” to you?
And where is this land you speak of? Is it Gaza? The West Bank? As far as I know the Oslo Accord was to designate these lands to the Palestinians led by Yasser Arafat on the one condition, recognize the right of Isreal to exist as a state. Based on the agreement, the Isrealis pulled out of Gaza and most of the occupied territories. Then came Hamas, the party that has pledged to deny the right of Israel to exist on this planet. They won the election on this platform and literally put things back to square one.
So it appears that the land you speak of is actually Israel, isn’t it? You are saying that Israel does not have the right to exist, at least not in peace, right? Well, the extract from this website (http://palestinefacts.org/pf_independence_israel_legal.php) should put things in better perspective:
“What is the legal basis for the State of Israel?
Some ask the question, “Does Israel have a right to exist?” That is not a proper question since Israel does exist, is recognized by the United Nations and many other countries, and is no more subject to being so questioned than is the United States, Japan, or any other country. Anyone who persists with the question of Israel’s right to exist is one whose agenda is to eliminate Israel and its Jewish inhabitants.
That is your own argument, isn’t it? That we don’t look at history. They are already there, so why can’t they be left alone? Now you say the Zionists are expanding their territory. I put it to you that they are merely exercising their right to defend their state under armed attack as accorded by Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. In military strategies, an eye for an eye is not the answer, a full incursion is.
But you say the Isreali civilians who are killed by Hamas rockets are illegal squatters on Palestinian lands. So if someone trespass on your land, they ought to be killed? But then again, didn’t you say history has no relevance, the one who matters is the current occupier of the land now, right? No?
You also gave examples of the “freedom fighters” of the oppressed nations such as Indonesia and Vietnam but didn’t specify which part of their wars you had in mind. Is it Indonesia’s liberation wars which included the invasion of Aceh, East Timor and MALAYSIA? As I recall, we Malaysians didn’t need them liberating us in 1962-1966.
How about Vietnam? Wasn’t the South already a democratic country when the North “liberated” it? Maybe you want the North Koreans to “liberate” South Korea as well.
As far as using force goes, I don’t remember India having suicide bombers who blow up civillian buses or firing rockets at British kindergartens. Apparently these are “legitimate” targets to you but not those who endorse Hamas and their manifesto to annihilate Israel.
In closing I will say that I am not condoning violence if there is an alternative method of finding a solution to the rocket attacks. Neither am I a blind supporter of Israel’s policies. If anyone care to ask me for my opinion, I will say, this is a war entered into between consenting parties, it is not our concern to side the losing party or the underdog simply because of religious beliefs. Jews are NOT affiliated to Christians in religious beliefs, in case you are wondering.
I am compelled to write this lengthy comment because at the end of the day, it is articles like yours which prompted our great leader to take our tax money and contribute it to the war effort of a terrorist establishment that has nothing to do with us whatsoever and at a time when the economy is suffering badly. I hope in future you will be more objective when presenting an argument (as required of you as a lawyer), and not selective with your facts just so that you can convince the less informed.
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:51
James,
It is interesting that you posted your comments about the Gaza articles here under the article on the death of Kugan for some reason. Nonetheless there is some irony here.
For you to justify Israeli violence against the people of Gaza is like someone saying that the death of Kugan is justified because he was apprehended by the police and said to be a thief. There have even been some people who claim that the arrest of Kugan led to the solving of 15 car theft cases, as if that somehow justifies his torture and death under arrest.
Likewise pro-Israeli sympathisers such as yourself seem to take the view that a few (useless and generally ineffective) rocket attacks by Hamas justifies the invasion of Arab territory and the death of more than a thousand Palestinians.
If you cannot see the difference between the deaths of a dozen Israelis and the death of more than a thousand arabs, then perhaps it is you who is being hypocritical here. I suggest you fly to Gaza and see things for yourself, where people have been denied water, food and electricity even during so-called times of ‘peace’ by the Israeli armed forces. Dont take my word for it: visit the website of the International Committee of the Red Cross and read the accounts of Red Cross workers working there at the moment. (Unless of course like the Israelis you also think that the Red Cross is made up of anti-Israeli agents of the Arab world as well.)
February 3rd, 2009 at 22:26
Don’t waste your time and effort, James. I made an error in judgement in believeing that Farish Noor was an impartial, intelligent and sensetive individual of repute.
Gave up on him after his ‘rantings’ about the ‘in-justice’ as per the Israelis and ’sufferings’ of Palestinians. Funny though, not a single Arab Nation, or even a Moslem nation, were prepared to fight for Hamas, the Palestinians or intervene on their behalf. Including Fata and Awass.
A lot of noise and ‘bra-hu-ha’, and err’ that was it. The ones making the most noise were those living thousands of miles away, and whose countries don’t have any diplomatic ties nor whose peoples are allowed any contact with the Jewish nation. But of course, Mr. Noor, you are right, as are all those who believe in you.
February 17th, 2009 at 21:13
To James and Nelson,
anyone with an inkling of humanity who isnt blind will not be talking like you have.
Its nice to be antagonistic for the sake of being antagonistic but
the plain facts are there for any simpleton to see.
Refer to HRW, Red Cross, Amesty International for plain, easily digestible facts.
And if you’re up for it, try reading Norman Gary Finkelstein: The Holocaust Industry and his other book Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History.
He is an Jewish intellectual of Holocast survivors. Like Noam Chomsky, there are plenty of intellectual Jews who are against the horror perpuated by the Isreali goverment.
Get educated and get your facts right first.