CONTRADICTIONS AND IRONIES OF THE BERSIH 2.0 ‘PEACEFUL PROTESTERS’ AND THEIR CLAIMS TO HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY, AND TO BELITTLE THE PROTESTS OF THE OTHERS AGAINST THEM.

By Mansor Puteh

Street protests are all about the hidden numbers, silent majority, public safety and the abuse of personal ‘power’ not only about individuals’ concern for the nation.

The majority has spoken through the ballot box; so let the government of the day do whatever it pleases during the time they were given, or else, the same voters can inflict damage on them in the next general election.

Pre- and post-general election concerns that are voiced through street protests cannot be allow to hijack the mandate given by the electorate; they are only good for the creation of dictatorship and anarchy.

So even though the futile Bersih 2.0 protest had ended, but the dust has not settled on the sub-issues which are of greater concern.

First the Bersih coalition has to clean itself of this fallacy that just because they can raise the funds, and gather some people to march in the streets; it does not mean that they have any justification to do destroy the livelihood of the majority in the city.

But the media and police, too, must be blamed for ‘inciting’ the protestors to continue to march. They should have just ignored them and let them do whatever they please, and report on what happened next and not what they were doing on the way to the streets.

The media and police had given the organizers a lot of publicity and promotions to their cause.

And it was also good that none of the senior members of the ‘organizing committee’ of the protest had been arrested under the Internal Security Act or ISA, as it would be a triumph to them if this had happened.

Here's one of the contradictions: I find how the organizers of the protest blatantly contradict themselves by insisting that the others act on their protests, yet, when there were protests on their planned protest, they balked and didn't bat an eyelid and proceeded with it.

This sort of contradiction is totally shocking, yet it is a necessary issue that has to be raised to make them realize the folly of their action, as protests cannot be conducted by them alone on the authorities of their choice, and they can also be organized by others against them, which had happened.

And they mostly included the submitting of police reports and counter protests by other counter groups, who have unfortunately been charged by them as being undemocratic and who do not uphold democratic principles.

They just want others to listen to their cries, but they are deaf to the cries of the others who are more in numbers, against them.

Their self-centeredness should be a cause of worry for they are the sort who do not care for the feelings of the others, but only for themselves.

Yet, they want to be admired and respected, for being totally uncompromising and unrealistic.

Where on earth did they get the idea from, that they are the self-righteous, while the others in the authority and country including the police force who are despicable, who should all kowtow before them and meet with their every demand?

Who appointed to be the police of the police anyway? They are mere members of some NGOs and a coalition of NGOs which has been deemed to be illegal and unlawful.

So anyone with any modicum of self-respect will balk at such a serious charge and make amends to firstly ensure that their coalition is legitimate, so the voices that they want to shout can be deemed to be reasonable.

If this is not done, with their legitimacy being challenged they can only pursue the cause of action which is equally vehement and repulsive to the majority in the country.

In fact, they can also be charged for acting not only against the interests of the authorities they want to counter, but also of democracy itself, which they claim to uphold.

It is therefore ironic that they had put themselves in such a despicable state of ludicrousness, who cannot be taken seriously by anyone. 

It does not seem right for some minor pseudo-political characters in the city who can charge such on others like they have been given the authority to do so, while they themselves remain aloof to similar charges that had been leveled against them, by other groups which can also claim to uphold democratic principles.

It just proves how they only care for their own thoughts and action but not those that emanated from them, which they should also seriously consider, as they cannot go on pretending to have the right of way and push aside the others which aim to stop them from marching.

Generally, protests of such nature are held as an act of desperation, at the mistrust of the voters, who are far greater in numbers who should be counted upon to choose what they prefer.

The general elections that had been held in the country even before it gained indepedence had caused many issues to be debated and scrutinized.

Therefore, having such a small and incongruous group of insignificant pseudo-political sidekicks to embark on another campaign cannot be allowed.

It is another contradiction as it means that they do not believe in the democratic and electoral process, and wanted the small and minor voices be heard over the din of the bigger majority whose views on many issues have been offered through the ballot boxes.

So how could so small a group of disgruntled individuals who can surely muster enough courage to pursue such a course of action be allowed to distract and disrupt the life of the majority, should be a cause of their concern, failing which they can be charged for committing yet another contradiction.

If they are so insistent in their demands be met at whatever costs, then the contradictions mentioned above become insignificant, as it is now ironic, that they have become dictatorial and want anarchy to prevail.

So the more we try to digress the transgression of their actions, the more we feel that they are such a pathetic lot of people who are so insignificant to the electoral and democratic process, yet, who can still command the attention of the media.

In the end it is the media and the people including the police who have all been made fools of, knowing how the organizers and their financial backers who are said to be from foreign countries are being made to march around and around without any of them getting what they had originally planned to achieve as their credibility had been challenged and put to question.

This is therefore, the irony of ironies of such ‘peaceful protests’ which are not so peaceful at all.