Citizen Nades - Good sense must prevail

READING and digesting scores of news reports and watching video clips may not be the perfect vocation. Sometimes, even re-reading, re-watching and then reviewing them in totality gives one the opportunity to come to educated, valid and effective conclusions.
How did a simple case of theft lead to the mob culture where innocent people became victims of the thugs? Let's examine what is in the public domain.
Video clips that have been circulating provide some hints. The drama starts with a video showing two men "inspecting" a mobile phone at a shop. After a few seconds, when the lone counter clerk attends to another customer, the duo slip away with the phone. Sekian lah sahaja, habis wayang gambar? End of story? Not exactly.
Another video shows two groups of people involved in fisticuffs in the complex. The security guards appear helpless and harsh words are exchanged and blows are traded.
Yet, another video shows a man addressing a crowd that had gathered with provocative and confrontational words.
The (unrelated) video next shows a mob jumping on a car, beating the occupants. Voices hurling abuses, stirring up emotions and making disparaging racist remarks could be heard.
A policeman appears on the scene as the mob continues its carnage. Another man is lying on the road. He is beaten and kicked. The policeman appears to do little to prevent anything; members of the mob continue venting their anger. More punches to victims and more dents on the car.
Another policeman appears on the scene but appears oblivious to the crimes committed before his eyes. More policemen arrive but the mob has done its worst. The horses have escaped from the stables, too late to bolt the door.
The victims are forced to fend for themselves. What perception does the public have of the police? Were they unbiased when it came to discharging their duties in protecting the people? Did they do everything within their means to chase the mob away?
To the unbiased viewer of the video clips, the policemen on the scene were untrained if not incompetent when coming to control or prevent damage to property and injury to persons.
Understandably, the DAP has accused the police of inaction as people were allowed to make racist remarks without any interference by the authorities.
The party's acting chairman, Tan Kok Wai, said: "We saw people making speeches, hurling abuses, stirring up emotions, making remarks that could incite racial hatred, these people were allowed to speak for a comfortable length of time at the scene without interference of the police.
"We were told that when the crowd dispersed at about 10pm, more or less the same group came back and started assaulting innocent people ... the police were not there to stop them from acting in such manner.
"We don't know why only after some people were assaulted, some cars were broken and people were threatened, then we saw the presence of police."
Welcome to Malaysia, where mobs of such nature do not have to fear anyone, even the law and those who enforce it. Past events may have buoyed their confidence that they are untouchable.
The police saw nothing wrong in retired soldiers downing their pants in front of the then Bersih leader's house; they saw nothing wrong in protesters carrying a cow's head, offending Hindus, who consider the animal sacred; and providing ambulance services to a man who jumped in front of the Penang chief minister's car and refused to get up.
The involvement of Malay rights group, Pekida shows that many minds are clouded and fail to face the truth and reality. Rightly too that this group got an earful from former diplomat Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin of the group of prominent Malays, or G25, who said that the group had failed to uphold the sanctity of Ramadan.
She said Pekida's involvement in the gathering only aggravated the situation and showcased their failure to respect the Muslim fasting month.
"It is sad that this incident has happened during the holy month of Ramadan. The involvement of Pekida, a Muslim NGO, had aggravated this ugly situation further. It simply shows their irresponsible attitude and failure to uphold the sanctity of Ramadan," she said.
Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) claimed the mob's angry response was towards "diaspora chauvinists" who insulted and ridiculed Islam and the Malay community.
Isma asserted that it is only natural for Malay youths to release their anger on the Chinese traders in the popular tech mall as the Malays are known for running amok, and they would not have done so if they were not provoked by what the group claimed to be chauvinists.
What has religion got to do with theft? No religion propagates or condones stealing. Since when can apprehending a person suspected of a crime be against religious teachings? If so, we can close all our prisons and say "terima kasih" to those who have stolen, plundered and pilfered property which did not belong to them?
No one will disagree that this is not a racist clash. But the offensive words which were used to rile up the crowd turned a theft into one. Posts on social media may have sent the wrong message but the "leaders" who used those provocative words were the catalysts that sparked the fire.
Good sense must prevail. The police have to show that they are unbiased in their actions against wrongdoers. For a start, the inspector-general of police has ordered the arrest of those who were involved in sending "false messages" on the incident.
That is hardly enough. It must apprehend the culprits, its leaders and all those who gave the country and its peace-loving people a bad name just before a joyous occasion. Let it be emphatically said that all those involved in assault, damage to property and making those speeches must be brought to book. Doing anything less would send the wrong message to the wrong people.
R. Nadeswaran says that with modern technology, every little action or inaction by the police can be scrutinised by all and sundry. Comments: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com