By Parliament opposition leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Thursday, April 22, 1993:
DAP calls on IGP to intervene to allow the DAPSY Dinner in Bukit Pelandok on Saturday night and the Anti-Toxic Dump demonstration in Tanah Merah on Sunday morning to proceed as originally scheduled
DAP calls on the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Hanif Omar, to intervene and to allow the DAPSY dinner in Bukit Pelandok on Saturday night and the Anti-Toxic Dump demonstration in Tanah Merah on Sunday morning to proceed as originally scheduled.
The Negeri Sembilan Police has no proper or acceptable reason to refuse police permit for the holding of the DAPSY dinner on Saturday night or the Anti-Toxic Dump demonstration on Sunday morning, as more than adequate time of at least three weeks’ notice had been given to the police for the holding of these two functions.
This is in great contrast to the anti-Sultan of Kelantan public rally which certain UMNO leaders organized in Kota Bahru early this month. In that case, application o the holding of a public rally of some 500 people in Kota Bahru on April 10 was submitted to the police on April 7, and police permit was immediately granted on the same day.
On the next day, April 8, when he organizers of the public rally submitted a new application for the public rally stating that there would be 10,000 people on April 10, police permit was refused on security grounds.
In the case of the Negri Sembilan DAPSY DINNER IN Bukit Pelandok on Saturday night, application for a police permit was submitted more than three weeks ago and it was for 1,000 people.
Is the Negri Sembilan is organizing the dinner in Bukit Pelandok in conjunction with the protest against the siting of the Bukit Nanas central toxic waste treatment plant because it pose a serious threat to the environment, the health and life of the local residents as well as their livelihood.
Has Malaysian democracy reached a position where public gatherings to protest against certain Sultans are permissible, while functions and gatherings to protect the environment, livelihood, health and life of the people have become a grave threat to national security’?
Sunday’s 10,000- people demonstration, which is organized by the Anti-Toxic Waste Dump Committee, is to be an peaceful and democratic expression of the concern of the people in the affected area as well as Malaysians in general at the siting of the Bukit Nanas central toxic treatment plant.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, had criticized the Sultan of Kelantan of not being ‘democratic’ for not receiving the memorandum of the Kota Bahru demonstrators.
Why is the Barisan Nasional Government having double standards whereby demonstrators against the Sultan of Kelantan are supported and given all forms of encouragement, but when the people want to hold a peaceful and democratic demonstration to protect their environment, health, life and livelihood, national security is used to suppress it?
The police ban on the Negri Sembilan DAPSY dinner on Saturday and the Anti-Toxic Waste Dump demonstration on Sunday is a great blemish on the record of democracy and human rights in Malaysia, and the police ban should be lifted.