16 July 2015

Insiden Low Yat - terkenang tragedi 13 Mei...

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Terkenang tragedi berdarah melanda negara satu ketika dulu, Ketua Parlimen DAP Lim Kit Siang menggesa Putrajaya menubuhkan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) bagi menyiasat insiden pergaduhan di Plaza Low Yat hujung minggu lalu.

Pemimpin veteran DAP itu berkata, selain menyokong kenyataan bekas perdana menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, insiden itu tidak patut berlaku dan perlu dipandang serius.

“Kita perlu suarakan kebimbangan apa yang berlaku di Low Yat, seperti kata Dr Mahathir, rusuhan di Low Yat tidak patut berlaku, saya sokong, lebih-lebih lagi ketika Ramadan.

“Ini bermula sebagai jenayah mengenai telefon kemudian jadi insiden perkauman. Ini pertama kali sejak beberapa dekad, dan sama ada kita pandang ringan atau serius,” katanya, ketika lawatan ke Plaza Low Yat di Kuala Lumpur pagi tadi.
Lim berkata, meskipun Putrajaya sudah menjalankan pelbagai kempen untuk menyatupadukan rakyat seperti kempen “1Malaysia”, insiden perkauman seperti itu masih berlaku.

“Apa yang penting, insiden ini tidak patut berlaku, selepas kempen 1Malaysia, ini masih berlaku.

“Insiden ini mengingatkan saya 13 Mei, sama seperti di sini, bagaimana kes kecil jadi isu besar,” katanya merujuk kepada tragedi berdarah pada 13 Mei, 1969 yang melibatkan kaum Melayu dan Cina.

Lim sebelum ini pernah dituduh sebagai pencetus kepada tragedi tersebut selepas “kencing” di tiang bendera di depan rumah bekas menteri besar Selangor, Datuk Harun Idris.

Bagaimanapun, dakwaan itu merupakan fitnah kerana ketika kejadian berlaku, ahli politik veteran itu berada di Sabah.

Ahli Parlimen Gelang Patah itu berkata, melalui RCI tersebut, kerajaan akan berupaya mengenal pasti punca permasalahan antara kaum di negara ini dan segera menyelesaikannya.

“Supaya kita boleh adakan ‘blueprint’, dan supaya ia tidak akan berulang lagi.

“Kita boleh tangkap 2,3 orang, tapi kita nak tahu isu akar umbinya,” katanya.

Drama di Plaza Low Yat bermula pada Sabtu apabila seorang pemuda dilaporkan mengunjungi sebuah kedai di sana untuk membeli telefon bimbit Lenovo S860 bernilai RM799.

Jurujual yang melayannya dilaporkan berkata, apabila dia berpaling untuk mendapatkan hadiah percuma untuk pemuda itu, dia sudah pun melarikan diri bersama telefon bimbit itu.

Kejadian kejar-mengejar tercetus dan peniaga telefon bimbit di kedai lain menangkap suspek itu, menyerangnya dan menyerahkannya kepada polis.

Bagaimanapun, rakan-rakan suspek menyerbu ke plaza itu dan menyerang kedai di mana pekerjanya membantu memberkas suspek.

Ketegangan terjadi semula di luar Plaza Low Yat di Kuala Lumpur apabila pergaduhan tercetus di antara dua kumpulan, hanya beberapa jam selepas polis mengarahkan kumpulan yang ramai di luar premis itu bersurai.- negara PR


PAS's gains in Johor in the last general election were widely due to Chinese support to the party, but now that it broke off with DAP, grassroots leaders are worried about the Islamist party's electoral future. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 15, 2015.
As formal ties with DAP end, PAS grassroots worry about party’s future...

All west coast seats are no longer safe for PAS, said its grassroots members and activists, following the Islamist party's decision to end formal ties with its former ally DAP.

Although informal ties still exist between PAS and DAP members, the official break-up means PAS must now also deal with a sharp drop in non-Muslim support.

According to Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Salleh, a PAS grassroots leader in Johor, the non-Muslim support had led to PAS's electoral gains from Kedah to Johor.

Another PAS member from Kuala Lumpur said support from non-Muslims is contingent on the party working with DAP in a coalition.

"So when PAS-DAP ties end, so will the support,” he added.

West coast not safe anymore

For some PAS grassroots leaders, the slide in non-Muslim support came long before the party’s contentious June 6 assembly, where it passed without debate a motion to cut ties with DAP.

This was in response to DAP's decision in April to cut ties with PAS president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

The resolution was just the nail in the coffin.



According to Dr Sheikh Ibrahim (pic,above), non-Muslims had abandoned PAS after the Selangor menteri besar crisis in mid-2014.

In that episode, Hadi was seen as turning his back on Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners PKR and DAP over whether to replace Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

“PAS’s image has gone downhill since then. Our non-Muslim friends come up to us and say, we’re sorry but we not supporting PAS anymore,” said Dr Sheikh Ibrahim, who is also Sungai Abong assemblyman.

“There will be a real drop in support for PAS in the next election."

He said PAS does best in Johor and most other parts of the west coast when it contests in mixed seats, where the ratio between Muslims and non-Muslims is 60% to 40%.

“When the Malay majority is more than 60% it becomes harder for PAS to win. So now all seats that PAS holds in Johor are unsafe because we have lost non-Muslim support.

“The same, I believe, goes for places like Kedah, Perak and even Selangor.”

PAS’s top clerics in its Shura Council officially ordered an end to ties with DAP last week, more than a month after the party's general assembly adopted the motion without debate.

The council said its decision was due to DAP’s continuous acts of provocation and meddling in PAS affairs.

Since the Shura Council guides the party’s direction and policies, its decisions would be carried out by PAS's elected central executive committee (CEC).

Rekindling old fire


The toxic relations between PAS and its former PR partners, PKR and DAP, took its toll on ordinary members who worked hard to canvass for wider public support, said Selangor PAS grassroots leader Shazni Munir.

After 7 years of holding joint programmes under the PR banner, PAS activists and members are now reluctant to invite their DAP colleagues to official functions for fear of angering party bosses.



Now, Shazni (pic,above) said the coalition camaraderie that captured the imagination of Malaysian voters and which inspired PAS members to slog odd hours with no pay, is over.

So too is the hard won goodwill among non-Muslim voters, who barely a decade ago would never have thought of voting for PAS.

“It’s really sad when you talk to all these old Chinese uncles and they ask us, why does PAS not care about the feelings of non-Muslims.

"Does PAS not value their support?” said Shazni, who is the party’s Sijangkang area deputy chief.

“At a time when we are still struggling to win over rural Malay voters, we really appreciated the fact that non-Muslims came out to support us.”

A PAS member in Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur said there was a noticeable drop in the number of non-Muslims coming to PAS programmes this year.

As Chinese and Indian voters make up about 30% of the electorate in the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat, traditionally contested by PAS, this will surely be felt in the next general election.

Although their spirits may be low now, DAP leader Anthony Loke is cautiously hopeful that things can still change.

People-to-people ties at the grassroots level, he said, were still intact and in some areas, members from both parties still held programmes together. 


 DAP's Anthony Loke (far right) says he still enjoys cordial ties with PAS leaders despite the fallout between the two parties. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 15, 2015.

“In my area Jelebu, my relations with the PAS  grassroots are still intact. We’ve also had buka puasa sessions with PAS members in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johore and Kota Baru.”

One of the most notable of these was the buka puasa with PAS personalities together with the DAP’s and PKR’s top leaders in Kuala Lumpur on June 23, which sparked speculation of a new Islamic party to be formed by disenchanted PAS members, before forming a new coalition with DAP and PKR.

Naturally, PAS leaders and loyalists have been quick to pour cold water on any new splinter party, such as former secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali who predicts that the new party will be seen as a DAP proxy and therefore fail to make headway.

Despite the gloom, ordinary PAS and DAP members are waiting to see whether this new party can rekindle the PR spirit which helped them come close to winning federal power. – tmi


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