The massive turnout of people to press for freedom and human dignity in our nation on August 1 was astounding. They overcame all barricades including the highhanded tactics of the police and other efforts to immobilize the march. Thank God, the Army was not called in to stall the freedom march.

The people who organized this great march of August 1 are the anti-ISA movement or Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI). Their march is in many ways reminiscent of the great marches of the last century, beginning with Dr Martin Luther King Jr in his strife to overcome sectarianism with his theme song We shall overcome. His efforts are today seen in the sterling result of the first coloured President of the United States, President Barak Obama. Closer to home was the famous G30S (Gerakan 30 September) that overthrew the regime of President Sukarno of Indonesia, and then in 1986 the People Power March forced the dictator of the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos, to flee the country.

The anti-ISA march of August 1 is a sign of our nation’s struggle to uphold freedom and human dignity especially in the midst of many unnecessary and unwanted conflicts. These conflicts have been brought about by some of the ruling elite, who through their subordinates enforce unjust laws to strengthen their hold as leaders of the country.

A report published in the Fordham International Law Journal states that the ISA and other laws “contribute to the creation of a deeply authoritarian political environment, in which attacks on independent voices — whether they emanate from the media, academia or the opposition — are routine,” (2003:1349).

What is emerging is a ‘deeply authoritarian political environment’ with leaders doing all they could to stop even the ordinary citizens from marching towards the King’s palace in a peaceful manner to present a memorandum to the King at 3.00pm. The palace had earlier been notified of this presentation by the President of the GMI Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.

Despite the hurdles, and even with the possible threat of being detained under the ISA, at 11.50am, the representatives of the anti-ISA march managed to hand the memorandum to abolish the unjust Internal Security Act to a palace official, Encik Mohd Khairi Abdul Rahman.

This simple orderly march was made to look as though there was an act of civil unrest by the use of water cannons and tear gas on the people. Thank God for the wisdom of the GMI leaders in instructing the many who joined in the march that they were not to be unruly even if the police behaved so.

In the absence of unruly behaviour, it did look obvious that the enforcement officers had to seize innocent young teenagers, who were arrested and would be remanded for four days. But what is more shocking is that this authoritarian political environment has permeated most sectors of the government bodies that even when help was sought from the Welfare Department to assist the children arrested, none was forthcoming. The Malaysian Insider carried an article quoting Human Rights Lawyer Jonson Chong, who expressed that when they “contacted them [Welfare Department], an officer by the name of Daing Terpateh Khairi refused to come and see the boy, stating that he did not have instructions from the police despite having been informed that a child’s right had been abused.”

Obviously, fear had gripped the officer in a way that he was not able to do what he ought to do as a welfare officer. When such situations arise, we begin to see what some commentators and academia have been saying for decades — that the human rights of the citizens are being curtailed. Today we say that the march of August 1 was to reassert our rights in the nation and overcome the trauma of ISA fears and arrests.

We march for freedom and human rights. Herald Malaysia