GMI's No to ISA |
Written by straits-mongrel |
Saturday, 29 August 2009 16:50 |
Early morning August 1, 2009, the cops in KL were picking up people suspected of attending this rally. By evening time, close to 600 citizens had been ferried away in Black Marias including teeenagers and MPs. The aim of GMI's No2ISA was simple: To deliver a memo to the istana. That didn't happen. The police came down hard. Tear gas canisters and chemical-laced water jets rained on participants of the aborted rally as if the capitol had been beseiged by rioters. But the fact remains that not a single flower pot was broken during the event.
That's berbudi for you. FRU personnel in riot gear at Masjid Jamek, one of the main targetted scenes that day.
Tear gas is fired onto the crowd. Each time a crowd seems to gather, it is thwarted by the authorities. The police surround the iconic mosque, resisting the protestors and forcing them back each time into the compound.
At about 2pm, a phalanx of Unit Amal boys burst through the lines and lead the way to Sogo at Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Rush. The Masjid Jamek crowd make its way towards Sogo.
A comrade, fallen from mysterious circumstances, is remembered during this occasion.
The young are apolitical? You tickle my toes.
Live mannequin: A staff from one of the shops along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman squeezes himself through the shopfront display for a grandstand view.
And the women too came in droves. Scene outside Sogo, which became the default main gathering point for the rally attendees. Scores of womenfolk and their family have had their lives disrupted by the ISA.
And as one walks by along the storied Sultan Abdul Samad building and its close cousins, a view opens up to the hills beyond the Padang. It is a reminder of how ironical words have become in this wonderful country.
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Last Updated on Monday, 21 September 2009 16:29 |