Ops Lalang 34 Years On

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MP SPEAKS | This day, 34 years ago on Oct 27, 1987, will forever be etched in my mind and the minds of many family members as D-Day of Operasi Lalang, a ‘weeding’ operation conducted by the then BN government to weed out voices of dissent labelling them as a “threat to national security”.
My father, P Patto together with leaders like Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, V David, Kerk Kim Hock, Sim Tong Hin, Hu Sepang, Mahfuz Omar, Yunus Ali, Mohammad Sabu, Khalid Samad, Anthony Rogers, Meenakshi Raman, Chee Heng Leng, Theresa Lim and even Tajuddin Abdul Rahman belonged to the Ops Lalang alumni and what painful memories it brings me today.
The list ranged from MPs and state assemblypersons, lecturers, engineers, educationists, environmentalists, women’s rights leaders, religious leaders, rubber tappers, a vegetable seller, a market hawker, chairperson of a factory union, businesspersons and human rights defenders. 
They were all scooped in the biggest haul by the Malaysian authorities in October 1987 - a total of more than 106 men and women.
Their charges? They were upholding human rights, democracy, freedom and demanding accountability and good governance.
My father was detained under the then International Security Act 1960 (ISA) on Oct 27 and had five charges pitted against him.
He was detained for 15 months without trial, had no opportunity to defend himself and was held illegally by trumped-up charges by a paranoid government. 
His party comrades faced the same situation too, with Kit Siang and Guan Eng detained on Oct 26 and the last to be released amongst their peers.
ISA, Sosma and Poca
The primary identity of the ISA was to be used as a preventive detention law which is detention without trial to counter and combat communist insurgents and although the Malayan Emergency ended in 1960, the ISA was passed in the same year and was arbitrarily used and abused by the government for decades after that - as and when it pleased to silence voices of opposition and dissent.
Although abolished in 2012 after growing nationwide and international protests, the ISA was inevitably replaced by other regressive laws in Malaysia such as the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
A government that falls back on using regressive, preventive laws like Sosma shows that it not only fears the people but fears the essence of what a government is built on - democracy, freedom, equality, justice, integrity, accountability and good governance.
While we sometimes look at human rights violations and the use of these ‘detention without trial’ laws in other countries and shake our heads in dismay, let us also be reminded of the same laws that we have in our country and the imminent risk of that law being used on anyone, including you and me.
If Maria Chin Abdullah can be detained in solitary confinement for 10 days under Sosma, if state assemblypersons P Gunasekaran and G Saminathan can be detained under Sosma, and scores of Malaysians held under this draconian law, then what assurance do we have that our own family members will not be next?
Malaysia has adequate laws to nab criminals, including those in organised crimes and in gangs and there is no leeway or shortcut for criminals. You must face the music for your actions.
However, being arrested with no proof or evidence and being kept in custody for an uncertain period of time must be challenged by all Malaysians and regressive laws like Sosma must be abolished.
Sosma and other regressive and draconian laws like the Sedition Act 1948 must be abolished in their entirety and not used as a political tool by the powers that be.
A government that continues to use regressive, draconian and preventive laws against its people is the one threatening parliamentary democracy in the country.
The government of Keluarga Malaysia which is now a newly minted member of the UN Human Rights Council must show the world and other counterparts in the council that we walk the talk and not merely lip service. - Mkini


KASTHURI PATTO is Batu Kawan MP.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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