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Police
playing the dangerous game of politics
Singapore Democrats
22
Nov 07
The police released a statement saying that 'in
contrast to [Chee Soon Juan's] acts of civil disobedience,
Singaporeans and Myanmar nationals in Singapore have organised
themselves to express their sentiments and concern for the
Myanmar situation in a lawful manner'.
It was a
stupendous spin.
In August this year a group of Burmese
nationals marched down the length of Orchard Road. The protesters
were warned not once but twice. The group defied the warnings and
continued their peaceful march.
A month later, our Burmese
friends congregated outside the Burmese embassy for a vigil.
Again despite repeated warnings from the police, the protesters
stayed put and even returned on subsequent evenings.
Two
nights ago, a group of 40 to 50 Burmese again congregated at
Orchard Road in a protest. This is despite countless warnings
from the police.
Defying unjust laws that suppress human
rights is civil disobedience.
The fact that the police
has chosen not to taken punitive action against these protesters
does not make it any different from the nonviolent action that
the SDP and its supporters have been doing.
Which brings
us to the next point. The police are selective in who it chooses
to prosecute. To charge in court Burmese nationals standing in
solidarity with their counterparts at home who are being beaten
and killed, is political stupidity at its gravest. The PAP
Government knows this.
So rather than arrest the Burmese
protesters, the police work furiously behind-the-scenes to
intimidate these people.
Our men-in-blue regularly visit
Peninsula Plaza where Burmese nationals hangout, bear down on
university officials and monks in temples, and conduct
investigations on individual Burmese all in an effort to stop
them from organising activities.
Being in a foreign land,
these people have little choice but to comply. It doesn't mean
that they agree with the law that prohibits public protest –
the same law, by the way, that exists in their homeland.
The
Singapore Democrats and our supporters, on the other hand, are
citizens of Singapore. The rights of our people have been robbed
by the Government and we demand their return.
The
Burmese, being foreigners, may back down. We do not.
For
police to make the statement that they did further demonstrates
their indulgence in partisan politics when they, as civil
servants, ought to be strictly neutral.
This continued
use of the police by the PAP to suppress dissent, and thus
perpetuate its own power, is a dangerous game. Unlike in the
past, the actions of our police force is widely and quickly
disseminated through the Internet.
When the public sees
it as being used to protect the PAP leaders, confidence in the
police to enforce law and order impartially and without fear or
favour will be eroded.
When state institutions are seen to
no longer serve the interests of the public but rather the ruling
clique, problems come very quickly. If it is trouble that the PAP
is looking for, it will find it sooner rather than later.
The
Government is caught in a delicate position. Crackdown on dissent
and be condemned by the ever-growing democratic world. On the
other hand it knows that if it allows Singaporeans to protest in
public, then its days as an authoritarian regime are clearly
numbered.
Singaporeans can see through this charade that
the PAP and its police force are playing, and they want it
stopped.
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