In response to recent reports which had Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar claiming ISA's effectiveness in curbing terrorism, I beg to differ.

  • The ISA has never been effective in quelling or preventing racial riots or tensions. Here is some evidence:

    The racial riots in Singapore in 1964 were never preceded or followed by ISA detentions.

    The perpetrators of the May 13 incident in 1969 were never detained under the ISA.

    Some of) those said to be behind racial tensions leading up to Operasi Lalang in 1987 were never detained. Instead, opposition politicians and activists were detained.

    The ISA was not used to prevent religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims in Penang not too many years ago.

    Nobody was detained over the Kampung Medan tragedy that resulted in loss of life.

  • The ISA was initially enacted by the British in 1948 as a tool to curb communist insurgency. We must remember that we were under British rule. The communists decided to fight the imperialists, who then used the ISA.

    Under this pretext, the British arrested all bodies or organisations committed to the struggle for independence. Known non-communist independence activists like Ustaz Abu Bakar Baqir, Ahmad Boestamam and others were arrested by the British under the ISA (then known as Emergency Ordinance Act).

    Only Umno was allowed to operate in this atmosphere of fear and oppression created by the British, and without any disturbance by the British.

    The communists did not target civilians in their struggle. Their main targets were those of economic and political importance to the British. Such acts were deemed to be terrorism by the British first, and by Umno since then.

    It is very difficult to remember the extent of destruction caused by a communist operation that can equal the amount of destruction caused by racial riots of 1964, 1969, Kampung Medan and such. Yet, arrests were made in numbers under the pretext of containing communism and almost none under the pretext of curbing racism.

  • The ISA has never been used to maintain security and stability. The arrest of six reformasi activists is evidence that the ISA is used as a political ploy rather than in the interest of the nation.

    The mass arrest of KMM members also proves the same as no KMM activist has been charged in court. God knows how many innocent victims have had their lives wasted by languishing under ISA detention.

    In short, there is no evidence to date of the effectiveness of ISA as Syed Hamid claims. To me it looks more like a smokescreen to justify the detention of political dissidents and to counter any legitimate movement against the BN regime.