Thaipusam is an annual event where hundreds of thousands of Tamils all around the country visit the Murugan temples to pay their vows.
In Malaysia, in the Batu Caves Murugan Temple and Penang Waterfall Hilltop Murugan Temple, Thaipusam is a grand festival.
On Tuesday, while about 1.5 million devotees were believed to have paid their vows in Batu Caves Temple, about 1.2 million devotees chose the Penang Waterfall Hilltop Murugan Temple.
In both these places, many things were of concern, including safety, traffic and cleanliness.
In Penang, it was a moderate celebration with a grand festive mood. First of all, the Penang Hindu Endowment Board and Penang Hilltop Murugan Temple management committee should be credited for the wonderful job done.
Everything was organised accordingly and complaints from devotees and visitors were hardly heard.
While there could be room for improvement, this year’s Thaipusam was well organised compared to past decades.
The temple management committee along with organisers, Rela members, St John’s ambulance crews and many other parties worked day and night for this year Thaipusam celebration in Penang.
Surprisingly, major Penang roads were not heavily congested, though the crowd had increased from last year, thanks to the police department’s traffic unit that dispersed traffic accordingly.
There were no unwanted incidents reported in Penang. Thanks to the decent crowd and the deployed 1000 cops to go on rounds throughout Jalan Utama till the temple ground.
However, some of the force’s actions in the Penang Thaipusam not only raised some questions, in fact also caused uneasiness among people, especially devotees.
One such act questioned by many was the arrest of 33 people and the justification of the police for the arrests.
While no one questions the legitimacy of the precautionary measure, the justification given by one of the top cops of the state obviously irritated some. police said “33 were arrested for planning to riot” during Thaipusam.
While welcomed as a precautionary measure, it is still unclear how the 33 “intended” or “planned” to stage the riot. If police had said the 33 men with past records of causing nuisance in Thaipusam of past years had been identified and arrested as a precautionary measure, it would be justified.
Was there really a plan to riot?
The word “riot” clearly would have sent some uneasiness among the people wanting to visit Penang Thaipusam this year. Was there really a plan to stage a riot by anyone?
If the 33 were really planning to stage a riot, did the police charge them in a court of law? All this is still unclear and Penang police should clarify these matters to the public.
One of the actions that caused uneasiness among many devotees during Tuesday’s Thaipusam was how a single police officer was escorted by about 100 police personnel during his walkabout, supposedly to monitor the situation on the ground.
When this particular police officer was walking through the crowd, about 100 cops, including 20 balaclavaed, fully armed female officers were seen alerting and dispersing the crowd to give way to the top cop.
In one particular incident, I witnessed how the top cop’s entourage was dispersing the crowd to make way for their boss.
Among those in the crowd were wheelchair-bound people with special needs, assisted by a group of dedicated volunteers who spared their time to share the festive mood with those less fortunate ones.
The cops were fast and disregarded the people in front of them; what they wanted was the route to be cleared for their boss.
I don’t think the chief minister, deputy chief minister of Penang or even the prime minister has that kind of entourage that consisted of mostly armed personnel.
Was it necessary for a top cop to monitor Thaipusam with such a large armed entourage?
While, as a senior police officer he would have such a security protocol entitlement, was it necessary to apply the protocol in the crowd of devotees who came to Thaipusam with the sole intention of praying and fulfilling their vows to Lord Muruga?
If the officer really wanted to avoid the crowd what he should have done was gone to the temple in a car, and the balaclavad police would not be needed to disperse the crowd.
10pct of cops to 'guard' one person?
Was it necessary for 10 percent of the total cops deployed for Penang Thaipusam to ‘guard’ one particular person only?
How can the force justify this? While it is understandable that a top cop’s life can be threatened by criminals, to have about 100 armed cops surrounded him does not look like the man is threatened by ordinary criminals, but by international terrorists.
And most of the time we passed the police refreshment booth, a large presence of armed cops could be seen. It made me wonder, if the “thanneer panthal” or the refreshment booth had received any form of bomb threat from Isis terrorists?
Let’s not forget, all these cops who were on duty were paid for by taxpayers.
While we welcome the presence of 1000 cops to monitor and control the crowded festival in Penang, we, too, have every right to question their conduct.
Are we taxpayers paying for one man to be heavily protected for reasons best known to the cops alone?
While I insist that people welcome the police presence and precautionary measures taken by the force, the police should adhere to some standard operation procedures as well, for the force to be welcomed with open hands and not with utter annoyance.
The police should also work in hand with the Penang Hindu Endowment Board to have better co-ordination and enforcement.
SATEES MUNIANDY is a member of the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) and Penang Dapsy assistant secretary.
