Many seem to have missed the point that the Jawi raid is merely an extension of the many abuses we have seen among law enforcement agencies and their officers in this country. It's just that the Jawi raid happened to have also snared some well-connected individuals as well.

But how different was the behaviour of the Jawi officers from police and immigration officers (and, of course, the gun-toting enforcement officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs)?

Incidences of abuse by the officials from these agencies are frequent and no less condemnable. We are well aware of how illegal immigrants are kept in inhumane conditions, that torture and mysterious deaths occur while in police detention and of the overzealous use of a firearm by a Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs enforcement officer.

Many foreign workers complain how they are, at times, victims of extortion by policemen. There are also incidences where female detainees were alleged they were raped. In the case of the reformasi protestors, some of them were stripped naked by police officers and humiliated.

Commoners who are victims of the above crimes do not have direct access to ministers or the attorney-general. And even when these commoners try to get the AG to intervene, he has, in the past, dragged his feet.

Is it then any surprise that Jawi officers behave in the manner they do? One must not forget that Jawi is, in reality, just another apparatus of the state. It is an extension of the control mechanism of the state.

Thus, Jawi is no less an instrument of control of the state than the other enforcement agencies. Far from being a Taliban-like entity, Jawi ir merely one of the many faces of the ruling regime. Believe me, many in Jawi are card-carrying Umno members.

When the state is abusive, its apparatuses also behaves in an abusive manner. This incident involving Jawi shows just how systematic abuse has become in Malaysian society.

Thus, to single out Jawi for criticism is to miss the point. This does not mean it should be above criticism. The root of the problem lies in the fact we are under a system and government that does not consider itself accountable to the public and to normal standards of decency.

Even recommendations by the national human rights body, Suhakam, are being ignored by the government.

The remedy to the abusive behaviour of Jawi officers is not to be achieved by appealing to the system. The system is a part of the problem.