Once again I was much saddened to watch video footage of the police being used against the people in such an undemocratic manner. Like the Bersih supporters, the big crowd at the Hindraf march were generally peaceful and merely wanted to deliver a petition to the Queen's representative.

Seeing the police storm troopers attack the crowd with water cannons and tear gas brought tears to my eyes. It seems that even after 50 years of independence and economic development, nothing has changed police mentality. They still deal with peaceful demonstrators in the same way they dealt with gangsters in street brawls 50 years ago.

I have to agree with Dr Mahathir Mohamad who denounces the country as a 'police state'. Instead of looking into the plight of the Indians and listening to their grouses, the administration chose to send the storm troopers to break up the rally.

Watching the riot police attack the innocent civilians, their fellow Malaysians and seeing the police being used in such a manner grieved me. Dragging someone, who is not resisting an unfair arrest, along the road in such a callous manner is unacceptable police conduct. The "might is right" stratagem of the government does not work and will only galvanise the people's dissatisfaction, leading to more protests.

The fact that not all police personnel acted with impudent brutality shows that some officers need to emulate the restraint and professionalism of their colleagues. The police must stop being partial and exercise professionalism. But in a police state that is a hard task. The police only take orders from politicians who use them wrongly and unfairly as political tools.

That is why the police, like many institutions that are supposed to act independently and professionally, are incapable of being professional when they are guided by political strings. The whole country is one big political party controlled by the inner circle. This is the reason why the country is nothing more than a first-class facility with third-class service.

When the water cannons pummeled the crowds, we do not see the people cower but shout and cheer as if mocking the police. "Water jets and batons may break our bones but not our spirits" seems to be what they are saying. When crowds are driven to a frenzy, things can get out of hand. The police should have been less provocative. If trouble had broken out, I am sure the police are largely to blame for their aggressive approach.

No fair-minded person will dispute the plight of the Indians. If any ethnic community has a grouse, it is the Indians that have it the most. Brought into the country by the British to work on estates, railways and roadworks, they were largely ignored and given menial roles. It was hard for most of them to do well. Only the minority who lived in larger towns and took on administrative jobs had given their children a greater chance of success.

The New Economic Policy after 1969 again largely ignored the Indians. When plantations made way for residential development, the redundant Indian labourers, unskilled and in many instances without proper identity cards that enabled them to seek better employment, were left to rot in shanty settlements. Malaysians are familiar with the squatter villages they eventually became. Many of these dispirited Indians took to samsu and their life spans are often below the national average of city dwellers.

The plight of the Indians must not be confused with religion. I am not sure if the Hindraf banner to rally the Indians is the right way to go. Not all Indians who share a similar economic plight may share the same religious plight. The problem of associating a people with a religion is fraught with shortcomings and the Indians would be better served with a neutral banner as Bersih was.

The petition to the British Queen is ridiculous but makes a point. As a gimmick, it works because it will draw global attention to the plight of the Indians. Indian Malaysians are responsible and peace-loving. They deserve to have their grievances resolved. Gang activity among the Indians are symptoms of a disenfranchised community.

The Indians themselves have to act responsibly and not covet other people's lands to illegally erect places of worship. Not only the Indians, but the Chinese too like to erect altars on roadsides, under trees and believe it or not, on cliff crevices along busy roads. I recall an Indian road sweeper in Penang who did just that. Every day as I drove to work, I saw his altar grow until the council rightly removed it. Just the other day, I jogged up a hill in Seri Kembangan and the local residents had illegally cleared the hill top of undergrowth and erected shrines. Such a practice should be discouraged and stopped.

Malaysians should be aware that in a Muslim country, the erection of idols is offensive to Muslims. If possible we should all be more considerate of each another's feelings. One man's meat is another man's poison in food as well as in religion. The erection of statutes should be within closed walls. Some Malaysians tend to get out of hand and turn their homes into mini-temples and that is their right.

But when their enthusiasm spills out onto public verges and parks, they can be offensive to others who don't share their enthusiasm. Simply because something has existed over a long time does not make it legal. The authorities have every right to take action but they must do it considerately. There should be consultations and dialogues to avoid any hint of callousness.

Proper town planning should provide sufficient land for religious use. There should not be discrimination in planning where non-Muslims are all lumped into one area while Muslims can build their mosques where they like under the claim of it being the official religion. This discretionary exercise of powers has often been unfair. Churches and other non-Muslim groups have often complained about that. The demolition of religious places should be done with tact, wisdom and consideration.

The department or council involved is playing with fire if it continues its policy of demolishing religious places arrogantly. From the photos I have seen in Malaysiakini and elsewhere, enforcers are acting in a thuggish manner such as throwing rocks, wielding iron rods and acting violently. These behaviours betray an unprofessional and callous approach to a serious task. There is no need to resort to such thuggish behaviour. The worshipers may be recruited to dismantle their own buildings or be paid to do it without involving religious police or other groups.

Resolving the Indian plight is not hard. It is a question of will and money. The administration must have the political will to look after the Indians as much as the Malays. In fact, if the NEP is not a race-based policy, it will achieve economic development for all races fairly and effectively.

Imagine if the NEP only achieves economic success for the Malays and the Indians are the new poor, as they are now and as they always have been, what will the government come up with? Another NEP for Indians? There will always be poor people. Will the NEP be the Never Ending Policy, a great excuse for corrupt people to put their grubby hands into the public till?

Away with the NEP and rename it the MEP - Malaysian Equity Plan - for all Malaysians. If more Malays are poor then they will get the lion's share. It will serve as well as the NEP. Every race gets a fair share of help from the government, which really is taxpayers' money. The government has no money which does not belong to the people. Even Petronas belongs to the people - all Malaysians.

The Bersih and Hindraf marches and agitations are nothing more than the rakyat getting impatient with the administration that has failed to do a proper job of running the government for the people. I don't expect the politicians to sheepishly agree with the people but it is a matter of time until they have to change their ways. No one can kick against the trends of history and the people's thirst for justice.

Sedition is a scam idea in a democracy, an idea concocted by early royalists and colonialists to stifle dissent. At best, it is used during wartime against traitors that work with the enemy. But in a peaceful country like Malaysia, the Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act is another immoral tool in the political armoury used to repress the truth and justice.

I think people, especially Malaysians, need to realise that the system of government in the country is nothing short of a disgrace, a sham democracy that only exists to defraud the people because the people in power control all the major public institutions. Malaysians who support such dishonest practices are trading short-term benefits for long-term losses. Fifty years is a long time to be living under a curse.

When the Indian plight hits the international forum, Malaysia will be put in the spotlight. Allegations of abuse of power and other scandals will embarrass the nation and those responsible. There is no point in trying to scare people with the ISA and clamping down on their open talk because the world has changed. The world is an open stage and everything is laid bare for all to see, hear and discuss. It is impossible to hide the truth anymore.

The days of bad governance are numbered. When people no longer fear bullets, jails and threats, justice has arrived to deliver the people. The people themselves will greet justice in the streets, in the courts, in the media, in the Queen's palace because the spirit of the people under God is supreme.

The only way for any government to stay in power is to do good, act justly and to do away with all acts of dishonesty, corruption and bad management. Those who cannot resist the temptations of greed, the love of money and the lust of the flesh should stay away from government.

It is ludicrous to hear MIC chief S Samy Vellu talk of working within the system. Taking to the streets peacefully is the system. It may not be Samy Vellu's system but it is the people's. Samy Vellu has been in the corrupt system for too long. He has been ineffective in helping the Indians who cannot be accused for want of trying.

I know Indian friends who cannot even get a blue identity card even though they were born in this country. So much for your system, Mr Samy Vellu. Give the thousands of Indians still without their birthrights - their blue identity cards - and perhaps the Indians may think there even is a system.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/75254

It is pointless to talk about a religious state when the conduct of its administration is unreligious. Who would not support a good government that listens to the people and cares for their welfare? At the end of the day, all the protesters really want to achieve is a better country and a fair stake for every Malaysian. It is something Malaysians desperately need and support. The party that gets my vote is the party with upright and fair governance, not those who use power to cause us trouble.