'You may try to instil fear in our hearts, but what we see is fear in your eyes. Fear of justice. Fear of freedom. Fear of the people's voice.'

Uthaya, 108 others arrested to quash HRP rally

Cala: Why is there this fear of this man, P Uthayakumar? Followers of Hindraf are not known to have damaged either public or private properties in their many past demonstrations.

Besides, judging from his past modus operandi, Uthayakumar is a lonely man, just like Ong Tee Keat in some ways (see how other opposition parties are not with Uthayakumar). So why is there a fear of this man? The police may rob him of his temporary freedom and make him physically immobile, but you cannot take away his mind.

The interpretation of right and wrong is something there for all to see, a sort of "social fact". No amount of effort to hide it away in whatever form will solve the problem of the marginalised and disenfranchised Indian community. See Egypt. See Libya.

As the saying goes, no regime can last forever, much less the oppressive ones. Should we allow protests? Peaceful protest is a form of expression allowed for in any democratic system. Not to allow it goes against the spirit of democracy where ultimately it is encumbered upon the government to look after its citizenry.

But the true meaning of democracy is illusive given the nature of political agents bent to interpret rules, reinterpret rules to meet their selfish ends; tasks even in the West find hard to control.

Despite the many shortcomings, Hayek (1979, cited in Gunning, 2004) has this to say: "Democracy is an ideal worth fighting for to the utmost, because it is our only protection against tyranny. Though democracy is not freedom, it is one of the most important safeguards of freedom.

"As the only method of peaceful change of government yet discovered, it is one of those paramount through negative values, comparing to sanitary precautions against the plague, of which we are hardly aware while they are effective, but the absence of which may be deadly".

Dev: This country belongs to the rakyat, but clearly this idea is not in the heads of those in power. You may block roads, and arrest individuals, but change hearts you may not.

You may try to instil fear in our hearts, but what we see is fear in your eyes. Fear of justice. Fear of freedom. Fear of the people's voice.

Anticommunalist: It is very sad that after contributing to nearly two centuries to Malaysia's development, Indian Malaysians have to go through all this wretched racism.

Isa@1penyu: Everywhere, demonstrations start with the word non-violence, but they can suddenly turn violent. Of course, the demonstrators will say the Special Branch and plainclothes officers instigate the violence.

I have seen it before: when tensions run high, it does not need intervention from outside to start violence. Feel free to demonstrate, go to the Shah Alam stadium and demonstrate. But not in KLCC or the city centre where you are bound to inconvenience the public. Others, too, have rights.

What Hindraf, a banned party, is doing is against the law. We have been too tolerant, and that's why they have the guts to act.

Not Confused: Protesting in Shah Alam stadium or similar place will not have the same impact. You need to be high profile to make your point otherwise this half-baked government will not listen.

The Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) are just like Hosni Mubarak's secret police - claim to be upholding the law, but are going against the constitution.

It's sad that Perkasa and BN keep banging on about following the constitution, but only when they say it is right. Otherwise, just throw it away.

Ape man: All this would not have taken place if the author of the book ‘Interlok', Abdullah Hussain, wrote something that was beneficial to Form 5 students instead of insulting their parents and grandparents.

What's wrong with Hindraf going for a protest when the book itself is teaching students to fight in school? Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should understand this. Otherwise, go back to Standard One and give yourself a good education.

Mat: The ugly face of fascism shows itself again. Instead of handling the issue rationally, the Umno-led fascist government is cracking down hard on the legitimate issues of its citizens.

Keturunan Malaysia: What a joke. On the one hand, we have PM Najib Razak portraying himself like a wise and worldly statesman advising Libya's Muammar Gaddafi not to use force on the Libyan protesters, but here back at home, he and his cousin, Hishammuddin Hussein, are happily making a bad joke of our times.

Zz2XX: When Umno's racist party members protest and shout racial slurs, it's alright. The Umno police will be there to give these party members protection during their protest. But anyone else who dares to challenge Umno is handcuffed and dragged into the lock-up. This country is becoming worse than Libya.

Ablastine: May I remind the Umno government that about 40 percent of the people in Malaysia belongs to the minority groups. If you continue to govern in the racist ways that you have always been, you will see many more demonstrations and when these demonstrations swells to millions, how many do you think you can effectively arrest.

Even Libya will fall to people's power. You think the police force or for that matter the army can withstand the wrath of the people? Are you going to shoot 11 million of your people on the streets?

Geronimo: I don't condone what the police did. It just goes to prove that we are nothing more than a fascist state. For those of you who are blaming Pakatan Rakyat and other NGOs for not supporting the cause, this is a non-starter. We can argue about this the whole day and we still would not have arrived anywhere.

As a Christian, I would like to know: Where was Hindraf when the sanctity of our churches were violated and burnt? Where was Hindraf when the government confiscated our bibles and prevented us from using the word "Allah"?

Where was Hindraf when the Selangor MB and some of his colleagues were threatened with death when they tried to re-locate a Hindu temple for the convenience of the community. Where was Hindraf when the cow-head incident took place? Where, where, where?

Stop casting Pakatan in the same mould as Umno/BN. Pakatan is trying its best to maintain a multiracial platform, but Hindraf is pushing its racist agenda. Water and oil do not mix.

Ferdtan: We stand with the Hindraf rally to fight end of racism. The rally was peaceful and the police had no business to stop them and arrest some of their participants. There is no way HRP (Human Rights Party) under the leadership of Uthayakumar can make any headway against Umno without some support from Pakatan and other races.

In order to serve the interests of HRP, Pakatan, like-minded NGOs and the rakyat like us, we hope they can come to an amiable agreement to fight racism together through the ballot box. To have a win-win formula - some sacrifices are needed to be made.

HRP is quite potent and in politics, and the reality is that you don't choose friends; you choose allies who have the same aspiration - to kick out BN out of Putrajaya. On our part, we shall be glad that two-party system will evolved from the victory.

Manjit Bhatia: One more episode that confirms that democracy in Malaysia dies a long time ago. One more episode that confirms that Malaysians, especially the non-Malays, live in a totalitarian state. And, sadly, one more episode that demonstrates, yet again, that most Malaysians will not have learnt the lessons of contemporary history and not vote for Umno-BN.

And one more episode that illustrates yet again that unless majority of Chinese and Malays join the Indians in a mass popular protest such as this, nothing will change for the better in Malaysia. One more episode that suggests that the Indians are divided amongst themselves, and that all three races are as segregated now as they have been since 1969.

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