Anyone who hasn't been holed up in a seminar room in search of knowledge for the last few days in, say, Port Dickson or elsewhere in the country - except, if y'know what I mean, Kuala Terengganu and Kota Baru - would have, after successive glances at the mainstream media, a grim impression that an assortment of roughies comprising lepak boys and bohsia girls, school drop-outs, bouncers, glue sniffers, disgruntled revolutionaries, and representatives of the Underworld, is about to descend upon the excitement-filled capital city of Kuala Lumpur and subsequently converge into the sanctity of the National Mosque tomorrow.

Why, no less than Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had already unleashed early this week a statement of censure and warning - and duly reported by the media - to peace-loving Malaysians that supporters and sympathisers of deposed Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were planning to hold a "rally" to "remember something", i.e. the first anniversary of his imprisonment.

These people, Mahathir insisted, were dangerous as they, armed with sticks, Molotov cocktails, and other weapons, were bent on beating and harming the police, the protector of law and order.

Predictably, his dire warning was then echoed via the mainstream media by a chorus of condemnation from a number of Cabinet ministers, among others, against what was depicted as an illegal gathering that had all the elements of violence and chaos, the repercussions of which could very well bring the entire country to the brink of political instability, and, of course, economic disaster and uncertainty.

Also joining in the fray is Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Badawi who sternly warned that the police would take every possible precaution to maintain peace in the country. His statement was then further reinforced by KL City Police Chief Kamarudin Ali who pledged to take tough measures, including arresting organisers of the gathering.

Education Minister Musa Mohamed, too, issued a warning to students and teachers not to get involved in an "illegal gathering" that could easily erupt into violence. To be sure, he vowed to take action against those who ignored his warning, presumably the call for reformasi is still attractive to many students and teachers alike.

Apart from the government ministers, a number of individuals representing their respective organisations of similar wavelengths were also given platform to air their views pertaining to this matter via the mainstream media.

TV3, for instance, interviewed a leader of a youth organisation who advised the Malaysian people not to participate in the gathering because, he insisted, there were still other legitimate avenues for people to express their grievances and opinions.

In another instance, on a TV1 programme that reviews the day's newspapers, the "reviewers" also highlighted the issue of the planned gathering. Here they also interviewed a minister in the Prime Minister's Department to give his views regarding the issue.

He maintained that it was wrong of people to congregate in the National Mosque for purposes other than "religious". Besides, he contended, the mosque happens to be in an area where there are institutions and buildings that can attract many tourists. In other words, such a gathering would be bad for tourism, a very earthy attitude indeed.

Although there were small attempts to provide little space for people associated, directly or indirectly, with the gathering in the mainstream media, these were largely overwhelmed by those reports that painted a negative, collective picture of the gathering organisers, the opposition, and demonstrators.

For instance, the New Straits Times last Tuesday did publish an explanation from the president of KeADILan, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, about the planned gathering, but this small item was buried in one of the inside pages. Besides, others directly involved in the planning of the gathering were not interviewed, thereby depriving fellow Malaysians of the knowledge of what their responses were to the accusations levelled against them by government politicians.

Moreover, one would have wished that the gathering organisers, human rights activists and social commentators be given sufficient space in the media to discuss and debate the right of individuals to peaceful assembly and peaceful demonstration as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, and which also forms part and parcel of democratic life.

What we're trying to say here is that the stinging condemnations and allegations of the political leaders, and with the connivance of the media, have the cumulative effect of building an image of the opposition and other quarters critical of the government as trouble-makers. In other words, they have been demonised as rabble rousers, chaos-causing agents, self-serving demonstrators, raving and ranting rioters, etc.

Such a construction of social reality only serves to highlight an intended binary relationships of say, peace vs violence; order vs chaos; legal vs illegal; love vs hatred; and good vs evil - with the opposition and other groups critical of the government almost always portrayed in a negative light. In other words, the opposition and others are made to appear through the mainstream media in particular as equivalent to the forces of darkness.

And once they are "assigned" to such a position in society, it is, therefore, to be "expected" that such groups be accorded the "appropriate treatment" such as tear-gassing, baton-beating, political marginalisation, and even detention without trial.

Having said that, does such a tainted image befit these groups? Have they been prone to violence in recent past? Are they so violent and militant that they could actually shake the whole country into social and political turmoil?

Sure, these groups aren't totally flawless, and there were reports of isolated incidents of aggressive behaviour of a few members of these groups, particularly in the early phase of the street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur.

But even then, there were allegations of involvement of agents provocateur in a number of incidents. While the media may have succeeded to some degree in smearing the image of the opposition and other critical elements in our society, this journalistic sleight of hand also has given rise to other serious implications.

For one, the government, which often preaches to other countries about justice, fairness, freedom and even democracy, comes out as one that isn't democratic and cannot tolerate criticisms and dissent at home in the form of writing, debate, and (as a last resort) street demonstration.

Two, such journalistic bias conjures an image of a 42-year-old Malaysia that is so politically and economically fragile that a street protest or a political get-together, whose organisers promised to be peaceful, could actually push the whole country into disarray. Can a country such as this, then, survive in the face of globalisation, for instance?

It is, therefore, urgent for the government, and the mainstream media as well, to take stock of the situation and take remedial measures so that they could avoid themselves from being perceived by concerned Malaysians and the rest of the world as "demons" who are preying on would-be peaceful demonstrators.