The government-owned RTM is at it again. A few weeks ago, it messed up big time when it tried to run down my credibility as malaysiakini 's editor by accusing me of fabricating a news story I wrote five years ago (See [#1] Demonising malaysiakini [/#] , Feb 16).

This time, it dug even further back into my past and came up with a footage of myself and malaysiakini 's chief executive officer Premesh Chandran protesting against the Earth Summit in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, yes, nine years ago.

By showing the two of us being dragged away by the United Nations police from the convention hall where government leaders met to "save" the world, RTM sought to cast aspersions on our "radical" pasts.

Perhaps the state-owned TV stations should illuminate their viewers further regarding the protests of hundreds of youth and students around the world who, like Chandran and myself, gathered in Rio in 1992.

The Earth Summit sought to address both environment and development issues, and hoped that by doing so, governments could create equitable and binding global agreements that would bring about genuine development and prevent further environmental degradation.

By the time the meeting began, the various youth and students organisations found that the summit's agenda ignored and excluded development issues, such as unequal trade, debilitating Third World debt, the inequalities between rich and poor nations, militarisation and human rights.

Window dressing

As a result, the Earth Summit would only be a window dressing to hoodwink the world that our leaders were "concerned" with the burning issues of environment and development, and that "something" was being done.

But in reality, what was actually being done was the continuation in the exploitation of the Third World. For instance, while governments were discussing about the environment at the Earth Summit, at another global forum, the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs - the precursor of the controversial World Trade Organization - efforts were being made to liberalise trade.

We knew well then that free trade in an unequal world will benefit the rich and powerful, and will only lead to greater exploitation of our human and natural resources.

The Earth Summit was not the first time where development and environment issues were to be addressed at the global level. In the 1970s, the UN organised the Global Conference on Human Environment. Then, the youth demanded for a new production system which is not profit-orientated but people-orientated; the use of ecologically-sound technologies; a radical change in the relationship between the industrialised and Third World countries, all of which were more or less the same issues addressed by us in Rio.

We called a press conference during the summit to highlight these concerns, but we were promptly dragged away by the UN police, as seen on TV1 and TV2 over the past few days.

We had then said eloquently, and for some of us with strong emotions, that in our struggle for change in the Third World, we must forge a movement against the corrupt power elites in our countries and link arms with those in the rich world who are doing the same, so that together we can build a new world order which is based on justice, equality and democracy.

Otherwise, in 20 years, there will be yet another global summit, and another group of young people around the world screaming for the same changes we were demanding in 1992. The only difference is that by then it would be too late. And you guessed right - there will be another global meeting next year, the Earth Summit 2002.

Campaign against dictatorships

Indeed, RTM's staff should dig a little bit further into our pasts. They will find that both Chandran and myself had vigorously campaigned against racism in Australia where we did our university studies. Over the 1980s and early 1990s, we also worked with the student movements in the region in their campaign against dictatorships, which were then a common feature.

Among them were Indonesia's Suharto (and this included the campaign to free East Timor where Kamal Bamadhaj, one of our fellow activists, was killed by Indonesian troops when he was visiting Dili in 1991), Philippines' Ferdinand Marcos, Thailand's Suchinda Kraprayoon, China's Tiananmen crackdown, Burma's generals and Nepal's absolute monarchy.

Oh, yes, we also protested against the Operation Lallang crackdown where more than 100 Malaysians were detained under the draconian Internal Security Act and a number of newspapers were shut down by the government in 1987.

Not to forget, too, we also supported the Palestinian students' struggle against Zionism. Later, my personal interest in the Palestinian issue brought me to Jordan, Syria and Iraq, where I covered the Gulf War from Baghdad (unfortunately, my Malaysian passport would not allow me to visit my Palestinian friends in the occupied territories).

No, we are not ashamed of our past activism. Indeed, we are proud of it - that we have not lost our ideals and continue to feel strongly on issues of justice, human rights and abuse of power.

So far, RTM has ignored our call to make a correction and issue an apology for accusing me of fabricating news of the deaths of illegal immigrant detainees. And to think that our taxes go to paying these so-called journalists in RTM.

They should understand that journalists should only serve one master and it is certainly not some media czar in the Information Ministry. Our master is Truth. Indeed, they should be ashamed of themselves.