The refusal of the police to issue a permit for Awam's rally, 'Citizens Against Rape: Make Public Places Safe Towards A Violence-Free Community', are uncalled for and highly disappointing.

Every day we are bombarded with reports of women being raped, molested, tortured and murdered. One would think that the authorities would applaud Awam's initiative instead of putting a stop to it.

It has become the norm for Malaysian authorities to only pay lip service to issues of public concern instead of doing anything about these. Instead of offering their services to ensure the safety of the public during the march, the police seem to have taken the easy way out by cancelling the whole event.

The odd part is how the police actually refrained from issuing this permit so close to the date of the event. It's almost as if they didn't want the march to even take place.

It is disheartening that an NGO that is actually working to create awareness on an issue that is becoming a national concern has been shot down before it can initiate any change for the better.

Awam has from the very beginning made it known that this march was to be a peaceful gathering to allow Malaysian's to show that we care about this spate of heinous crimes afflicting women in this country.

The fact that we Malaysians can't even get a permit for a peaceful gathering doesn't say much for the so-called freedom of expression enshrined in the Federal Constitution.