Home Affairs Deputy Minister Zainal Abidin Zin today challenged the opposition to consider what the country would be like without the Internal Security Act (ISA).

"Perhaps the detention of 4,190 (people) since 1960 may seem to be a harsh and a cruel act by the government, but has the group who oppose the ISA ever thought of the effects and dangers if this law is not in place?" he queried in Parliament.

"Can the 22 million people in this country enjoy peace and stability and live harmoniously if we simply dismiss the need for the ISA?" he added, during the house's question and answer session.

Zainal was responding to PAS Member of Parliament (MP) for Setiu, Che Gani Che Ambak, who asked the ministry to state the total number of people detained under the ISA since its enforcement and how many are still detained to date.

Zainal said since enforcement of the law in 1960, the government has conducted 30 security operations and out of the 4,190 detained, 78 were Sabahans held for forging fake identity cards and bringing illegal immigrants into the country.

Currently, he said, there are 69 detainees being housed in the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak for a period of two to four years under the ISA.

Opposition agenda

Zainal reiterated the relevancy of the ISA and said the law which allows for detention without trial should be viewed positively as it has been proven to be effective in maintaining peace and security in the country.

He said the ISA was a preventive measure and would only be invoked after the ministry was satisfied with the reasons for detention.

He reported that the ISA has been effective in handling cases such as the "Al-Arqam, Al-Ma'unah, national identity card forgers and refomasi activists".

He said sensitivities between the races in a multi-racial country had been protected and unity among the races was now one of the country's strength.

Zainal stressed that when the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) agreed to abandon their armed struggle on Dec 2, 1989, it did not automatically mean that the country was safe from threats and dangerous elements.

He also said the ISA has often been on the agenda of the opposition especially during election campaign time. He cited the campaign by Keadilan in the recent Likas by-election in Sabah.

"However, the rakyat who love peace have supported Barisan Nasional (BN). This means the rakyat directly support all the laws in this country and has given BN the mandate to enforce such laws," he said.

To this, BN MP for Sri Gading Mohamad Aziz said that BN's continued ruling of the country should be a 'knock-out' sign to Keadilan.

He echoed Zainal's explanation that the ISA was a law meant for security purposes and not to oppress opposition members.

Top priority

At this point, Che Gani interjected and condemned the ISA as an "ancient, cruel, uncivilised and haprak (useless) law".

"None of the reasons for ISA detention such as usage of bombs, Molotov cocktails and rocket launchers have been proven in an open court," said Che Gani.

He then queried how long the government planned to keep the ISA to which Zainal replied that "perhaps the ISA will be around until the opposition comes into power".

"But as long as BN rules, the country's security is our top priority," he said.