Pakatan Rakyat leaders have condemned the police action to fire water cannons and tear gas on some 8,000 people taking part in a language protest march in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Parliamentary Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the police rough house tactics to clamp down legitimate dissent to uphold citizen rights revealed the ugly side of the Putrajaya administration.

anti ppsmi rally 070209 fru shooting tear-gas Acknowledging that the police have resorted to aggressive and intimidating tactics over the past year to suppress genuine public dissent, he said it simply revealed that the ruling Barisan Nasional were bad electoral losers.

"The Umno-led regime cannot accept the changes initiated by the people during the last general election," he told newsmen in Seberang Jaya today on the 1st anniversary of the 12th general election on March 8 last year.

"It’s a shame that the police had used tear gas and water cannons on laureates, educationists and thinkers for merely asking to change the medium of instruction for maths and science subjects from English to Malay," he said.

"It manifested the Umno-led regime’s intolerance and aggressive stance on legitimate views and opinions. The regime could not accept that the people wanted change," the Permatang Pauh MP pointed out.

Rounds of tear gas fired at crowd

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng described the police action as “simply unacceptable and overboard”, adding that the language march was citizen-oriented, not a political one.

"The police should have restrained themselves from using aggressive and intimidating methods to quell a peaceful march," he told newsmen after launching a free WiFi service in Seberang Jaya today.

anti ppsmi rally 070209 tear-gas During yesterday’s march from Masjid Negara to Istana Negara in the federal capital, police cordoned off the road leading to the palace, firing rounds of tear gas at the crowd as they approached the palace.

The march was organised by the coalition against the teaching of science and maths in English (GMP), known by its Malay name as Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI, a coalition of 14 NGOs.

Some of its pro-tem committee members include opposition politicians.

Two GMP leaders – 76-year-old national laureate, A Samad Said, and former Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka director Hassan Ahmad - managed to get past police cordon to hand the coalition’s memorandum to the King.

A Samad was seen choking from the tear gas and had to be aided by several individuals towards the palace.

"This is what we got in order to save our language," Samad said.

anti ppsmi rally 070209 tear gas The memorandum states that the people are seeking royal intervention on the controversial policy, which is said to be implemented at the expense of mother tongue education.

Supporting the call made by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that the language issue should be resolved sooner than later, Lim questioned the authorities’ intention to quell a genuine public request to change an education policy.

"What’s wrong for the people to seek a change of the medium to teach maths and science from English to Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil?" asked the DAP secretary-general.