-Thevarajan, Suaram Co0-ordinator, October 8, 2013. 

After the exposure of the scandalous statements by the Home Minister Zahid Hamidi to the UMNO faithful in Malacca on 6 September 2013, we call on the Prime Minister to sack the Home Minister forthwith.

First, we would like to applaud Malaysiakini  for not bending to the minister’s threat to all the journalists at the function that he would personally close down their newspapers if they dared report his shocking statements. True to form, the mainstream press have failed in their professional integrity by succumbing to the minister’s threats and kept the Malaysian public ignorant about a minister who has shown himself to be:

i.                    linked to and encouraging the Malay-based underworld;

ii.                  unabashed racist who has exposed his partiality toward the Malay-based gangs and stereotyped the Chinese as gangster heads and Indians as gang operators;

iii.              flouting human rights and rule of law by admitting to a “shoot first” policy by the police.

1. Zahid supports Three Line Gang

Although this Three Line Gang has been listed under the list of 49 gangs banned by the Home Ministry, Zahid has been exposed as a crypto-supporter of this Malay-based gang, saying they are not real thugs and merely “festival gangsters”, whatever that means. On a more ominous note, the Home Minister has been caught on video coaxing these gangsters to carry on “doing what has to be done”.

We call for the setting up of a special enquiry to investigate the personnel in this Three Line Gang, their connections with UMNO and the Home Minister and how long their links have existed.

Is there any wonder the problem of public security in Malaysia has become so intractable when we know now that there is connivance between the Home Minister and others in high places with such gangsters.

2. Zahid’s Obnoxious Racism 

In this video recording, the Home Minister instigates his UMNO audience with racist imputations by stereotyping gangsters and crimes, attributing the gangs to be headed by Chinese, the operators to be Indians and the victims to be Malays.

Such ignorant and bigoted prejudices show that Zahid is not only unfit to be a minister but should be dealt with under the law for his rabid racism.

3. Zahid confirms police’ “shoot first” policy

At last, the Home Minister has confirmed what SUARAM has alleged for years, namely that the Malaysian police have a “shoot first” policy which has led to the continual increase in deaths through police shootings. Zahid said that “if there was enough evidence, the police would shoot first”.

This exposes the Home Minister’s complete ignorance of the rule of law and he has effectively denied the fundamental rights of individuals guaranteed under the Federal Constitution. The basic principle of someone’s innocence until proven guilty is lost on a Home Minister. His statement also violates Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of which Malaysia affirmed at the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993.

This gaffe by the Home Minister calls for a complete overhaul of the standard operating procedure of the Malaysian police force before more people are shot dead.

It is indeed a sad day for all Malaysians that in this day and age and while the Prime Minister pays lip service to reform and transformation, we have a Home Minister who secretly supports gangsters, who is a rabid racist and who does not understand the meaning of the rule of law.

SUARAM calls on civil society to mount  a campaign calling for the immediate sacking of Zahid Hamidi as Home Minister.