“Everything the state says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.”

– Friedrich Nietzsche

They keep the light on because they want to break Maria Chin Abdullah, physically and psychologically. Deprive a person of sleep, intimidate the “client”, harass, humiliate, and pile on the pressure. Use her family, friends and her own words against her. Attempt to destroy her emotionally and make her detention a lesson to those who would want to “attack” the Umno state.

People like Jamal ‘red-shirt’ Md Yunos will never be in this position for obvious reasons. Instead, a mother and political activist has to pay the price. Politicians who made speeches at the rally are exempted, of course. No doubt, they pick up the usual suspects, the folks they know whose arrests won’t cause much interference, but the real catch has always been Maria Chin.

If you think about it, the red-shirts are the real terrorist organisation. A state-sanctioned ethno-religious cult that through violence and intimidation stalked Malaysians who chose to exercise their democratic rights. With one swipe, everything the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) did that was professional and ethical during the Bersih rally has been destroyed by Umno potentates for their cause to maintain hegemony.

There is an overt element of cowardice in detaining Maria under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma). Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed says former prime minister and de facto opposition leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad could face arrest, but Umno is worried that the former strongman may be setting a trap for the Umno regime to gain public sympathy.

Of course, Maria poses no such traps or threats. An ordinary citizen, she has no power but what her supporters give. She has no political allies that could move the internal mechanism of Umno power. She has no influence within Umno that would caution against action taken against her.

If the people are really sick and tired of Bersih as Umno claims, then why is the state going after Maria? If numbers do not matter as claimed by minister Salleh Said Keruak, then why detain an activist and mother who led the rally?

The only reason why Maria Chin Abdullah is treated like a terrorist is because far from being a threat to public order, she is a threat to Umno order. Like the thousands who walked the streets on Saturday, we were showing our contempt for how this country is governed. We were showing our contempt for the leadership of this country. Were we violent? Were we a threat to public order? Were we an economic threat?

When Puad asks, “Is Bersih a registered political organisation?”, he is not only being mendacious but also clearly has no understanding of the law he is referencing. However, Umno in its own dumb way is attempting to set up its own trap. What did Puad think by his misreading of the law, that folks will be flummoxed and suddenly make the mistake of claiming that Bersih is a political organisation?

Mind you, I personally could care less if Bersih is partisan as I explained in a piece to the run-up to the rally: “Would it have been more credible to remain silent in the face of the systemic breakdown and merely be content with advocating electoral reform? Would it have been credible to not align the organisation with like-minded organisations, individuals and political parties and using the resources of those groups and individuals to mobilise not only their bases but also non-aligned citizens? Would it have been more credible to not ask for systemic reforms that are integral to electoral reform?”

What the Umno state wants

Some folks argue that even Jamal should not be treated the way how the Umno state is treating Maria. However the problem is, the reality is, the cold hard truth has always been that the thugs, the vandals, the people who have no respect for human rights, for civility, for harmonious coexistence, especially here in Malaysia, have never been treated like those who have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and now most probably Sosma for their activism.

Instead people like Jamal will continue spreading their filth, getting a new gig for whatever outsourced work the regime needs done while it pays lip service here and abroad about how a wonderful moderate Muslim country Malaysia is.

And while I realise that this is the “politically correct” way to approach human rights, I for one am sick and tired of the way how the zealots, bigots and corrupt weasels of the state get a get-out-jail card while average citizens have to contend with the boots on their throats and the gloating visages of those who do real harm to the country and democracy all under the guise of ‘bangsa’ (race) and ‘agama’ (religion).

While Maria’s children and friends have to deal with the consequences of speaking up for Malaysians, the friends and family of the thugs who bully and are a real threat to public order, with their threats, corruption and bigotry go on living indulgently, secure in the knowledge that who and what they are is sanctioned by the state.

When I think of Maria Chin and indeed all those who have been held under laws such as Sosma and ISA, I go back to what the great Said Zahari said: “I would ask myself if I wanted to sacrifice principles for the sake of my own family. I believed that I have to make some sacrifices and that I had chosen to do that at the expense of their happiness. As my friend (former Universiti Malaya lecturer KS Jomo) would say, that is the ghost that’ll haunt me until today. And I accept that.”

This is what the Umno state wants. They want people to be afraid. To believe of the inevitability of the Umno hegemon. To believe that things cannot change. That change will not be permitted. This is why Maria Chin is detained under Sosma.

When I last wrote about ‘chairman’ Najib, I said: “The Najib regime have implied that not only are there local actors in this elaborate conspiracy but there are also foreign elements, which includes Washington and, yes, even the Jews. While the Najib regime continues to maintain that the prime minister has been cleared of any wrongdoing locally, he has never once brought a civil suit against any of his foreign critics or attempted to clear his name by litigation.

“Instead, what he has done is continue the narrative that his enemies seek to subvert democracy and supplant his legitimate leadership through unlawful and immoral means. The reality is that there is no massive conspiracy.”

The only conspiracy, the only subversion of the democratic process, the only threat to stability and public order, is when the regime attacks its citizens for exercising their democratic right. In the end, what Umno will do is make terrorist of us all.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.