Police take note: UMNO to play dangerous

malaysiatoday
By Little Bird

I had an interesting chat with my UMNO colleagues recently. Some of them claim to be more connected. They said that when the Hindraf boys demonstrated at Batu Caves, the UMNO gangster network went into high alert.

At a hasty brain-storming session (well THEY think they have brains lah) the UMNO boys suggested to bring in the Pekida gangsters to stir up trouble and frighten the Indians. But police video footage of the Hindraf protesters showed some scary things for which the gutless UMNO boys have no stomach.

Unknown to many Malaysians, some Hindraf supporters were seen carrying cans of kerosene. The kerosene was meant to set themselves on fire. They were prepared to immolate themselves in public to protest the poor treatment they are getting. The police video also showed Hindraf protesters removing their shirts and standing bare-bodied in front of the police water cannons which were spraying chemical-laced irritants. They too were making plain that they could take the pain. Another scary clip showed one protester grabbing a policeman's truncheon and violently hitting himself on the head - to tell the policeman that he was not afraid of getting hit.

In short, the Indians were prepared to die. Not having any real stake in the country, they had nothing to lose. They were prepared to die. The Malays have a history of running amok when their rice bowl is threatened. But to their credit, the Malays have no history of seriously persecuting other people. Hence, the Indian grievances, when they are real, have an effect on UMNO. Unfortunately, it took the Indians 40 years to protest. As for Pekida, they are not real gangsters. They are just unemployed bums looking for easy money, second wives and having a good time. They are quite gutless, much like UMNO too.

Well the Hindraf protests have worked. At least, in public announcements, almost all the Hindraf demands have been ceded by the Government: scholarships for Indians, more university places for Indians, more Government jobs for Indians, etc. It is possible that the five jailed Hindraf leaders will also be released before the general elections.

The other bit of interesting news is that the UMNO boys I spoke to are NOT going to vote for the BN at this coming elections. They too are fed up with the imbecilic Prime Minister and his total lack of leadership skills. They too are afraid of his son-in-law who is fully in control of the father-in-law. And UMNO is aware that many people will be turning their backs on the party this time around.

UMNO is therefore preparing for the possibility that they may lose their 2/3 majority and more. They may be planning more dirty tricks to overcome the poor results at the polls. Rigging the postal votes may not be enough this time. The UMNO boys are talking of large scale rigging of election returns, more 'May 13' threats, and using more money to buy votes.

Another scenario is to 'do a Musharaf'. President Musharaf arrested and locked up over 5,000 opposition members, judges, lawyers, writers and others who were opposed to him. Pakistan goes to the polls with no more opposition. It may be too late to do this in Malaysia - if the elections are being held in March.

However, if the threats to release more secret videos appear real, Abdullah Badawi may be forced to delay the elections until next year. Then the UMNO boys will have more time to plan how to silence and remove the opposition. The use of the ISA then is not impossible. They may even want to shoot the birds.

But it is more likely that the elections will be held in March. UMNO is also preparing for a post-election debacle. If they lose their 2/3 majority or more, they may still embark on the same dirty tricks like the 'May 13' scenario, declaring an Emergency, suspending Parliament, and so on. The recent threat by the MCA at PJ Utara that the BN losing the elections may bring about the May 13 type situation was not an empty threat. They are really considering using such dirty tricks and playing such dangerous games. The police had better take note.

The protests by the Hindraf and to a certain extent the Bersih rally too have checkmated UMNO and the BN. They are now in a 'mati akal' situation. In 1969, the Malays were really poor and downtrodden, in their own land. To add insult to injury, the Malays were told to 'balik kampong'. That was when they ran amok and showed everyone who was in charge. For the past 38 years the Malays have been trying to turn the situation around. But maybe at the cost of repeating the same wrongs they suffered pre-1969.

We cannot tell the Indians and the Chinese to just 'balik kampong'. Something is bound to explode. Hindraf is just the beginning. This story, like this article, is not complete. Let's see what happens.