Terrorists in Police’ clothing I CAN TAKE ANYMORE MORE BEERS PLEASE I NEED TO GET DRUNK

Most have seen NAJIB as an unprincipled opportunist – conniving and duplicitous Munafik

Colourful characters are plenty in politics. But at the top of the global heap we have some leaders who take eccentricity to a whole new level. They may or may not be part of the so-called ‘Axis of Evil’ but they definitely seem to be part of the ‘Axis of the Bizarre’. Here’s my take on the weird species that lead some countries.

WHY does the ruling coalition need the services of Vincent Tan ? Because politics obsesses about power to the exclusion of everything else, including to what end that power. The ruling coalition needs an advisory body to tell it what to do.

They’re sneaky. They lie. They’re evil. They think everyone else is an animal and therefore without souls. They’re the most despicable people on the planet to say the least. These evil doers are behind Hollywood, the porn industry, race mixing,the homosexual agenda …. you name it … and they’re the ones orchestrating

Azly Rahman

...The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he or she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says will be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he or she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he or she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent her or him.

- Miranda Rights, USA

I write with sadness of the young man Aminulrasyid (left) shot to death in perhaps a complex situation he was caught in. His life was cut short, may his soul be blessed, but there is a larger issue of rights and responsibilities we adults are plagued with, needing reflection and resolution.

"Any mans' death diminishes me, for I am involved in Mankind" as the poet John Donne said; what more that the death of a child barely 15 and yet to explore the ways of the world?

Indeed accounts of the rude and untimely passing of Aminurasyid indicated that he was caught in a series of unfortunate circumstances, most of them beyond his control and the ability for a child his age to handle.

Sneaking out late at night, on his way to a watch a football game, and a good Samaritan he is in helping a friend with a flat tire, and the incident with another car and the fallen biker, and ultimately the round of ammunition that riddled him in the back of his head like a hard-core criminal - all these are poignantly narrated in a growing number of blogs and on facebook. His friend who supposedly pulled out of the car to surrender, I watched his mother in anguish flanked by a politician on youtube , clearing the air of any misconception of what kind of child Aminulrasyid was.

What is ailing our nation? Where can we seek protection henceforth? As taxpayers and citizens who have surrendered our Natural rights to the state, where do we seek help when those entrusted with the tools and machinery to protect have betrayed us?

In the case of Aminulrasyid, this is not just a question of human rights education lacking in the police, but also perhaps failure to adhere to standard procedures in dealing with a possible suspect.

Lack of proper patrolling

A larger issue is the lack of proper patrolling of the neighbourhood; as a consequence of a weak or non-existent local government such that Mat Rempits run rampant. Had our local governments been strong and a deep sense of community action culture evolved, and that the police together with the citizens of the local government been more efficient in ensuring vigilance, we may never see Mat Rempits harassing the innocent and under-age children riding motorbikes and automobiles illegally. Ironically we see the highest level of efficiency and deployment of the police force displayed when there are political rallies; even when they are conducted peacefully.

Why do we not see consistency in neighbourhood watch?

Kids are kids -- they try everything for thrills but it is the system that ought to have been built that would deal with juvenile differently than how we deal with adults. Aren't the law enforcers supposed to be well-trained to look at the situation and to exercise the best form of restrain based on sound and wise rather than trigger-happy judgment? Have we not given our police officers proper training in criminal law?

I supposed we have deteriorated a long time ago in this area of enforcement. Police brutality is a trained behaviour, profiling as well. Miranda rights (rights to remain silent when arrested, etc.) such as in the United States may not be available in the case of Malaysians? Must we continue to see suspects being shot at first and asked questions later? Have we not forgotten Kugan, Teoh Beng Hock, and others who have been brutalized before their tragic death?

Solace in hope

In a country like Malaysia in which her citizens are getting weary about personal safety, in a land where crime rates are rising and one hears cases of police brutality and deaths in police custody all too often now, we often seek solace in hope - that things are going to get better perhaps with a better government that truly cares about the rakyat and upholds the rule of law.

I believe schools should start teaching kids about rights and about street law - and also about not giving or taking bribes. This might be a long haul; longer than it took the apartheid regime of South Africa to imprison Nelson Mandela (left).

Aminulrasyid is no longer with us. Some may argue that he should not have sneaked out to do whatever it was he wanted to do. But kids are kids. We all were there once. We wanted the freedom and to do certain things we wanted to do so much - like joining friends to watch our favourite football team, or to test run the new X-Box or Playstation, to check out facebook pages, or to just chill, harmlessly. We all have tried that and up with through the experiences when we were fifteen or sixteen.

But for Aminulrasyid, that was it. A short and happy life of a child turning fifteen. May his soul be blessed. Let us all pray for him - and for our nation.

OUR USUAL REMINDER, FOLKS:

While the opinion in the article is mine,

the comments are yours;

present them rationally and ethically.

AND -- ABOLISH THE ISA -- NOW!

BY MUNEERA SHARIFF GARDEZI, JUNE 9, 2010

	Oscar could be you

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

“You will kill 10 of our men, and we will kill 1 of yours, and in the end it will be you who tire of it.” - Ho Chi Minh

We’re never told secrets at a young age. No one tells us that our noses are in fact intact when an uncle pinches them off. No one tells us that tooth fairies are just our parents slipping loose change under our pillows. And, no one ever tells us that a police officer can take your life just as easily as a murderous criminal. We hear about these secrets as we get older though, and we wish they were still secrets because the truth is much harder to swallow. Ironically, the ones that are meant to protect us are the ones breaking apart our communities, destroying families and killing the innocent by the dozens. It’s not much different than hunting season, except the game are people of color.

On February 4, 1999, Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant, was walking home in New York City when he was accosted by four police officers who thought he fit the description of a serial rapist, who had already been caught unbeknownst to the cops. Diallo put his hand in his jacket to pull out his wallet for identification when he was shot a total of 41 times. The officers were tried, but as they were seen to be acting out of self-defense, they were acquitted.

More recently, a 22 year old named Oscar Grant was shot in the back point blank as he was on the ground by an BART transit police officer, Johannes Mehserle, in Oakland, California. What Diallo didn’t benefit from were the multiple camera phones that caught this incident. Immediately after the execution, videos surfaced all over the internet and spread virally. The response was unanimous – this was racial profiling, police brutality, and a murder.

These two incidents are not isolated. In fact, they represent a larger spectrum of issues that shed light on the power dynamics of our authority figures. Domestically and internationally, force has been used by people in power to maintain the status quo and prevent any sort of movement of marginalized groups. Over the last few days we have seen how this display of abusive power has manifested itself through the Israel Defense Force's (IDF) attack on foreign aide providers heading to Gaza.

For people of color, this means that unfounded fear and systemic racism will perpetuate violence on our people. Systems that are in place will cover these crimes up and continue to tell us that we as a people do not have the right to live freely, that we do not have ownership of our bodies, and that ultimately anything can be done to us, in broad daylight, and nothing can be done about it.

Muslims are not immune to this pandemic. Usman Chaudhary, a 21 year old autistic Pakistani-American male, was shot multiple times by Los Angeles police for allegedly carrying a knife in his pocket. More commonly, Muslims continue to be targeted by the FBI and CIA by similar coercive tactics that are aimed to censor, detail and eventually deport Muslims. Recent reports by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have shown that the number of Muslims being contacted by the FBI in Southern California has dramatically risen. The Islamophobia in the west has created a space where fear and hostility towards Muslims is socially and systemically accepted.

Oscar Grant is representative of the many people of color who are victims of the power abuse from authority figures within and outside the United States. However, unlike the unheard cries of those that are no longer with us, Grant’s case may act as the first step in bringing hope to this lone lineage of injustice. This is the first time a police officer is being tried for murder, and that means that the alleged suspect will be treated as a civilian, not an official protected by a broader police federation. If the trial convicts Mehserle, then it will forever set a precedent that there are repercussions for a police officer’s actions, that they will no longer be able to hide behind their badge. They could potentially realize that they are here to protect the community, not private property.

In this particular case, the police officers trial was moved from Oakland to Los Angeles because the Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris determined that the jury in Oakland would be biased due to their prior knowledge of the incident. The system found a way to move it to Los Angeles where hardly anyone has talked about the trial, let alone provided support for it. Grant's trial begins on Thursday, June 10th.

Still, our systems more often reinforce these acts of oppression on us everyday and deny us our right to exist and resist. These same power dynamics exist internationally and can be seen in the recent Gaza float flotilla massacre. Right now we are begging the world to internationally say "This is enough" to Israel and take a stand against what is happening. We are begging Obama to put Israel on a proverbial time out. We are frustrated at the fact that our money supports apartheid conditions on the Palestinian people. We, as a community, are demonstrating our unity as we protest against these abuses of power.

But in the same way, there needs to be unity against racial profiling, police violence, and the silencing of the injustices in our streets at home. Oscar Grant’s story has to spread and there must be ongoing support from us as a community for the trial against Mehserle to give justice to Oscar Grant and to show that any oppression we witness will not be tolerated. We have the power, we control the movement and the resistance, and we hold the court of public opinion.

Movements like this are not a waste of time. They can eventually force a change in greater public consciousness. We need to push this movement forward in all ways possible for this upcoming trial, for the people in Gaza, for the people on the floatilla, for Oscar Grant's family, and for our children who deserve a better truth.

Muneera Shariff Gardezi is a Pakistani Muslim who lives in Los Angeles. She is committed to social justice work and has believes that identity politics must be examined through an approach of intersectionality. She currently is obtaining her masters degree in cultural anthropology. For more information about the upcoming trial visit the facebook group Los Angeles Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant.