Malaysia on Monday defended its crackdown on dissent, including the arrest of ethnic Indian activists and suppression of street protests, saying it had averted a serious risk of racial violence.Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak raised the spectre of the country's worst race riots, when almost 200 people were killed in clashes between ethnic Chinese and Muslim Malays in May 1969.
"If the Malays of Kampung Baru come out then we have the spectre of a serious possibility of a racial clash in this country," Najib said in an interview with AFP. The Malay enclave was one of the flashpoints of the 1969 riots.
"There were signs that they were preparing to come out so we had to tell them, 'look, don't make the situation any worse'," he said.
"The government was actually taking action to prevent anything worse from happening."
Unprecedented street protests by ethnic Indians, which police broke up with tear gas and water cannon, opened a new faultline in Malaysia's increasingly tense race relations last November.
Five leaders of Indian rights group Hindraf, who claim the community is the victim of discrimination at the hands of the majority Malays, are now being held without trial under tough internal security laws.
The five, together with at least 78 supporters in different parts of Malaysia, began a hunger strike on Monday to protest against their detention, activists said.
Najib -- who as deputy premier is expected to be Malaysia's next leader after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi -- defended the use of the much-criticised Internal Security Act (ISA) on the Hindraf leaders.
"A great deal of people thought we should have used it earlier, but if we had used it earlier there could have been pros and cons, those who say we are not tolerant, we are autocratic, we are not democratic enough," he said.
"So by allowing things to pan out and for us not to use the ISA early, I think when we used it the vast majority of Malaysians supported it."
The Hindraf rally came two weeks after another rare demonstration organised by electoral reform campaigners, which saw 30,000 people take to the streets. They were also dispersed with tear gas and water cannon.
Emboldened by the new mood, civil society groups and non-governmental organisations have held several smaller street protests in the capital, despite not having a permit.
Police have broken up peaceful demonstrations, and Najib said there was a limit to the government's patience.
"We are responsible for peace and harmony in this country and public order," he said. "We are quite tolerant in this country, but if it comes to the point I suppose when push comes to shove, we have to be firm about it."
He declined to specify what action would be taken at that stage, saying: "We know what to do."
Najib indicated the National Front coalition government could lose ground in general elections expected to be held in March, which follow a torrid few months that have included the protests as well as food shortages and a ministerial sex scandal.
After a resounding victory in 2004, which reversed losses in 1999, commentators say the pendulum is likely to swing against the government again.
"We don't want a dip (in seats), but our benchmark has always been a two-thirds majority," Najib said.
"Even during the worst of times, say in the 1999 general elections, we still managed to attain a two-thirds majority and I don't expect this time to be worse than 1999," he said.
Najib admitted that the race-based component parties that make up the coalition were "going through some problems" and that the government had a big job to soothe the public over forthcoming fuel price hikes.
"We have to manage it. We have to manage between good governance, good macro management of the nation, as well as possible reaction from the public. As long as it's seen to be equitable I think people will accept it," he said.
The ruling United Malays National Organisation has led the National Front coalition in government for half a century.
Agence France-Presse - 1/21/2008
Malaysian activists and supporters on hunger strike
Five ethnic Indian Malaysian activists held under a tough security law and at least 78 supporters began a hunger strike on Monday to protest against their detention, activists said.
The five leaders of rights group Hindraf were jailed under the Internal Security Act (ISA) last month after holding an unprecedented mass rally to protest against alleged discrimination against Indians in Malaysia.
R.S. Thanenthiran told AFP that supporters of the five detainees were holding hunger strikes in two locations in central Selangor state and at a Hindu temple in Ipoh, capital of Perak state, in the north.
"They started today. In Ipoh we have 21 of them (fasting). I'm not sure how many in Petaling Jaya but at a Port Klang temple, about 57," Thanenthiran said.
"They are not eating although they are taking liquids," he said, adding that they are expected to fast until Sunday.
Thanenthiran said he hoped to speak to the five jailed activists on Tuesday. They are being held at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak, about 300 kilometres (190 miles) from Kuala Lumpur.
Organisers had said they planned to rouse people nationwide to take part in the hunger strike in support of the detainees. The ISA allows for indefinite detention without trial.
M. Tharumalingam, another Hindraf activist, said he intends to start a group of hunger strikers in Selangor.
"I am trying to arrange for 500 people.... Everyone is fighting for (Hindu) rights," Tharumalingam told AFP.
He said the five-year-old daughter of P. Waythamoorthy, the Hindraf chairman who is currently based in London, will Tuesday deliver a personal letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who ordered the detention of the five.
Ethnic Indians, who make up 8.0 percent of the country's population, complain they run a distant third in terms of wealth, opportunities and education.
Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent, control the government while the ethnic Chinese, at 26 percent, dominate business.
Agence France-Presse - 1/21/2008
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