Former police chief Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor has alleged that Bersih used “Marxist” tactics, echoing his predecessor Tun Hanif Omar and accused the opposition of wanting bloodshed as it was not confident of taking over Putrajaya.
Rahim called on the government’s panel investigating the violence at Bersih’s April 28 rally led by Hanif to probe the 84 civil societies that form the electoral reforms movement and “information” that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was inciting bloodshed at the rally for free and fair elections.
“The panel must investigate the NGOs in the coalition. Check if the situation will become more severe,” Rahim said in an interview with Berita Minggu published today, when asked if there was potential for bloodshed if Bersih was allowed to proceed.
“I received information of incitement, apparently the opposition is not confident of winning Putrajaya and chose instead a ‘bloodshed’ approach,” added the 68-year-old who was Inspector General of Police from 1994 until 1999 when he reisgned after confessing to assaulting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Rahim, who has previously likened the rise of civil society to communism, added that “while they might not be Marxist,” the Bersih movement used Marxist tactics, implying that it infiltrated NGOs to agitate the public.
“The April 28 movement is ala-Marxist. At the peak of the Marxist movement, in the 40s to the 70s, they used underground groups to infiltrate associations, unions, schools and religious bodies.
“They collect issues to damage the government and raise anger and anxiety among the public. I see that the country is not free from this threat,” he said.
He described Marxist tactics as “Agitprop (agitation propaganda) and Agitpol (agitation politics)” and explained that “incitement and street protests are Agitpol” while allegations “that the prime minister will order the armed forces to do something if Barisan Nasional (BN) loses (the election)” is Agitprop.
The so-called “Hanif panel” has been criticised as the former IGP “has already made two public comments... that communist sympathisers who were active demonstrators in the 1970s were involved.” “He has also agreed with Najib’s allegation that Bersih 3.0 was an attempted coup d’état against the government. By so doing, he has shown that he is biased and has already pre-judged the outcome of the investigation,” Bersih has said.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has also claimed that there were those at the planned sit-in who “wanted deaths,” a statement backed by police who have uploaded a clip on video-sharing site YouTube they claim is proof of the allegation.
The April 28 rally, which saw tens of thousands gather at six different locations before heading to Dataran Merdeka, was peaceful until about 2.30pm when Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasanasked the crown to disperse.
But the former Bar Council president’s call was not heard by most of the crowd who persisted around the historic square which the court had already barred to the public over the weekend.
Just before 3pm, some protestors breached the barricade surrounding the landmark, leading police to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons.
Police then continued to pursue the rally-goers down several streets amid chaotic scenes which saw violence from both sides over the next four hours.
Several dozen demonstrators have claimed that they were assaulted by groups of over 10 policemen at a time and visual evidence appears to back their claim but police also point to violence from rally-goers who also attacked a police car.
The police car then crashed into a building before some protestors flipped it on its side.
Rahim is also being sued by Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat after the New Straits Times carried a report quoting him as calling the Pas spiritual leader the “father of kafir (infidels)” in response to the latter’s defence of those who participated in the April 28 rally as fulfilling their Islamic obligation.
But the former Inspector General of Police has since clarified in a letter to the paper that he had not uttered the words, but had only questioned PAS’s association with secularist DAP.
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