http://dapmalaysia.org  

The 67-strong Palm Court police raid squad should be immediately suspended from duty pending outcome of IGP investigations into last Sunday's mistreatment of Indian IT professionals which had sparked the worst Malaysia-India row and threatened Malaysia's IT ambition and economic recovery plan Media Conference Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Petaling Jaya,  Saturday): DAP welcomes the intervention of the Acting Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the six-day worsening crisis and diplomatic row between Malaysia and India, after the police mistreatment of Indian IT professionals in the now infamous Palm Court police raid of some 270 Indian nationals in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, aggravated by clumsy and insensitive responses by the Foreign Minister and other senior members of the government and police - resulting in one Cabinet Minister being grilled on the subject when visiting New Delhi, the Indian government's cancellation of the Health Minister's scheduled visit to India at the end of the month, the Indian media and IT industry "up in arms" and threatened Indian retaliation and review of bilateral ties. Abdullah's statement yesterday expressing regret for the Palm Court incident and directing the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Norian Mai, to personally investigate the incident and submit a report to him by next week is the first correct, proper and responsible reaction made by the Malaysian Government in the six-day diplomatic crisis between the two countries, and though six days late, was nonetheless better late than never. The Thursday announcement by the Kuala Lumpur City Police Chief Deputy Comm Datuk Dell Akhbar Khan that the city police disciplinary division would conduct "a fair and impartial investigation" into the Palm Court incident two days after the City deputy police chief Datuk Ahmad Bahrin Idrus had exonerated the police of any wrongdoing following an "initial investigation" was most outrageous and was no different from throwing salt on the festering wound of Malaysia-India relations. The government and police must show that they are serious and are no more involved in any diplomatic game of foot-dragging and want to get to the bottom of the Palm Court incident. To demonstrate the government's seriousness and sensitivity to Indian as well as national and international outrage at the Palm Court incident, there are three measures that must be taken immediately: The 67-strong Palm Court police raid squad should be immediately suspended from duty pending outcome of the IGP investigations into last Sunday's mistreatment of Indian IT professionals which had sparked the worst Malaysia-India row and threatened Malaysia's IT ambition and economic recovery plan. The sending of a special police team to Palm Court for the Indian nationals, mostly IT professionals, to individually lodge police reports of their police mistreatment; The sending of a special immigration team to Palm Court to replace and renew the defaced visas of over 160 Indian IT professionals at no extra cost to the victims. It is outrageous that the Immigration Department is demanding that the victims pay RM90 each for the replacement of their defaced visas when they were the doing of the police. Alternatively, the Police should pay Immigration the full costs for the replacement and renewal of the defaced visas. I have today sent an eight-point formula to Abdullah to end the double diplomatic and IT crisis precipitated by the Palm Court incident to restore Malaysia-India relations and to repair Malaysia's dented IT image, so that Malaysia will continue to be taken seriously as a key and important player in the global IT arena. 1. Palm Court investigation must be credible and independent Although the Inspector-General of Police has been directed by the Acting Prime Minister to "personally investigate" the Palm Court Incident, it is clearly impossible for Norian Mai to personally conduct such an investigation and be able to submit a report to Abdullah by next week, and that it would have to be conducted by a team of investigators. If the Palm Court investigation is to enjoy national and international credibility, it must be truly independent, preferably not involving any personnel currently seriving in the police force. If it is to be a police investigation, it must be conducted by senior police officers who are fully conscious of the police reputation at stake as they would be working under national and international suspicion of a possibility of a "cover up". The composition of the IGP's investigation team into the Palm Court incident should be immediately announced to demonstrate accountability and transparency. The investigation must be completed and its outcome announced in the shortest possible time, without any undue delay. Until the outcome of the investigation, the entire team of 67 officers involved in the Palm Court incident should be suspended from duty to demonstrate seriousness in dealing with an incident which had plunged Malaysia-India relations to an all-time low. Severe and commensurate punitive action must be taken against those responsible for the Palm Court police mistreatment and human rights violations of Indian IT professionals. 2. Immediate Post-Palm Court Incident measures Two immediate measures post-Palm Court Incident that should be taken are: The sending of a special police team to Palm Court for the Indian nationals, mostly IT professionals, to individually lodge police reports of their police mistreatment; The sending of a special immigration team to Palm Court to replace and renew the defaced visas of over 160 Indian IT professionals at no extra cost to the victims. It is outrageous that the Immigration Department is demanding that the victims pay RM90 each for the replacement of their defaced visas when they were the doings of the police. Alternatively, the Police should pay Immigration the full costs for the replacement and renewal of the defaced visas. 3. (I)) Apology by Government to the Indian Government for the Palm Court police mistreatment and human rights violations of Indian nationals and (ii) compensation to the Indian nationals, mostly IT professionals 4. Review of the clumsy, maladroit and insensitive responses by the government and the police, in particular the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, the Deputy Home Minister, Zainal Abidin Zin, the Energy, Communications and Multimedia Ministry parliamentary secretary Chia Kwang Chye, the Kuala Lumpur City deputy police chief Datuk Ahmad Bahrin Idrus in the five days after the Palm Court Incident which "added insult to injury" instead of swiftly and ably addressing the various grave issues precipitated by the incident. 5. Review of what happened during the parliamentary debate on Thursday which aggravated the double diplomatic and IT crisis. In response to the speech by DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan who raised the Palm Court incident in the debate on the Royal Address, Barisan Nasional MPs led by the new Barisan Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Shah Alam) attacked Fong for espousing the cause of "foreigners", alleged that the police mistreatment of the Indian IT professionals were all "lies" and belittled the contribution of IT professionals to Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). There should be a mechanism to give timely information to MPs, whether from government or opposition, of developments so that they can contribute to resolving national problems rather than causing more national embarrassments and aggravating Malaysia's diplomatic problems with other countries. 6. Requisition emergency meeting of the National Information Technology Council (NITC) to review the damage of the Palm Court incident to Malaysia's ambition to become the IT hub of the world, with the MSC taking on Singapore ONE (the island republic's national broadband infrastructure initiative) and even the Silicon Valley, as the MSC is already reeling from one crisis to another, as illustrated by recent reports of how the RM3 billion E-Village to be Malaysia's Hollywood has degenerated into an Empty Village! 7. Review of effectiveness and efficiency of Cabinet meetings, as to why the Cabinet meeting last Wednesday could not have realized the grave repercussions of the Palm Court Incident to at least six important aspects: (i) plunging Malaysia-India relations to an all-time low'; (ii) destroying the country's good "international image" from the hosting of the 13th NAM Summit which had cost the country a mammoth expenditure (reported to range from RM200 million to RM1 billion) by allowing Malaysia to bask in it for less than two weeks before Malaysia is given a "black eye" on the international stage; (iii) jeopardizing Malaysia's IT aspirations; (iv) undermining Malaysia's economic recovery plans in particular the hundreds of millions of ringgit spent by the government and related agencies to promote tourism in Malaysia, such as the "Truly Asia" series; (v) compromising Malaysia's international reputation and human rights record; and (vi) a blot on the credibility, integrity and professionalism of the Malaysian police in dealing with foreign professional workers after the notorious Anwar Ibrahim "black eye" incident and numerous allegations of police abuses of power, human rights violations and shootings as to allow the adverse effects of the deplorable Palm Court incident to drag on and continue to be aggravated for another 48 hours. 8. Establishment of a Cabinet Committee to Eliminate the "'First Class Infrastructure, Third World Mentality" Malaysian malaise brilliantly diagnosed by Abdullah in his first day as Acting Prime Minister, of which the Palm Court Incident is only the latest in a long list of examples, like the Health Ministry's mishandling of the worst dengue epidemic in the nation's history and the proposal by the Health Minister, Datuk Chua Jui Meng to impose a "gag" on all public debate on "black gold" politics in MCA, when merciless and uncompromising expose of the fusion of organized crime and corruption in the alliance of triad politics with the politics of money should be the responsibility of every patriotic Malaysian political leader and citizen.   (15/3/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman