Anti-Icerd rally among Malaysia’s top 3 protests: ex-chief justice

KUALA LUMPUR – For former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Omar, the anti-Icerd rally is among the top three protests Malaysia has ever seen.

“There have been three big rallies. The first was the one that opposed the Malayan Union in 1956. The next was the rally to support Malaya’s independence in 1957 and, of course, the rally to oppose Icerd,” he said, referring to the protest against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In an online forum last night titled “Unveiling the 812 Rally (Anti-Icerd Rally)”, the former chief justice lauded the success of the movement.

“That (anti-Icerd rally) is the biggest success of the Malay community since independence.

“The rally was successful, resulting in the government withdrawing its decision to ratify the treaty and also bringing down the Pakatan Harapan (PH) regime after only 22 months in power,” Hamid said.

These successes, he said, were not shared by all communities.

"This is a slap to the ambitions of the Chinese who supported DAP and the Indians who supported Hindraf.”

Meanwhile, Hamid took the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) to task, accusing the coalition of being too focused on keeping Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in power.

“Since the PN cabinet was formed, the importance seems to be too focused on keeping the prime minister in power. This does not sit well with Umno.

“Those with positions now feel comfortable with Bersatu but this has left Umno neglected,” Hamid said.

The anti-Icerd rally on December 8, 2018, was a gathering by mostly Malay-Muslim parties and NGOs to oppose the ratification of Icerd.

When Pakatan Harapan came into power that year, one of many promises in the coalition's election manifesto was ratifying the international treaty.

However, the government faced opposition from the Malay-Muslim community as it was believed its ratification would erode Bumiputera rights.

The forum last night also included Aminuddin Yahya from Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, PAS information chief Kamaruzaman Mohamad and Jamalee Bashah from The Patriots, among others.

The forum mainly discussed how the anti-Icerd rally was planned, events that led up to it and its results. – The Vibes, December 8, 2020