96. ISA Mass Protest

About 2,000 people staged a peaceful march through the busy streets of Kuala Lumpur tonight calling for the abolishment of Internal Security Act and freeing detainees under the Act

Initially, two separate groups - Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and coalition of NGOs led by the Writer Alliance For Media Independence (Wami) - had initially planned to hold a candlelight vigil at Dataran Merdeka at about 7.30pm. 

When they came across a police cordon at Dataran Merdeka, the Hindraf-led group numbering about 500 decided to march to the temple opposite the Puduraya bus terminal about 1km away. 

The crowd marched unhindered towards their destinations and gradually the crowd swelled to about 2,000 people from all walks of life, with many carrying candles. 

The other group, which was in a procession holding Chinese lanterns, eventually joined up with the Hindraf group. 

The police were caught off-guard by the huge turnout. Many media personnel had also remarked that the large crowd was unanticipated as past vigils had been small in number. 

‘Tonight, we are the judges’

Shouts of “Mansuhkan ISA (Abolish the ISA)”, “Bebaskan Raja Petra (Free Raja Petra)” and “Hindraf Valga (Long live Hindraf)” were chanted by the marchers. 

Eventually, the crowd gathered at the temple compound where several individuals addressed the crowd with highly charged speeches - Malaysiakini.