He said the situation could have easily turned violent if police did not take the necessary action to break up the demonstration.
"I was told that one group of demonstrators pelted policemen and police vehicles (with stones and bricks) at 
Abdullah said if police did not take the necessary action to disperse the crowd, others would have blamed them for not protecting the public.
However, police did not retaliate violently although they were provoked, he added.
To a question, Abdullah said those who had been organising street demonstrations seemed to be testing the government's patience.
"Don't abuse the freedom that has been given to you," he said, adding that those who took part in the illegal gathering would not go unpunished.
Abdullah said claims that a particular race was being marginalised was not true as there were poor and rich people among all races in the country.
He said if the Barisan Nasional government did not help the poor, it would have been rejected by the people long ago.
"In every society, there are poor people and we have been doing our best to help the Indian community through the MIC, and we will continue to help them," he said.
Abdullah also questioned Hindraf's (Hindu Rights Action Force) intention to go ahead with the demonstration despite police warning not to do so.
"If you want to submit a memorandum, there are other ways of doing it," he said, adding that action could also be taken against public servants who took part in the illegal demonstration.
He said the demonstration yesterday disrupted business and caused people, including tourists, to stay away from the city centre.
Abdullah also refuted claims that there was no democracy and media freedom in the country. (Bernama)
1 comment:
any reporter who reported tis.. u shud hv 1st cum n c hw de situation was..
de rally meant to b a peaceful 1. bt de peaceful protesters were provoked by de FRU's tear gas which was unnecessary for a peaceful rally.. however, ppl did not react violently towards de fru.. they tried to runaway instead..
who damaged the BT Caves' entrance? u think they will damage their own holy place?
it was damaged by de FRU itself to launch de tear gas..
by right FRU shud compensate Bt Caves for dat..
Badawi was nt thr whn de incident took place.. protestors had no arms except posters, banners n playcards.. hw cud de rally turn into violence if FRU were absent..
FRU ws de 1 made de violence.. wasting our tax money..
de rally cud hv been a real peaceful 1 if only de FRU stood still.. n allowed de protestors to proceed to British High Commission.. after all de Queen herself has ordered de embassy to collect de petition from de ppl..
then for wat non sense did they stopped them from giving it..??
BN wins de elections coz they buy de votes & at sum areas, BN even does more dirty jobs to win, which oppsitions can afford to do..
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