SEPT 8 — Over here the Yellow Shirts have just wound up their rally but over there, the Red Shirts are gearing up for yet another mammoth street protest next week.

Will those who used to safeguard the right of the people to assemble peacefully under the Bersih banner now also defend the right of the Red Shirts to stage their protest rally? Or will they disapprove it just because of the different shirt colors and political preferences?

Well, while you have the right to take to the streets, they are also entitled to do the same, something the Red Shirts have been fiercely justifying their upcoming move.

This comes as a dilemma. If we re really committed to the principle of freedom of assembly, there seem to be no reasons for us to object to their gathering.

But that still does not make me look at the Sept 16 rally in a positive light.

Simple enough! Not all the rallies are identical in nature. Well, yellow or red, it is going to be an assembly of like-minded individuals coming together to express themselves. The question now lies with the motives and demands.

It doesn’t really matter whether you support the Bersih rally, one thing is nevertheless sure: their demands for clean elections, clean government, right to speak out and strengthen the parliamentary democracy are all universal values that go well with the principles of democracy.

While there were some sporadic incidents throughout the rally, there is no way we should deny their right to voice up for clean governance.

The Red Shirts’ event is quite different in nature. The two rallies planned for Sept 16 and October 10 have not been established upon the basis of pursuing greater excellence in universal values, but the entrenchment of inter-community confrontation that will only trigger further social unrest.

Each one of us has our own viewpoints and political stands, and sure enough the Red Shirts can also express their undivided support for the government as this is part of their freedom and entitlement as Malaysian citizens.

However, they must never distort facts and deliberately racialize things, seeing a non-racial gathering as a platform for the Chinese to show their strength, and then counteract that in a race-motivated confrontational mode.

Indeed the Red Shirts have their right and freedom to assemble, but that does not mean they should trample the highly sensitive racial grounds, nor should they exercise their freedom at the expense of the country’s peace and harmony.

I must stress that a rally is meant to express the participants’ will, raise awareness and exert pressure on the authorities, instead of creating more confrontation and division.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.