KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — Riot police have fired water cannons at #Merah169 rally-goers at Petaling Street in a bid to force their dispersal from the area known informally as “Chinatown”.
Police have been straining to keep the crowd from entering the area that houses businesses perceived as Chinese-owned, and earlier compromised by allowing some rally organisers through in an attempt to placate the crowd.
But the crowd remained at the entrance to Petaling Street and continued attempts to enter the area, forcing the eventual police action.
Riot police began firing water cannons after some attendees threw water bottles and stones at the cordon preventing the #Merah169 rally from entering the street.
Rally organisers are negotiating with police, insisting on going through Petaling Street by claiming that they will not attack the shops in the area and only want to walk through the street.
The organisers also argued that they were not the ones who hurled the objects at the police officers.
The Petaling Street is the second standoff between the crowd and police today, after rally-goers charged police lines Jalan Bukit Bintang repeatedly in an attempt to reach the Low Yat Plaza shopping mall.
Police had then held off from taking crowd-control action, saying they would have been blamed for the ensuing chaos if they deployed smoke grenades on the protesters.
Following another standoff with police, the crowd later dispersed from Petaling without incident.
Thousands of red-shirted people were bussed into the federal capital this morning to take part in a rally officially called “Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu” or the United People’s Assembly, but which drew concern among traders in the city centre and ethnic Chinese business leaders.
The rally, said to be in support of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s leadership, was to counter to last month’s two-day Bersih 4 gathering calling for the prime minister’s resignation.
The ruling Malay party has insisted that it does not endorse the event, which has also been alternately called “Himpunan Maruah Melayu”, but has not prohibited its members from participating in today’s demonstration organised by martial arts group Pesaka.
