Rela-gate! Do we have Warlords?

By now virtually everyone has heard of the Rela bashing of Indian nationals outside the Indian High Commission.

A quick summary of the incident tells us that a group of Indian nationals contracted to work here became dissatisfied when they were short changed (not paid, etc) by their employers, and sought help from the Indian Hi-Comm about their plight.

A group of Rela personnel suddenly arrived and started bashing the Indians. Despite Hi-Comm officers rushing out to inform the government thugs that the Indians have work visas, those Rela blokes continued to beat the hell out of the visitors, before dragging them away to the Lenggeng detention camp.

I am surprised that the Rela terrorists didn't string those aliens up there and then by the lamp posts.

R Rajasekaran, Malaysian Trade Union Congress, complained that the authorities, instead of listening to the Indians’ grievances, had them arrested and detained at Lenggeng. And what was the detention for when the Indians have valid work permits?

A number of those hapless Indians were so bashed up that they suffered broken bones. What the hell is going on?

Under the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1964 and Essential Rules (Amended) 2005 enforced from Feb 1, Rela officers, a sort of auxiliary police personnel usually formed and deployed in rural areas, can search without a warrant any house or premise which could be hideouts of illegal immigrants. But of course those powers are aimed at the apprehending of illegal immigrants, not visitors with official work visas.

I find it difficult to believe that by some strange stroke of coincidence those Rela officers could pop into the capital city, right in front of a foreign embassy to arrest those Indians, who also by some strange coincidence happened to have a contractual grievance against their employers.

It would indeed be unusual not to use better trained frontline units like the Immigration or Police at such a location, rather than an auxiliary force more appropriately assigned to rural areas.

Then the Rela personnel seemed to confirm their vigilante purpose when they resorted to unmitigated violence, and ignored Hi-Comm officers’ appeals that their victims possess official work permits. They were obviously hellbent on a punitive mission – to beat the hell out of those aliens. To teach them a lesson?

Though Mohd Aminuddin, the Federal Territory Rela director said that the raid was conducted following public complaints, I reckon he's just giving the media the typical bunkering down line, or delaying tactic until he finds out himself what's going on.

We need to know ‘WHO’ has or have been behind the launching of the posse? Which warlord(s) has(have) set those hounds of hell on the poor imported workers? How could we allow the uniformed hooligans to perpetrate their violence on foreign nationals in front of those visitors’ High Commission?

I suppose as usual, we’ll never get to know. Well, we’re certainly almost there with the complete range of unmitigated abuses by government officials (some fortunately stillborn) – Police, immigration, (aborted) Malacca 4B snoop squads, instructors of Youth National Services, Jawi raider-oglers of the Temple of Evil, rapists from TUDM, (aborted) FT religious snoop squads, God-knows-what-else, now Rela, so what’s next?

By the way, will the Cabinet now send the Minister of Tourism to New Delhi to apologise? What!!! Only few Indian tourists?