Keep politics out of communal issues

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It seems people in the state cannot fight for their rights without being accused of being made use of by politicians or NGOs, especially foreign organisations.

When the Baram folk protested against the dam the opposition and foreign NGOs were blamed for influencing them to go against the government and development in the state. Last Thursday when a group of Iban land owners from Machan accompanied by a large number of supporters attended the Federal Court hearing on the state government’s appeal against the lower courts’ ruling in their favour on the definition of forest reserve and communal reserve they were said to be made use of by the opposition as a publicity stunt.

However, it would be unfair to accuse the Barisan Nasional (BN) elected representatives of blindly labelling any group of protesters of being opposition stooges. Often it was the opposition politicians who turned an issue into a political blame game.

As a result whenever there is a protest or complaint brought up by the people the opposition and the government would take opposite sides of the issue. The case of the Machan landowners for example was an apolitical struggle by the people until some opposition leaders jumped on the bandwagon and turned it into a political circus.

However, the response from some government backbenchers was perceived by the landowners as that the government thought they did not have a mind of their own and were easily made use of by outsiders with vested interest.

Neither side of the political divide emerged from Thursday’s brouhaha at the Court House in Kuching smelling of roses.

In the midst of the politicising of the issues often the grievances of the people were pushed into the background. The landowners’ fight for what they claimed to be their Native Customary Rights over the forests where they used to hunt and forage in the ongoing case presents an opportunity to buck this trend. It is time now for both sides to withdraw from commenting on the case and let the Federal Court decide on the appeal by the state government.

Elected representatives must rise above politics when dealing with problems brought up by the people and try to solve them instead of slinging mud at each other over the issue. One man has shown the way and proved it is possible to do that.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem set the example for both the opposition and BN politicians to follow when he listened to the people who are protesting against the construction of the Baram Dam instead of dismissing them as tools of the opposition.

Listening to the views of those who do not agree with him was not an indication of weakness; rather it was a show of strength and confidence.

Above all Adenan has proven that he is willing to rise above politics in dealing with the complaints of the people. Hopefully elected representatives from both sides of the political divide can take the cue from him.