2010 Air Untuk Rakyat rally
The 2010 Air Untuk Rakyat rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on December 5, 2010. The rally organizer, the Air Untuk Rakyat movement and federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat, had called the protest over over the privatization of water management in Selangor state which surrounds the capital, Kuala Lumpur and the federal government's bailout of SYABAS, a water distribution firm controlled by UMNO crony Rozali Ismail. A secondary objective of the rally was to hand a memorandum and petition with 250,000 signatures to the Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu to act against the privatization of the water services in the state at the Istana Negara.[1]
According to various estimates the rally attracted between 2,500[2] to 10,000[3] people. The rally started gathering outside the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur at 9 o'clock, early Sunday morning on December 5, 2010.
Police actions
All roads leading to Istana Negara and the National Mosque were guarded and blocked by police causing a massive traffic jam in various parts of the city. At least 60[4] people were arrested by the Malaysian police who considered the gathering illegal. The police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.[5]
References
- ^ " Malaysian police fires tear gas and water cannons at protesters ", AsiaOne, December 6, 2010.
- ^ "Tear gas, water cannons fired on water protesters", Malaysiakini.com, December 5, 2010.
- ^ "Tear gas, water canons fired at Pakatan crowd protesting SYABAS bailout", M'sian Chronicle, December 5, 2010.
- ^ " Malaysian police fire tear gas on opposition protest", Inquirer, December 5, 2010.
- ^ "Malaysian police fire tear gas at protesters", ETaiwan, December 5, 2010.
