Operation Lalang

Launch of Operation Lalang

On 27 October 1987, Mahathir together with the police launched an operation he said was necessary to defuse racial tension that had reached "dangerous proportions". He said that the country was facing an economic recession and high unemployment, and could not afford race riots. The operation was codenamed lalang after a type of weed found in Malaysia. According to Mahathir the decision for the operation was taken by the police, and that he, as the Minister of Home Affairs, had to go along with it. The Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Mohammed Hanif Omar said the police operation was for the sake of national security, and had nothing to do with politics.

The proposed UMNO rally was given as one of the reasons by the Inspector General of Police for the 27 October crackdown under the Internal Security Act. It was argued that had the rally been held, it could have sparked off race riots given the likely incendiary nature of the speeches of UMNO politicians. It has also been argued that the Prime Minister had to have a quid pro quo for cancelling the UMNO rally, therefore opposition leaders and civil libertarians were arrested in order to placate the disappointed would-be rally participants.

Effects

The immediate effect of the operation was the arrest of a number of prominent political leaders, social activists and others, for incitement of racial sentiments and for showing Marxist tendencies. The publication licences of three newspapers were revoked. Mahathir also announced a nationwide ban on any gathering or rally, including those previously approved. Later in December 1987, Dr Mahathir introduced two pieces of legislation to impose additional restrictions on publications and grant police greater powers to curb public gatherings.

Arrests

The Prime Minister gave the approval for the arrest of 106 people, later increased to 119, under the Internal Security Act. The first 19 people were detained on 27 October 1987, rising to 54 by 10pm the next day, and later the night, the number grew to 63. By 20 November 1987, 106 had been arrested. Among the more prominent detainees were opposition leader and DAP Secretary-General Lim Kit Siang, DAP Deputy chairman Karpal Singh, MCA Vice-President and Perak Chief Chan Kit Chee, Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) Youth Chief Halim Arshat, UMNO MP for Pasir Mas Ibrahim Ali, and UMNO Youth Education chairman Mohamed Fahmi Ibrahim. Other prominent non-political detainees included Dong Jiao Zong Chairman Lim Fong Seng, Publicity Chief of the Civil Rights Committee Kua Kia Soong, and Women's Aid Organisation member Irene Xavier. The MCA deputy president Lee Kim Sai had apparently been warned beforehand and he left for Australia for a few months the day the arrests began.

Of the politicians arrested, three were UMNO members, eight MCA, five Gerakan, fifteen PAS, sixteen DAP, and two PSRM. The three UMNO members arrested were closely associated with Mahathir's rivals, even though the UMNO's rallies were supported and initiated by Mahathir's allies (a further UMNO member who was a Mahathir ally was said to have been detained for an unrelated reason). The UMNO, MCA and Gerakan detainees were released within two months, while most of those from the opposition parties and NGOs were detained much longer.

The majority of the detainees had no connection with the events in Kuala Lumpur, for example, several Baptist Church members in Petaling Jaya were arrested for allegedly converting seven Malays, and at least nine PAS members were arrested for making claims about Christians converting Malays. Many of those detained were not involved in creating racial tensions; for example, Chandra Muzaffar, chairman of Aliran whose philosophy involves intercommunal cooperation, and members of Insan, a social reformist group that campaigned against exploitation of the poor, and Environment Protection Society of Malaysia, were also arrested.

Although most of the detainees were released either conditionally or unconditionally, 49 were served with two-year detention orders, with the last one being freed in April 1989. The detainees were first interrogated and kept at various police stations, those retained longer were sent to the Kamunting Detention Center, the usual place used for ISA detainees. Those who were detained longer included Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh plus five other party colleagues, a number of PAS members including Mohamad Sabu, and many social activists such as Tuang Pik King and Mohd Nasir Hashim.

Some of the prisoners detained during Operation Lalang were alleged to have been tortured during their captivity.

Curtailment of press freedom

In the afternoon the day following the first arrests, the Home Ministry withdrew the licences of the English language newspapers The Star and Sunday Star, the Chinese language Sin Chew Jit Poh, and the Malay language Watan. The Star was claimed to have being targeted as it had served as an outlet for alternative views from non-established groups as well as dissident opinions from Mahathir's rival Team B, and it and the other two were also the only domestic newspapers that regularly covered the activities of public interest groups. Former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, who wrote a column for The Star, said that "we are on the road to dictatorship", a comment which wasn't reported by the other newspapers.

The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Watan regained their licences on 22 March 1988 and soon resumed publication, however Watan never fully recovered and shut down permanently in 1996. In the aftermath of the crackdown on newspapers and a subsequent legislation on press activity, editorials of newspaper started to self-censor and became cautious about the stories they ran. According to journalists working during that period, newspapers were also advised by the Home Ministry to avoid certain issues, and editors were called for briefings with various ministries on the way a subject should be covered. The Star itself, after its return, never regained its previous 'liberal flavour'.

The Printing Presses and Publications Act was amended to make printers and publishers re-apply for their licences annually, and established an ouster clause preventing any revocation of license by the Home Affairs Minister from being called into question by the courts. A new criminal offence of "maliciously publishing false news" which carries a three-year jail sentence and/or fines was also added. The Act was subsequently amended in 2012 to remove the requirement for annual licence application and the government's 'absolute discretion' over permits, and reinstated judicial overview.

Amendments to the Police Act

Amendments were also made to the Police Act to restrict right to free assembly by making a police permit mandatory for public gatherings. It required that any assembly of more than five people in a public area to obtain a police permit 14 days before the assembly. The law also prohibited public rallies for electoral campaigns, and only allowed ceramah (public lecture) by the political parties which would also require a permit. It made it practically impossible to hold any political meeting, including a party's annual general meeting, without a police permit. A conviction could mean a fine of RM10,000 and a jail term of one year.

According to Mahathir, the amendments to the Police Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act were aimed at individuals and groups who abused the government's liberal attitudes: "Being liberal to them is like offering a flower to a monkey. The monkey would rather tear the flower apart than appreciate its beauty".

Significance and assessment

Operation Lalang is a major event in Mahathir's administration that had a strong impact on civil liberties in Malaysia, and it was seen as an excuse by the Mahathir government to tighten the executive hold by restricting fundamental liberties. To the opposition parties, Operation Lalang came to symbolise 'injustice' and government 'oppression'. The first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, commenting on Operation Lalang, said: "We are on the road to dictatorship. I cannot see any other way... This is no democracy." The operation is seen as the beginning of Mahathir's authoritarian rule which continued with the sacking of Supreme Court judges in the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis the following year.

Although Operation Lalang was ostensibly undertaken for reason of national security, it is also widely seen by commentators as a show of force by Mahathir against his political challengers. The operation created considerable fear inside and outside UMNO. Lim Kit Siang, one of the detainees, similarly argued that the ISA arrests were more directed against UMNO rather than the racial crisis, and that Mahathir allowed the situation to escalate so he could then crack down and consolidate his position against his internal rivals.

Dr Mahathir later expressed regret in his memoir about the severity of Operation Lalang, but suggested that it was the result of a recommendation of strong action by the police. He said that the government response had probably been "excessive and disproportionate", and that the operation was a "permanent blot on my time in office" and "a black mark in the administrative history of Malaysia". But, he added, "I had to suppress my own personal doubts and feelings. I had to recognize the role and expertise of the police and defer to their exercising their appointed role in our system of government."

Notable detainees

• Ibrahim Ali (UMNO MP for Pasir Mas)
• Halim Arshat (PAS youth chief)
• Chan Kit Chee (MCA Perak chief)
• Chee Heng Leng (Rights activist)
• Mohd Nasir Hashim (INSAN chairman)
• Mohammad Fahmi Ibrahim (UMNO youth education chairman)
• Hu Sepang (DAP MP for Rasah)
• Kua Kia Soong (Rights activist)
• Lau Dak Kee (DAP MP for Pasir Pinji)
• Lim Fong Seng (Dong Jiao Zong chairman)
• Lim Guan Eng (DAP MP for Kota Melaka)
• Lim Kit Siang (DAP secretary general)
• Chandra Muzaffar (Aliran chairman)
• Cecelia Ng (INSAN co-founder)
• Harrison Ngau (Friends of the Earth Malaysia representative)
• P. Patto (DAP MP for Ipoh)
• Mohamad Sabu (PAS youth chief)
• Karpal Singh (DAP deputy chairman)
• Tan Chai Ho (MCA)
• Tang See Hang (MCA, Rawang)
• Tan Seng Giaw (DAP MP for Kepong)
• Tuang Pik King (Rights activist)
• Meenakshi Raman (Social activist)
• V. David (DAP MP for Puchong)
• Irene Xavier (Rights activist)
• Yap Pian Hon (MCA youth chairman)