OH NO! DO NOT EXPLOIT OUR CHILDREN - TO PROTEST

Education Minister exploiting children? — S. Arutchelvan

JAN 10 — Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said (NST, Jan 9) that nearly all schoolchildren — about five million pupils in the country — will be mobilised to protest against the Gaza offensive by Israeli forces.

When I first read this article, a number of questions rang in my mind. Would asking students including primary schoolchildren to attend a protest and demonstration be deemed exploiting the children?

Do the children have consent from their parents as it seems that the minister had made the decision without even consulting the parents?

Would the police/Attorney-General charge the minister under the Child Act? Would the minister be expelled from Parliament for involving children? For the state of Selangor, would the CPO of Selangor rescue these children and return them to their parents? While waiting for their parents, will they be kept protected in the police station under the care of the Welfare Department?

Would the parents be later called by the police for their statement to be recorded for allowing the minister to use their children for the protest?

Would the parents be charged for neglecting their children or allowing them to participate in dangerous activities? Would the royalty advice the police to take stern action against the organiser?

Since all the children protesting in the protest have a common aim in protesting against Israeli attack on Gaza , could this be mean that it is an illegal assemble or an illegal procession? Would the children attending this function be stopped in numerous roadblocks?

I am sorry that these questions kept bothering me after our two weeks of trauma of police harassment and intimidation on the issue of children above the age of 15 for cycling and wearing T-shirts on demands facing the Malaysian people.

Luckily, the minister’s response in the media helped me understand the matter better as when the newspaper asked the minister on the danger of exposing children to such atrocities, the minister said: "When they grow up, they will have to face global issues like peace, environment and the economic crisis."

? S. Arutchelvan is secretary-general of Parti Sosialis Malaysia.