Jan 17 – The Suara Wanita 1Malaysia (SW1M) event, footage of which catapulted her to fame, was an attempt at brainwashing university students, accused University Utara Malaysia (UUM) law student KS Bawani (pic).
“After the programme, I posted on my Facebook page that I was not happy, it was pure brainwash, from beginning till end it was brainwash,” claimed Bawani in a video interview with Perak-based video portal YobTV.
The forum which took place on Dec 8 last year, she said, was the third in a series of SW1M forums, which began in UPSI in October, then in UKM in November and followed by the one in UUM in December.
All the forums share the same topic ‘Women and politics’, despite being advertised in UUM, at least, as being about students and politics.
Bawani described that the forum used images of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (right) and an image of her statement about freedom of religion, and although no names were mentioned, forum speakers questioned if the MP can be a defender of Islam.
The event, she related, also made mention of Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson, S Ambiga accusing her of being an “anarchist instigator spreading street protest in Malaysia”.
They were also shown clips of several popular and opposition-backed rallies, showing female participants and painting them in a negative light, querying how can women who are supposed to be feminine and pleasant can be involved in such uncouth activities.
There were also footage of last year’s anti-PTPTN rally which were used by organisers to show how students were wrong to participate in rallies and ask for free education.
It was this part of the presentation which, Bawani said, provoked her to raise her question.
‘Raised hand was ignored’
Though her raised hand was ignored during the presentation and only two other questions were allowed during the question-and-answer session, despite the huge number of participants being lectured for nearly half a day.
“It seems the agenda is to brainwash. How can the university allow something like this?”
She contended that the forums, the content of which seem to favour one side of Malaysia’s political equation, were an attempt to influence students.
“If it is okay, why not let both sides come. Let the students judge. But this, it is like brainwashing students and underestimating them.”
Bawani also noted that students were under pressure not to question the issues being forced down their throats.
“The students were also afraid to question. Like they are being oppressed.”
The law student also said that the manner in which forum organisers conducted the lucky draw which ended the event seemed like they wanted to bribe students with the electronic gadgets which were announced as prizes.
“Like they want to buy students with (the Galaxy Notes).”
Bawani related how she stood up prior to the lucky draw session which closed the event to voice her opinion and ask a question, the act leading to the “Listen! Listen! Listen!” scene made infamous in the video.
The original video, copies of which went viral online, said Bawani, was uploaded by TvMyMahasiswa, a pro-establishment student portal on its YouTube account.
“I guess they thing the way she dealt with me was good, but it backfired… I did not know the video was going to be popular… But truth will always prevail.”
She said that she was condemned on social networking siteFacebook and at her university for questioning Sharifah and the forum’s contents, but felt vindicated when the larger national audience was on her side.
The video included footage of SW1M president Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin berating Bawani for asking her question.
On the receiving end of brickbats
Sharifah since then has been on the receiving end of brickbats from all quarters including BN leaders like Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
Even her former party Kimma, an associate Umno member party representing Indian Muslims, distanced themselves from her, claiming that she was known to be difficult to control and prone to outbursts.
UUM has also said that it has nothing to do with the event which was fully organised by SW1M.
A talk featuring Sharifah, titled ‘How To Make Your First Million’, was also cancelled recently because of security concerns.
English language daily The Star quoted event organiser Lina Ahmad as saying that police recommend a cancellation after Netizens planned to protest the event scheduled for next week.
“The committee discussed the pros and cons, and decided that it would be best to cancel it.”
