A conference involving all political parties needs to be held to discuss and find a joint solution to the Petaling Selatan clashes in which six people were killed as the problem cannot be solved by the government alone, a human rights group said today.

Penang-based Aliran said that short and long-term remedies against outbreaks of communal violence must be found soon and a non-partisan approach was important.

"We are not all that united or harmonious in our relationships with one another. We cannot afford eruptions of this nature now and then.

"What we need is an in-depth, non-partisan study that will tackle the problem honestly and seriously," the Aliran executive committee said in press statement.

The committee added that the underlying factors of poverty and the neglect of marginalised communities had yet to be tackled.

"Years of neglect and deprivation would have made many in these areas bitter and angry. Many are victims of socio-economic policies.

"Their plight has not received the concern that we would have expected. Development has bypassed these communities without batting an eyelid," the committee said.

They added that the police should also provide accurate information to instill confidence in the people while the media should not be partisan.

Threatening punitive action against those who contradict the police version of information is hardly the way to seek co-operation from the public as such intimidation would only suppress certain things from being revealed, the committee said.

Addressing the issue

The clashes which began on March 9 have to date claimed six lives and injured 40 others. University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) officials told reporters that the total number of victims still warded was 24.

The neighbourhood where the skirmishes occurred - which include Taman Datuk Harun, Kampung Lindungan, Kampung Medan, Taman Medan, Kampung Penaga, Kampung Ghandi and Kampung Muniandy - is populated by Malays, Indians, and Indonesian and Bangladeshi migrants, and comprises long houses, low-cost flats, terrace houses and wooden squatter houses.

The majority of the residents are from the lower income group, most being factory workers, mechanics and small-time businessmen.

Meanwhile, Wanita Keadilan deputy head Irene Fernandez in a press statement called on Wanita MIC head Jaya Partiban and other MIC Wanita leaders to resign for denying the existence of social ills at the communities at Petaling Jaya.

Fernandez said this in response to a statement made by Jaya in the media today which challenged the opposition to produce evidence that prostitution is rife in Petaling Selatan.

The Star daily reported Jaya as saying that the Indian women there felt insulted by the allegation.

However, Fernandez said: "When a leader addresses the issue of prostitution, in a community or in a country, it is not condoning or insulting the women. It is in fact addressing and discussing the causes, the consequences, the impact and risks such a social phenomenon brings to the women, men and community."

Sacrifices

Fernandez said she had personally handled cases of missing girls forced into prostitution in that area through the Tenaganita non-governmental organisation (NGO) and that they have counseled many women there including helpless mothers whose daughters are sex workers.

"The women there need empowerment, support, strength and empathy. The women there do not need to be patronised. Therefore, I request Jaya to stop being condescending.

"Jaya's challenge shows her little knowledge of what prostitution is all about in the society and to women. Keadilan Wanita is only too willing to educate and train Wanita MIC so that with a better perspective, the least they can do is to empathise with the affected women," said Fernandez.

In another statement, Keadilan Central Committee member Dr Xavier Jayakumar said that it is a shame that after 43 years of rule, MIC had to wait for six deaths to fix street lights and build a road at Petaling Selatan.

"How many more deaths must it take before a medical clinic can be set up? When did it become necessary for Malaysians to have to sacrifice to get the basic needs?" said Xavier.

Xavier and Fernandez called for an open debate with Jaya on the problems faced by the people of Petaling Selatan, in particular the Indian community.