The heavy-handed disruption of the May Day peace walk by the police is not only incredibly stupid (given the international media coverage) but also reflects poorly on the level of security and confidence of the government.

Surely a bunch of poor workers, squatters and their families gathering at the KLCC cannot be such a threat to the well-armed (but as it turns out rather poorly schooled) police force? Oh yes, they were acting under self-defence. Will any Malaysian in his right mind assault a riot police officer armed to his teeth in full view of the public in broad daylight?

One hopes that the assaulted police officers will recuperate sufficiently to be able to present medical reports and other evidence of their injuries to Suhakam. Who sanctioned this brilliant tactical strategy to embarrass the country and make us look like Myanmar or worse?

The Prime Minister? The Deputy Prime Minister/Home Minister? The Inspector-General of Police? Or is it just an overzealous Officer in Charge of Police District trying to score career points with his superior officers?

The turn of events has given the new Suhakam line-up a golden opportunity to prove that it indeed was set up to defend human rights in this country. One can only hope that the directives for this disastrous police action did not come right from the top. God help us all if that was the case.