PSM: Education minister 'exploiting' children

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today slammed Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for plans to use schoolchildren to protest against the on-going crisis in Gaza.

In a statement issued today, the party’s secretary-general, S Arutchelvan, said the organisers of the protest could also be accused of ‘exploiting’ the children, just like Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) had been previously.

Yesterday, English-daily New Straits Times reported that the education minister is planning a nation-wide protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza, involving about five million children and 360,765 teachers from more than 10,000 schools.

Hishamuddin said the protest would prepare them for "global issues like peace, environment and the economic crisis".

Arutchelvan, however, was not amused with the statement, arguing that the minister should get parental consent before involving children in such "dangerous" activities.

"Do the children have consent from their parents as it seems that the minister has made the decision without even consulting the parents."

Arutchelvan also criticised the police force, asking if they would take stern action against organisers.

"Since all the children involved in the protest have a common aim in protesting against the Israeli attack on Gaza, could this mean that it is an illegal assembly or an illegal procession?

"Would the children attending this function also be stopped in numerous roadblocks?" he asked.

Last month, Jerit in collaboration with PSM, organised a 16-day ‘Ride for change’ campaign involving schoolchildren cycling across the country. The campaign received stinging criticism from various quarters, especially the police.

Throughout the controversial campaign to highlight the plight of the people, 111 participants had faced arrests, including 28 under-aged participants who were held in the Rawang police station for one night.

Selangor chief of police Khalid Abu Bakar had however justified the police’s move in holding the children, saying that they were just "saving the under-aged from being exploited".

Jerit, however, had accused him of lying, claiming that the children had received parental consent prior to taking part in the campaign.

On Dec 20, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj of Selangor had also allegedly expressed his disappointment that children in the country were being exploited by irresponsible people out to further their own causes.

He had reportedly asked Khalid to take stern action against those who exploited children into taking part in certain activities.

However, when asked today about the minister’s proposal to involve schoolchildren in protests, Khalid said: "This is a national issue. Since a minister has made such statements, only the Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan must respond, not me".

Musa could not be reached for comments today.