I am flabbergasted by the recent statement made by the Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, that people should not regard criminals as heroes and cops as demons.

Does the Home Minister know what he is talking about here or is he playing with semantics? Is he impliedly demonising all suspects in the police station? If that is the case, then no one is safe from the hands of the police and would have to pray hard for their survival if taken into custody.

The earlier case of B Prabakar who was tortured by the police with hot water is a case in point, where a police report was lodged by the victim for attempted murder. This case was still fresh in the minds of many before Kugan’s death in police custody made headlines.

The Home Minister seems to have a history of distorting and covering up the truth. In this instance, he seemed to have demonised the victim by calling the police heroes. All Malaysians who paid their last respects to Kugan as a human being would have been insulted to say the least.

The government should be sensitive to aggrieved parties, regardless of their race and give them the public space to express their legitimate grievances. Too many deaths in police custody have taken place and yet the culprits have gotten away scot-free and the public have largely been apathetic.

The integrity, accountability and transparency of the police force has been called into question once again, with their confrontational statements only seeming to intimidate the ordinary man on the street. They must not forget that they are there in a position of authority by virtue of the taxpayer’s money and should not be seen to be abusing their authority.

Most Malaysians would know that murder is a non-bailable offence under the Penal Code. Kugan’s brutal murder was committed while he was in detention so why did the AG need three days to reclassify it as murder, when initially it was reported that the death was caused by fluid in the lungs?

Why are they taking so long to arrest Kugan’s murderer(s), who are the real criminals in this case? They are certainly not heroes, but demons within their ranks.

Why is there a double standard on the part of the police force in not weeding out criminal suspects within their own ranks immediately? The Home Minister being a lawyer should be aware of the rule of law that no one is above the law, not even a police officer and that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The police force being under his authority has failed in this respect.

This is certainly not an issue about race but about justice. Justice must be done and must manifestly be seen to be done. The late Kugan was a Malaysian citizen and he deserves equal treatment in the cause of justice on par with any other Malaysians irrespective of race under the Federal Constitution.

The fact that he is now gone only proves that something is very wrong with the police force. The only honourable thing that Syed Hamid can do now is to bow out gracefully from his ministerial post, before making anymore embarrassing statements, lest we become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.