Malaysia is a rule of law society. Any dispute or difference has to be settled within the framework of the nation’s laws in a civilized manner.

The six state elections are just around the corner and political parties have started announcing their candidates.

Against the backdrop of heated political atmosphere now prevailing in our society, the planting of an improvised explosive device (IED) under the car of human rights lawyer Siti Kasim failed to get the deserved attention and concern.

As a matter of fact, this is an extremely serious incident that must not be overlooked by our society.

Fortunately the bomb was discovered early before the tragedy took place.

The incident was exposed several days ago when Siti Kasim sent her car for regular examination before an outstation journey.

That was not just a prank like spraying red paint on the wall. It was attempted murder! If Siti Kasim had not sent her car for servicing, she could have been killed when the bomb Razarudin Husain has said: This is a serious crime because bomb threat is equivalent to attempted murder.

It was not an improvised plan or an act out of the spur of the moment but one that has been planned well in advance.

According to Siti Kasim, the person attempting to attack her seemed to know very well about her whereabouts,and she believed she had been followed for some time in order to seize an opportunity to plant the IED underneath her car because her car had always been parked at her condominium’s car park.

Since the culprit has spent time and effort to take down Siti Kasim, he (or they) will never give up and will look for another opportunity to carry out his (their) next action.

Siti’s life is seriously under intimidation, and it is imperative that the police track down the culprit(s) as soon as possible not only to ensure her safety but also issue a very stern message to the culprit(s) that Malaysia is a country ruled by law and no acts of violence will ever be tolerated here!

Prior to that, we read about a social activist going missing, and now we have a human rights activist facing bomb threat. What has gone wrong with our society?

What has Siti Kasim done that has prompted these people to want to claim her life?

Siti is a human rights lawyer and social activist. She has been known for fearlessly voicing up for the underprivileged in our society.

In order to bring the grassroots voices to parliament, she contested the Batu parliamentary seat in last year’s general election but to no avail.

She has been very crude in voicing up on a number of human rights issues as well as political anomalies and social injustices. Because of her progressive stand and harsh criticisms, she has found herself a target of merciless onslaught from certain quarters.

She sent her car to the workshop last week to prepare for her trip to Kelantan to help settle the issues plaguing the Orang Asli community there. Even with the bomb threat, she has insisted to do her part and will proceed to Kelantan to carry out her duties.

She vows not to back out and will continue to fight on and do what she feels is right.

Her courage deserves our respect. But the thing is, the whole society must back her and not to let her face the malicious forces all alone.

Politicians on either side of the divide, NGOs and the civil society should voice out loudly and clearly, telling the irresponsible quarters that their mean acts of violence are never tolerated in our civilized society.

So far some politicians and civic organizations have voiced up in support of Siti Kasim, but there is this need for us to stand more united on this matter and make our voices even louder.

So far we still have no idea what are the motives behind the incident. It is downright worrisome if Siti Kasim has been targeted because of her divergent views and standpoints from those of the culprits.

Malaysia is a rule of law society. Any dispute or difference has to be settled within the framework of the nation’s laws in a civilized manner.

As a matter of fact, the great progress humans have made in civilization could be attributed to our accommodation of divergent views. No one can negate the importance of such diversity and no one should resort to violence and threats in dealing with people holding different views from them.

The police will investigate this incident under Section 7 of the Explosives Act 1957. It is hoped that the case can be solved and the perpetrator(s) brought to book as soon as possible.