There have been serious allegations against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak of corruption but the entire judicial system has refused to move on the PM. However, it has moved with lightning speed on the allegations of corruption by Lim Guan Eng.

There are two levels at which the judicial system operates in cases like this. The first is at the level of the attorney-general (AG) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) top brass who decide on who to investigate and prosecute for corruption. The second is at the level of the courts – where the courts decide on the truth of corruption allegations.

Compare the speed with which the system has operated at this first level. Why only investigate and prosecute Lim Guan Eng with this intensity and speed? Where is all that intensity and speed for investigation and prosecution in the case of the allegations against PM Najib?

As one writer to an online portal put it, “In a matter with the remotest link to irregularity, the MACC and Apandi (Ali) have acted with lightning speed when others caught with fingers in the till, smoking gun in hands dripping in blood and berserk elephants trumpeting in the room, have been ignored in a burst of fatherly tolerance.”

When the Judicial system operates in this skewed manner we cannot but resist to conclude that the judicial system is indeed breaking down.

That is not how it is supposed to work. The only guarantee of justice and fairness for the weak and vulnerable of the country is the integrity in the operation of this judicial system. When it breaks down thus with impunity, it is of serious concern to the Hindraf People’s Movement whose primary constituency are the the weak, vulnerable and marginalised Indians.

They need the absolute protection of this pillar of governance. It is supposed to guarantee them justice in this otherwise awfully skewed ethnocentric political system.

Further these actions, coming on the heels of the wins by BN in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, bode ill for all of Malaysia. The speed and intensity of the prosecution of Lim Guan Eng now can also be read as indicating that GE 14 is around the corner.

BN is trying to raise the probability of a big win in GE14. And if they do win GE 14 big, what else will they be up to? What other people’s rights will be further taken away? This is a very real possibility. And we are making these projections based on what recent history has taught us.

This is exactly what the elite of any country seek to do. Use circumstances and power in this fashion to push their economic and political agenda skillfully but keeping well within the rules of the flawed democratic system.

Hindraf may have had our differences with Lim Guan Eng and the DAP but we cannot accept something so serious as the whittling away of our basic rights and the protection afforded by these rights.

We urge all Malaysians to stand up and not allow this serious erosion of our fundamental rights. What is really at stake at this stage is not whether Lim Guan Eng is innocent or guilty, the courts can take care of that, it is whether the judicial system in its entirety is giving use the protection it promises.

N GANESAN is a member of the leadership senate, Hindraf People’s Movement.