Dayak NGO not cowed by threats

KUCHING: De Facto Dayak Informal Group (DIG) Chief, Dr. Dusit Jaul, has vowed that he will not be intimidated by threats, even to his person, and that he will continue to speak up on the rights of the Orang Asal and on human rights issues.

“We do not trample on or deny the rights of other communities. All we ask is for Dayaks to be treated fairly, no more and no less,” said Dusit who stressed that he cannot be bullied into submission when his people, the majority community in Sarawak, have been marginalized.

“It’s not wrong if we speak up on the matter to attract attention to the issues at hand. Everything is done according to the law when we air the grouses of the Dayak community to the government.”

Dusit was explaining a police report lodged on Friday at the Sungai Maong station by a DIG member, Eric Dile, on behalf of the NGO and other members following threats to him (Dusit) by a group of unknown persons on October 4, 5 and 7.

Earlier, Dusit had lodged a report of the incidents at the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) Police One Stop Centre. He added that “he wants the government to seriously consider the group’s requests or face the wrath of the community”.

“The government can choose to fulfill our requests or face a more aggressive and skilled Dayak community in the future,” he warned. “We believe that what we are doing today is for the good of Sarawak and the Sarawak government.”

Recalling the alleged incidents, Dusit claims that five men reportedly from the “Special Branch in Bukit Aman” trespassed into his residence in Tabuan Jaya on October 7 at 10.45 am when he was not at home.

Apparently, they refused to produce any identification documents.

The five ordered Dusit’s wife, who was alone at home at the time, to advise her husband to stop harping on the rights and issues affecting Dayaks.

“They told my wife to advise me to follow the footsteps of ‘good’ Dayak government figures like Michael Manyin, Peter Nansian, and Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang,” related Dusit. “The five men disclosed that they would be issuing a similar warning to James Masing in the near future.”

According to Dusit’s wife, as related by him, three of the five were fluent in Iban, while the other two were an Indian and a Malay.

Dusit believes the five men who confronted his wife are the same ones who had apparently been monitoring his movements of late.

Earlier, in two separate incidents on October 4 and Oct 5, he alleged that some men trailed his vehicle to Lubok Antu.

It appears that he was pulled over somewhere along the way, by the men trailing him, and asked to wind down all of his car windows before being allowed to continue his journey.

Sarawak Police, according to sources, are in the dark about the alleged incidents and hinted that the suspects may be rogue elements engaged by politicians who keep a tight leash on the Dayak communities.

-fmt