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The disruption of the Bar Council forum on conversion by a few hundred protesters has been the most notable event in recent weeks. It sparked off a monsoon of commentaries and reactions in the mainstream and alternative media, proving yet once again that religion is still very much a core issue that tugs and plucks at the national heart-strings of Malaysia. To be sure, the Muslim - or any other group of protesters - had every right to demonstrate their displeasure with the event organisers, irrespective of whether they had the right or the wrong reasoning for doing so. It is their fundamental human right to free expression. In a mature democracy, one even has the right to be wrong. But for them to demonstrate to the extent of presenting the threat of a violent conflict compelling the Bar Council to suspend the function, they are guilty of the crime of denying the Bar Council their right to freedom of speech. The protesters have abused their right to demonstrate peacefully.
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