Malaysia must keep its cool

I have so far refrained from writing too much about the MH17 tragedy because I want to wait for the investigators to complete their job and come out with a solid conclusion.

As PM DS Najib Razak said on the first day of the incident, Malaysia does not wish to point fingers at the culprit behind the incident, if any, before the investigation had been completed.

Najib clearly wants our country to be known as a responsible nation.

Despite repeated accusations by the US and its allies that the Russian-backed separatists and Russia itself were responsible for firing the BUK anti-aircraft missile which allegedly destroyed the plane, Malaysia had remained completely neutral.

It was the key to the success of Najib and Foreign Minister DS Anifah Aman, along with the Malaysian team in Ukraine in securing the return of the black boxes and remains of the victims.

But yesterday, several hundreds people, primarily organized by Umno Youth loudly demonstrated in front of the Russian and Ukrainian embassies to demand justice for the victims.

They claimed that their motives were non-political.

However, since they were indeed mostly members of political parties, it's inevitable that they would be perceived to have done so to further their political interests.

Personally, I do not understand what they really hope to achieve by doing such things.

Does shouting and carrying placards in front of the embassies help in bringing justice for the victims of the tragedy?

Or is it by doing so, it will uplift the profile of the protesters themselves , especially the leaders?

Okay, maybe they can get their antics into the world news, but what are the consequences?

I am of the opinion that such demonstrations would only be manipulated by the Western media and their masters.

Here is one of the headlines by them,

MH17: 'You killed 298 people, Russia. We demand the truth'

Such reports made it as if Malaysia had already concluded who shot down the plane.

excerpts:

The organisers, members of the youth wing of Unmo, Malaysia’s ruling party, insisted their demonstration was not political.

Yet having received tacit support from Malaysia’s leaders the protest was precisely that. Black-clad demonstrators came on specially chartered coaches to send Moscow the message that Malaysia’s politicians have so far felt unable to publicly deliver themselves.

Did the protesters really receive tacit support from the Najib's administration to point fingers at the Russians, just a day after its success in negotiating with the pro-Russian separatists for the return of the black boxes and remains of the victims?

I don't think so.

I believe reports such as this are attempts to draw our country into the geo-political conflict which we are for now rightfully trying hard to remain neutral.

The US and its allies had from the start of the tragedy directly blamed Russia, accusing it of supplying the Ukrainian separatists with the BUK missiles.

Russia had repeatedly denied this.

Now, if a Malaysian mob, allegedly supported by the ruling government, had directly pointed their fingers at Russia, then it's going to be perceived that Malaysia itself had sided with the West on this matter.

It definitely had damaged the country's neutrality and the much praised Najib's "quiet diplomacy" had been torpedoed.

I therefore strongly believe that such demonstrations don't serve any purpose other than serving the interests of US and its allies.....and maybe getting certain individuals having their faces seen in foreign media coverage.

I doubt that justice for the victims of MH17 tragedy would be served in any way by such demonstrations.

We need to be smart and not be manipulated by others.

Malaysia had handled this tragedy relatively well since day one.

Our authorities have definitely learned well from the earlier MH370 tragedy.

Let's not spoil it.