KUALA LUMPUR: The rally to oppose the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) which started at about 2pm today at Dataran Merdeka, here, ended at 5pm.
With thousands taking to the streets, the rally started off peacefully and ended the same way, with no untoward incidents observed.
While organisers estimated an attendance of 500,000, police estimated some 55,000 participants at about 4pm.
Organisers also managed to keep the peace with the help of PAS’ peacekeeping squad which descended in droves to the city centre as early as 5am today.
Hartati Suniyo, 45, said that they did a great job in not only ensuring peace but also that the place was clean after the rally.
The organisers however did point out to protesters to ensure that public property was not vandalized after some shrubs or trees were allegedly manhandled and a video of it circulated.
Putrajaya had announced last month that Malaysia would not be signing ICERD.
The rally was originally planned to demand that the government reject ICERD but was repurposed as a “thanksgiving” to the government as well as to maintain their opposition towards the treaty.
Among those who attended the rally include Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
Several celebrities were also spotted including television host Azwan Ali, singer Datuk Hattan, comedian Abon and actor Mustapha Kamal.