THE Orang Asli in Gua Musang, Kelantan, have a message for the state government: “Tear down our blockade and we will put up another”.

They said they have stood up to armed men and those who threatened to ram them down with heavy vehicles, so the state government’s threat does not bother them much.

The Orang Asli’s blockade is to stop a plantation company from working on a 400ha plot to grow durians. The Orang Asli allege the project affects their livelihood as the planters are encroaching onto their native land.

Orang Asli activist Nur Mohd Syafiq Dendi Abdullah said the state government’s threat does not scare them.

Syafiq said they will keep putting up blockades until the PAS-run government recognises their claims to communal land that have been their source of food and water for generations.

“They can come and arrest us if they want. They can demolish this barricade but we are not going to stop unless and until we get our land rights back,” he said.

Syafiq and about 50 Orang Asli are currently manning the Kaleeg blockade near Kuala Betis, Gua Musang, are unfazed about the thought of getting arrested again.

Two years ago, police and the Forestry Department did just that. Some 41 activists, including Syafiq, were rounded up for erecting blockades against loggers and plantation companies in the Gua Musang area.

They were later released without any charge.

The Khaleeg blockade and two others have been up since February.

On Sunday, a confrontation between men linked to a durian plantation company and the Orang Asli led the former to block the sole access road from the project and six kampung to the outside world.

By blocking the road with a pick-up and a lorry, the men stopped teachers from travelling to a school in Kg Pos Tohoi. A van, which was supposed to pick up an ailing resident, could not enter the kampung.

The men have since left with their vehicles but the Kelantan government has taken a hard stand.

Kota Baru MP Takiyuddin Hassan said the state authorities will act against any blockade, whether by the Orang Asli or planters.

Guns and knives

Syafiq and his friends have dismissed the threat. They said they have faced greater threats from those linked to the plantation.

On June 9, a group charged through their blockade with a pick-up lorry.

At the time, the blockade consisted of a pole across the access road to the plantation.

“Two of the men carried shot guns which they brandished at us. We saw knives strapped to the belts of other men. They demanded that we lift the pole. We refused.”

As the Orang Asli did not want to escalate the confrontation, they backed off and the men were able to drive through.

“But we still tried to stop them. About 20 of us tried to stop the pick-up from going through with our bare hands but they kept driving and pushing us back.”

The pick-up pushed the activists back for about 20m on the dirt road. Syafiq was at the centre, straining against the vehicle’s hood.

But sensing that he was in danger, his friends pulled him away to end the confrontation.

The pick-up sped off but ran over the feet of two of the other activists. One of them was 90-year-old Abine Anjang.

“I was lucky. It only left slight bruises on my feet. We went to the hospital and the doctors confirmed that nothing was broken.”

Abine continues to man the blockade with the younger activists despite the risks.

“I have to do this for my grandchildren. If I can’t leave them the land, then how are they going to live? We are not trying to fight the government but just want to defend our land.” – August 2, 2018.