KUALA LUMPUR: One of the main gathering points for participants of the anti-International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) rally today is the historic Masjid Jamek mosque at Jalan Tun Perak here.
As of 12.30pm today, approximately 10,000 demonstrators had assembled in the vicinity of the mosque, most of them beneath the elevated Masjid Jamek LRT station.
The crowd was seen converging on the area from many different directions, including Jalan Lebuh Ampang, Pudu Raya, Central Market and Masjid India beginning 10am this morning.
Many of the demonstrators sang ‘Inilah Barisan Kita’, accompanied by the beating of drums, as they waited to perform the Zohor prayer, as they prepare to march to the front of the Sultan Abdul Samad building in Jalan Raja at 2pm.
Traffic lights at the Jalan Lebuh Ampang intersection leading to Masjid Jamek have been shut off to facilitate protestors’ two-way movement in the area.
Other than police, members of Rela and EMRS personnel are also at the scene.
Meanwhile, a sea of anti-ICERD protestors clad in white flooded Masjid Negara at Jalan Perdana, here.
As of 1pm, some 5,000 people, from senior citizens to children, have congregated at the famous mosque.
The crowd is expected to march towards Dataran Merdeka at 2pm.
At 12.45pm, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived at the mosque to perform the Zohor prayer.
The demonstrators are expressing their “gratefulness” to the Pakatan Harapan government for deciding against ratifying the ICERD last month.