Ahmad Chik (pix), 63, who is also a heritage and environmental issues enthusiast, told theSun he hoped police would not stop the next forum or take the side of the demonstrators.

"They shouldn't give in to pressure but should carry out their duty to stop the mob. We respect their right to demonstrate and want them to respect our rights too," he said.

"The police should not have stopped the forum. It is like telling a woman about to be raped not to resist because it would infuriate the rapist. We look to the police to protect us when we conduct legitimate business and to protect us from lawbreakers."

A group of 500 demonstrators had disrupted the forum which was attended by 220 people. It ended nearly two hours earlier than scheduled.

The forum, a collaboration between Aliran and Article 11 (a group of NGOs), is the third in a series of roadshows, themed Federal Constitution: Protection For All.

It was to promote awareness of an open letter that calls on the government to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution in the wake of concerns raised by recent court cases involving Nyonya Tahir, Sjn M. Moorthy and S. Shamala and increasing claims that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Among the speakers were AWAM executive director Honey Tan, Aliran president P. Ramakrishnan, UiTM law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi, lawyer Malik Imtiaz and MP for Kota Baru Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

Ivy Josiah and Datuk Cyrus Das were not among the speakers as reported earlier.

Ahmad said he attended the forum as he was concerned about the direction of the country and wanted to hear what the experts in their respective fields had to say with regard to Article 11.

He said no one ever won debates by screaming at each other and that it was more sensible to sit down and have a discourse and dialogue.

"If you want to have a demonstration, by all means you can do so, but they could have participated in the dialogue after hearing what the speakers had to say as the organisers had allocated two hours for this.

Aliran president P. Ramakrishnan concurred with Ahmad, saying: "Many people have asked us to reconvene this forum and we're seriously considering that."