WAS THE SENDER EXPECTING A DATUKSHIP?

THESE SMART “BULLETS” ARE SOME COURTESY OF MALAYSIAKINI READERS:

Geronimo: Should any harm come to the good professor, Umno will face an uprising like it never seen before and this time, it will not be from Bersih but from the students themselves who will take the leading role.

Not Confused: What depths this sad country has sunk to when a learned professor voices his legal opinion on an important issue, gets a bullet in the mail.

He didn't insult the royalty.

The morally bankrupt BN underDr Mahathir Mohamad did far worse in the past. And this is supposed to be an Islamic country.

Keturunan Malaysia: Our country is so full of daily shocks until nothing shocks us anymore, except that if a day passes us by without having a single one.

The deafening silence of the silent majority is indeed an ominous sign and indeed, when the time comes, the seething rage that keep piling up will explode and translate into votes against the few strong and powerful.

Anonymously: Abdul Aziz, be brave for you are not alone. Don't let such criminal intimidation get the better of you. Like what PAS vice-president Husam Musa rightly said, you have become an icon of the rakyat.

Milosevic: It was none other than Mahathir who said during the constitutional crisis that the sultans had done nothing for the Malays, and it was only Umno which had saved them.

The sultans, he claimed. were prepared to sell out Malay interests with the Malayan Union proposal. Did the bullet sender get the wrong address?

It is becoming clear to ordinary Malays that Umno is no longer serving their interests, and as such the party is in a tight spot. Party leaders are mobilising all kinds of institutions, from the previously ridiculed royalty to religious chauvinist organisations to prop them up.

However, since these do not provide intellectual and moral power to win the hearts and souls of the people, their role is limited to shoring up authoritarianism and spreading paranoia to silence broader discussion about alternatives for Malaysia.

There is a direct correlation between Umno's ineffectiveness and decadence and the mushrooming of new saviours for Islam and the Malays.

Nik V: The question of ‘whodunit' is something that will probably never be solved as long as BN is in power.

But the bigger question is whether the Sultan of Selangor is magnanimous enough to state officially that he finds such acts of sending bullets and threatening any of his subjects in such a way as despicable, and that if in fact Prof Aziz Bari had said anything wrong, His Highness would wait for the law to follow due process.

That act alone will show the rakyat that even the Sultan of Selangor will not tolerate those claiming to defend his name, and who in fact end up painting the royalty in bad light.

One Brain Cell: If I were the Selangor sultan, I would be absolutely horrified and outraged that some quarters are committing serious crimes like making death threats against academics in my name.

Whatever Aziz Bari said about the sultan, it was a civilised critique. This bullet-in-the-mail, however, is low-grade thuggery and I can think of no greater insult to our constitutional monarchs than for such disgraceful threats to be issued in any sultan's name.

Nil: Just what constitute an offence against His Highness or "to cause mischief"? Do I take it that whatever the sultan says or does are beyond criticism? Can a sultan ever be wrong?

MCA Member: I agree with Multi Racial. The sultan, being a person who should be seen to be above the fray, should come out with a statement to diffuse the situation.

The sultan has to bear in mind that rakyat of today are very much aware of democratic principles and freedom of speech.

It will certainly do a great deal of good to the image of the royalty if the sultan recognises these facts and absolve Prof Bari of any wrongdoing and send the rakyat the message that this sultan is a righteous and forgiving sultan and is willing to listen to the rakyat, warts and all - not only the good things, but also the not-so-good things.

Multi Racial: I think the Sultan of Selangor should not keep quiet but to speak out against the recent attacks against Aziz Bari.

If the sultan did that, it goes to show how magnanimous a person he is. It is also an opportunity for him to elevate himself above politicians.

As ruler of the state, his primary interest should be solely on what is good for Selangor as well as its people. regardless of race and religion.

This is the time for the royalty to win back the respect and support of Malaysians at large.