Sunday, January 20, 2013

HOSTAGE TO MAHATHIR: LIVING WITH OPEN WOUNDS.


Today, I kick off the first of a series of Pre GE13 reminders WHAT HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN TO REMEMBER. They are a collection of documented happenings I have achieved over the years. Hopefully, these reminders will knock off the fence-sitters from their discomforting and complacent perch.  


Dr. Munawar Anees was one of Anwar's friends who was unjustly treated by Dr. Mahathir.


This is his story :
A large inscription on the rotunda of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington -- "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny upon the mind of man" -- impressed me deeply on my first visit to the United States as a student nearly a quarter of a century ago. Recently, with the tears of experience welling in my eyes, I revisited that site. My arbitrary arrest and torture in Malaysia had engraved Jefferson's inscription on my heart.
As a student I knew of the horrors of the Holocaust and other human tragedies, but merely as a distant thunder: The violation of human rights and crimes against humanity were only an abstract notion.
That was all fated to change with my arrest last year under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) of Malaysia, which allows for indefinite detention without trial. My crime? I had known Anwar Ibrahim, the deputy prime minister and finance minister of Malaysia, as a close personal friend for many years. We shared and strove for a vision of life firmly rooted in human dignity. We struggled for building an intellectual and political milieu for free expression. Together, we subscribed to the idea of economic prosperity, gender and racial equality and a civil society.
Alas, the Malaysian dictator, Mahathir, under the growing burden of corruption and cronyism, conspired to halt the march of freedom. In order to build his fraudulent case against Anwar, Mahathir himself ordered my arrest.
My kidnapping and detention by the infamous Malaysian Special Branch taught me how it feels to be forcibly separated from one's wife and children. How it feels to be searched and seized, disallowed to make phone calls, handcuffed, blindfolded, stripped naked, driven in an animal cage, shaven bald, endlessly interrogated, humiliated, drugged, deprived of sleep, physically abused. What it's like to be threatened, blackmailed, tormented by police lawyers, brutalized to make a totally false confession, hospitalized for a consequent heart ailment, and treated as a psychiatric patient with symptoms of Stockholm syndrome.
Barely surviving on a meager diet of rancid rice and chicken along with 12 medicines a day, I spent nearly four months handcuffed around the clock to my hospital bed, under the watchful eyes of the prison guards.
Thereafter, my ability to speak, read and write took a considerable time to show signs of recovery. Short-term memory lapses were frequent. I existed in a fluid state in which suicidal tendencies, depression and despair were punctuated by fits of rage and indignation.
Weekly visits of less than an hour by my wife, Nadia, with our young children -- Aisha and Omran -- were my only contact with the outside world and the only inspiration to live on.
In collusion with the lawyer appointed on my behalf by the police, the Malaysian authorities refused the legal assistance of my choice, coercing me not to mount an appeal against the court verdict and threatening me with greater punishment under new charges if I didn't co-operate.
Simultaneously, Nadia constantly endured police harassment, wiretapping and disruption of our e-mail and bank accounts. Some of our friends were met with the same fate and were compelled to abandon us when we needed them most.
But, in attempting to scare off and alienate my friends, how terribly mistaken were Malaysian autocrats in aping gross Gestapo tactics. How they underestimated the temper of freedom in so many places around the world, above all among friends in the West.
Floodgates of human compassion were opened when the futurist author Alvin Toffler, who Mahathir asked to advise him on a pet high-technology project, sent a message of protest to the Malaysian leader within 72 hours of my capture. In a major interview with the Western press, Mahathir even felt it necessary to make assurances -- unfulfilled, of course -- about my well being.
With every passing day, the rising tide of concern for my plight seemed to personify the words of Elie Wiesel: "Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor. Never the victim. Never the tormented."
Friends and strangers alike took a stand and support began to mushroom everywhere. Nadia related to me in the hospital how Amnesty International had declared me a "prisoner of conscience," and how Pen International adopted me as a "writer in prison." Against all odds, two prominent Malaysian lawyers, Manjeet Singh Dhillon and Balwant Singh Siddhu, offered their services unconditionally. To top it all, an international coalition -- Friends of Dr. Anees -- came into existence in defence of my rights. The core group of Naseer Ahmad, Baseer Hai, Safir Rammah, Jamal Mubarak, Anees Ahmad and Naeem Siddiqui mounted a media campaign with phenomenal success.
What touched my heart was that the person, Kamal Mubarak, who set up the Web site had never met me in person. From the depths of my confinement, I could see the magic of human compassion had begun to defeat oppression.
The pinnacle was reached after my release in the warm hug laced with watery eyes of an Amnesty friend in Toronto, Margaret John, who witnessed a pledge of solidarity between me and Devan Nair, the former president of Singapore, for we had come to share a similar fate.
My victimization at the hands of Mahathir's "Asian values" has transformed me in another way. All my adult life, like so many in the Muslim world, I have suspected under every nook and cranny some conspiracy by the West to keep us down. Yet, in this seminal experience of my life, my friends in the West succeeded in saving me, while Mahathir, a Muslim, did everything to destroy me. And he is trying to do the same to Anwar again through his obliging courts on totally fabricated charges.
Mahathir has demonstrated that, though a proclaimed Muslim, his heart is blind to compassion. Tyranny is the hallmark of his bankrupt concept of "Asian values."
My tragedy, and that of my friend Anwar, ought to make our fellow Muslims think very hard when they ponder the West and its role in the world. As we set out to shape our collective destiny in the 21st century, will the values of Mahathir or Jefferson serve us best? Mahathir himself made that choice for me. Sic semper tyrannis.

AN INTERVIEW HERE



19 comments:

Wan Shamsudin said...

Salam Bro and to the family of Munawar anees;

We need to believed that Allah SWT is always with GOOD PEOPLE like you Sir, and Allah SWT does sleep...We need to believed that the day will come for us to see Mahathir ROT, more worse than a'corpse'in a sewage pond. I pray the day will come sooner and we will see HIM suffer...who knows he is suffering now?????

Anonymous said...

Why don't Mr.Munawar write a book on his experience so that what he had gone through is not forgotten over time? In this way, he can do justice for himself and all others who has suffered the same fate. Besides that, the world at large will also have the opportunity to make a more accurate assessment on Mahathir and his regime. Personally, I feel that this is a far better proposition than to waste his energy and his limited productive time left on earth to clear his name in the very court that had allegedly conspired in putting him through all the ordeals in the first place.

Anonymous said...

god works in mysterious ways.
mahatir, you will find your match one day. and will end up like mubarak and marcos.

Anonymous said...

Uncle Bernard, thank you for reminding us. Inso far, many poor Malaysian is still under the 'blind' spell of this cruel dictator. Do not forget too,that apart from this 'extinct virus'it also gave birth to other mutant strain, the likes of trouble maker in Abra....Ali and others. ABU!, but it has to begin by getting rid of this bad bad source of destructive 'Mother of all' Mamak!! A false leader in Asia Region.

patrick said...

...probably the most hated racist at home though he's always craved for international notoriety with his regular bashing of the west,Jews in particular.But to his utter disappointment,he's just like a ship passing thru' the night!And that must be eating into him.

patrick said...

...probably the most hated racist at home though he's always craved for international notoriety with his regular bashing of the west,Jews in particular.But to his utter disappointment,he's just like a ship passing thru' the night!And that must be eating into him.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the reminder. Mebe I cd translate it into Malay

Loaf Bread said...

Keep it coming, bro. Malaysians "Apanama" have short memories.

najib manaukau said...

This grand son of the pariah from Kerala, the shenanigan Mahathir, is trying to compare himself with Bapa Malaysia. Tengku gave citizenships to the two million pendatangs as a social contract with MCA and MIC in order to gain their supports for the cooperation to negotiate for Malaya's independence from the Brits and not for their votes.
Whereas, until now, this shenanigan was hiding his actions to allow the muslims immigrants to become citizens for their votes to remain in power. That is the big difference !
If Najib wishes to gain support from the pendatang Malaysians in the coming GE all he has to do is to have a RCI into this shenanigan over all the atrocities, the abuses and all the mega projects he implemented during his tenure as P.M. No doubt it would be revealed how vastly the shenanigan had inflated the prices of those projects, just so his 'commissions' of the 10% or more be included !
Now you know why he adamantly claims to be a Malay that was so he could become the P.M. and then he could go on to steal in the name of a Malay to become the richest man in Asia with US$44- billions. If one is to add up the wealth of his billionaire son and his , together they would easily become the wealthiest of the world leaving Bill Gates far behind him in wealth.

Anonymous said...

This mamak shit thinks he is good in twisting and turning his wrong doings. Don't insult our intelligence. Don't die so fast...erh but die..slow..slow. Real devil of an ex PM. Got the cheek to compare himself with our TAR. No shame!!!!...

Musa Ng said...

Zorro,

I stumbled across this whilst looking up Dr Munawar Anees.

Grim reading.

http://www.c2o.org/malaysia/democracy/reports/981203_stat_dec_munawar_01.htm

Anonymous said...

The Lord (not IJN) kept the heart of mamakutty beating so that he will face the judgement day in People's court after the next PRU.

Karma will have its way.

Anonymous said...

The granting of citizenship to the one million non-Malays in Malaya was done legally, contrary to Dr M's allegation that "it was not provided in the law at the time".

If it was illegal, why has he been quiet for so many decades and brought it up only now when he is implicated in issuing MyKads to illegals in Sabah?

Mahathir's operation in Sabah was shrouded in secrecy whereas Tunku's action was in accordance with a collective decision during the formative period of Malaysia's history of independence.

mitchell said...

Thanks Uncle for the reminder. Even though long retired, Dr M still continue to tear our country apart. Pray that when ABU rules, we may still be able to reverse the damages and save Malaysia. May God give you and all of us courage!

Anonymous said...

If god permits i will be the first one to pour urine on his grave by insulting my ancestors.

bochik said...

Setelah mengaku dia dalang Projek IC, dia menyamakan jenayahnya dengan Tunku... dengan agenda MELAYU-nya, dia memaksa Tunku utk letak jawatan dan sekarang dia jugak ingin membusukkan lagi nama Tunku utk mengelak dari jenayah dan pengkhianatannya sendiri... Waahhh, ini mamak banyak suka main buntut Melayu... kawan2 Melayu, lu sendiri pikirlah... nanti kita cakap banyak pula lu orang marah...

wandererAUS said...

My only wish if Pakatan ever won this 13th GE, we make sure this Indian Celup Melayu baruah be rounded up, hung by his balls!

Anonymous said...

A call for another RCI - Dr Munawar Anees ISA Torture.

Anonymous said...

Protest Gathering Against Mahathir: The Traitor "IC & Citizenship Issue".

Date : Wed 23-01-2013
Time : 12.00 noon
Venue: Water Fountain Little India Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

Please come to support!