Hard-won Afghan women's rights may be lost in Taliban peace deal

Afghan women look set to be deemed second-class citizens in light of clerics' recommendations. Picture: AFP

THE Afghanistan government appears to be scaling back its support for women's rights to advance peace talks with the Taliban ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops, Afghan lawmakers and human-rights activists have warned.

A government-appointed council of 150 leading Muslim clerics last week urged the strict application of a conservative and literalist interpretation of Islamic law regarding women.

The council said Afghan law should require women to wear the veil and forbid them from mixing with men in the work place or traveling without a male chaperone.

"Men are fundamental and women are secondary," the Ulama Council said in a statement on Friday, according to a translation by the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

President Hamid Karzai published the statement on his website, fueling speculation that he backed the conservative clerics' position.

The Ulama Council's recommendations also included a number of other declarations that seemed to support Karzai's political positions, including backing peace talks with the Taliban and urging the handover of US-controlled prisons to Afghan government supervision.

"This is a political statement; this is not an Islamic statement," said Shukria Barakzai, a female lawmaker from the capital, Kabul.

The council's positions are relatively standard orthodox interpretations of Islamic law, similar to those that would be issued by mainstream Muslim clerics throughout the Islamic world.

But such positions would mark a significant step backwards for women in Afghanistan were they to be enshrined in Afghan law.

They also come at a particularly jittery moment in Afghanistan.

The US and its allies are set to pull most of their troops from the country by 2014.

The US and Mr Karzai both say they are intent on pushing forward with peace talks with the Taliban - a movement that has a long history of oppressing women - although US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged that the peace outreach won't mean backsliding on advances in women's rights.

Women's rights advocates fear that any compromise with the Taliban as part of a peace deal could undercut gains they have made in the past decade, including the right to vote, hold public office and get an education.

"The future of women's rights in Afghanistan is more unpredictable that at any stage over the last 10 years," the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization concluded in a report published on Tuesday.

"Most of women's important achievements over the last decade are likely to be reversed."

Mr Karzai told a news conference that he supported the Ulama Council's statements, but said such recommendations would actually strengthen the status of women's rights in Afghanistan.

"They declared the values of Islam and the principles for how to strengthen the position of women in accordance with Sharia," he said.

Pakistani Hindus seek safety in India

Every month about eight to 10 Hindu families migrate from Pakistan. Most of them are well-off, a New Delhi official says
FEATURE

By Hasan Mansoor

KARACHI: Preetam Das is a good doctor with a hospital job and a thriving private clinic, yet all he thinks about is leaving Pakistan, terrified about a rise in killings and kidnappings targeting Hindus.

A successful professional, he lives in megacity Karachi with his wife and two children, but comes from Kashmore, a district in the north of Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh.

His family has lived there for centuries and in 1947 when the sub-continent split between India, a majority Hindu state, and Pakistan, a homeland for Muslims, Das’ grandparents chose to stay with the Muslims.

They fervently believed the promise of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah that religious minorities would be protected. Sixty years later, their grandson says life in Kashmore has become unbearable.

“The situation is getting worse every day,” he says.

Two of his uncles have been kidnapped and affluent Hindus are at particular risk from abduction gangs looking for ransom, he says.

Rights activists say the climate is indicative of progressive Islamisation over the last 30 years that has fuelled an increasing lack of tolerance to religious minorities, too often considered second class citizens.

Das says the only thing keeping him in Pakistan is his mother.

“She has flatly refused to migrate, which hinders my plans. I can’t go without her,” he said.

Hindus make up 2.5 percent of the 174 million people living in the nuclear-armed Muslim nation. Over 90 percent live in Sindh, where they are generally wealthy and enterprising, making them easy prey for criminal gangs.

More people are leaving

An official at the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi who declined to be named said: “Every month about eight to 10 Hindu families migrate from Pakistan. Most of them are well-off.”

He had no comment on whether the number was on the rise, but Hindu community groups in Pakistan say more people are leaving because of kidnappings, killings and even forced conversions of girls to Islam.

“Two of my brothers have migrated to India and an uncle to the UAE,” said Jay Ram, a farmer in Sindh’s northern district of Ghotki.

“It’s becoming too difficult to live here. Sindhis are the most tolerant community in the country vis-a-vis religious harmony, but deteriorating law and order is forcing them to move unwillingly,” he added.

Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and a former lawmaker for Sindh province, said Hindus are picked on by kidnappers and that their daughters are subject to forced conversions to Islam.

“Every now and then we get reports of families migrating. It’s getting worse now. People are extremely harassed and are forced to leave their homeland but our rulers are shamelessly idle,” he told AFP.

Rights activists also say Hindus in Sindh are discriminated against.

“Recently 37 members of five Hindu families migrated to India from Thul town owing to discrimination while three Hindus, including a doctor, were murdered in Shikarpur district,” said Rubab Jafri, who heads Sindh’s Human Rights Forum.

“Lots of violent incidents are happening daily. Most go unreported, which shows vested interests are trying to force Hindus to leave Pakistan.”

‘No massive migrations’

According to the Pakistan Hindu Seva, a community welfare organisation, at least 10 families have migrated from Sindh every month since 2008, mostly to India, but in the last 10 months, 400 families have left.

Another survey last year by the local Scheduled Caste Rights Movement said more than 80 percent of Hindu families complained that Muslims discriminated against them by using different utensils when serving them at food stalls.

“Hindu migration is a brain-drain for Pakistan as most of them are doctors, engineers, agriculturists, businessmen and intellectuals,” Jafri said.

But the provincial authorities are reluctant to recognise a problem.

“I do admit that law and order in some districts of Sindh is quite bad, but it is bad for everyone and not just my community, the Hindus,” Mukesh Kumar Chawla, provincial minister for excise and taxation, told AFP.

“Hindus do not migrate in flocks as has been claimed and those who migrate are going abroad for a better fortune,” he said.

AFP

[main pix from http://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com, showing Hindus praying in Pakistan]

‘What are you sorry for, Najib?’

Kita president and former law minister Zaid Ibrahim says Najib must be specific about what he was apologising for.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must explain the faults of Barisan Nasional for which he has apologised for, said Kita president Zaid Ibrahim.

While he appreciated the premier’s gesture, the former law minister said the people have the right to know the specifics of the apology.

“It’s a good thing as no other premier has apologised before but he must also rectify the mistakes,” he told a press conference at his residence here.

On Sunday, Najib extended an apology on behalf of BN for mistakes which led the people to deal a heavy electoral blow to the ruling coalition in the previous polls.

“I believe we should not be arrogant. In a parliamentary democracy, we have to subject ourselves to the power of the people. We must have made mistakes for the people to reject us,” he had said.

The next day, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said there was no need to list BN’s mistakes as it was a matter of the past.

‘Reprimand arrogant Muhyiddin’

Zaid said if Najib was apologising for BN’s arrogance, the premier should advise his ministers to be humble in their conduct.

“But the very next day of his apology, Muhyiddin arrogantly said that there was no need to list the mistakes. Najib should reprimand him. Remember that the people are watching,” he added.

On another development, Zaid agreed with former finance minister Daim Zainuddin’s statement that the prime minister should not hold the finance portfolio.

“It’s a good idea. In fact, the prime minister should not hold any other portfolio as his department is a powerful ministry by itself,” he said.

On Sunday, Daim told an interview with the China Press that the prime minister should not hold the finance portfolio as in during the Asian financial crisis since the meltdown was over.

Daim added that by holding the finance portfolio, the PM would have too much on his plate as he also served as the BN chief.

“The second finance minister post was added to handle the (1997) economic crisis. Now the crisis period has gone; we have both finance and second finance minister at the same time. Who is the real decision-maker?” he had said.

Zaid said that many prime ministers of a democratic nation do not hold other portfolios as it would undermine the need to separate executive powers.

“Even in New Zealand, where there are more sheep than humans, the prime minister does not hold a separate portfolio,” he said.

Perkasa: Anti-govt blogs funded by US

The US is secretly behind blogs critical of the Malaysian government, Perkasa said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Blogs critical of the government are funded by either the United States or other foreign powers, a Malay extremist group alleged.

However, Selangor Perkasa chairman Abdullah Mansor said that the group had no proof over these allegations.

“We cannot pinpoint the blogs (involved), but whatever blogs (there are) against the government, they have an agenda. Almost all the blogs. They have a (common) networking, we know that.”

“When they say one issue, everybody will say the same, and we know who they are.”

“Whether they are funded by the US or agent, whatever it is, (they are) funded by foreign [powers]. But I cannot say who, because I cannot give proof on who they are,” he told reporters.

Abdullah said this after Perkasa members had lodged a report at the Dang Wangi police district headquarters today.

They based their report on an Utusan Malaysia news story where former PKR members claimed that foreign powers supposedly gave Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim aid in the form of funds and “training”.

According to a Perkasa press statement, the aid came from US-based groups such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI).

German NGOs, the statement added, also helped Anwar.

Asia Must Talk Sense on Israel and Iran

Not what we need in the Middle East right now

India, China, need to slow those who want to go to war in the Middle East
If major Asian countries headed by Chin and India want a common cause, they could usefully make plain their concern at the way US policy is being pushed towards war by the Christian and Jewish extremists who set the agenda for public discussion of policy towards Iran and Syria.

Not content with having started two useless wars against predominantly Muslim countries, now the US is being urged, by no less than former Presidential candidate John McCain to bomb Syria, and by most of the current Republican contenders for the top office (Ron Paul is the only exception) to help Israel bomb Iran back to the pre-nuclear age.

All this is doubtless encouraging to Israel’s extreme right-wing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who could well take the opportunity to start a war prior to the US election and force a reluctant US President Barack Obama to offer support. The Israeli lobby, backed by Christian fundamentalists, has long been the tail that wags the dog of US Mideast foreign policy.

Is it not in the Bible that the Jews were chosen by God as his instrument on earth? Is it the Bible that makes the US contemplate war to stop an ancient and major nation acquiring nuclear capability when it never did so with North Korea or Pakistan and earlier encouraged the imposed state of Israel to develop the only nuclear bomb in the region?

There are several issues of great importance here to Asia which need to be spelled out before worse befalls the world. Most immediately is the issue of the shock to oil supplies and prices that an attack on Iran would bring. India and China as huge oil importers have a legitimate interest in energy security. Both have already indicated that they have no intention of joining the boycott of Iran’s oil exports but they need to go a lot further to make it plain just how dangerous US unconditional support for Israel has become to the world.

Secondly they should make it plain to the US that they view negatively its pronouncements on human rights and its denunciations of Muslim and other religious extremism when the US itself is beholden to Christian religious radicalism. At this moment challengers for the presidency compete not just to show off their beliefs but to try to outbid each other on the importance of Christianity to American life and policy. So much for the doctrine of the secular state and the rights of the non-Christians, who probably total 100 million in the US alone.

American anti-Muslim sentiment has exacerbated the global problems initiated by extremists in Saudi Arabia, Iran etc. It also keeps America’s Muslims quiet. Jews flaunt their voting power and money in the interests of US protection for Israel and its illegal settlements while Muslims, who probably now outnumber Jews in the US, are required to keep a low profile for fear of social isolation and worse. The US should start by practicing what it preaches before speaking up in support for non-Muslims in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

Thirdly, Asia should make it plain that nothing helps the mullahs in Iran sustain their brutal rule more than the hostility towards Tehran drummed up by the west. This was the same arrogant and ignorant West which encouraged Saddam Hussein’s 1980 invasion of Iran in the hope of toppling the mullahs.

In fact it did quite the opposite, making them into nationalist heroes in a war which cost half a million Iranian lives. Almost all Iranians, whatever their political position, believe that their nation has as much right as China or India, let alone Pakistan, North Korea, India and Israel, to nuclear capability and with or without Israeli or US bombs will get to that point quite soon.

Turnout at the recent admittedly rigged parliamentary election in Iran showed that the mullahs can still use foreign hostility to rally the country despite the regime’s abysmal record of social oppression and economic failure.

Finally Asia could make it plain that Europe’s last colony in Asia, created by British imperialism and sustained by US money, domestic politics and strategic interests, can only survive if it conforms to the norms that are expected of other nations.

Israel’s settlements in Palestinian lands and refusal to make any meaningful progress in achieving a two-state solution is surely bringing forward the day when Jews will be a minority in this land and it will be ever more difficult for them to pursue the racist, apartheid-type policies which now prevail. It will be forced to become a plural state, not one based on religious fervor and racial and historical mythology in which non-Jews are second class citizens

Unfortunately for Israel the enthusiasm of ignorant and religion-driven US politicians has given its own nastier politicians an almost blank check – money, advanced weapons, Security Council vetoes etc etc.

With US power now beginning to wane, and its focus beginning to shift towards the Pacific, now is a good time for major Asian nations to speak up in their own interests, in the interests of Muslim and plural Asia – and ultimately for the interests of Israel’s own survival.

Shamsubahrin hands over SMS transcript to MACC

Please, PAS & PKR, can we ABUkan Labuan?

Since I got banned from entering Sabah last December, I’ve taken to Labuan to carry on my work.
A report in the Daily Express might give you some insight into the kind of work going on there.
And in the course of that work, I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and working with some of the leaders and members from PKR, DAP and SAPP in Labuan.
The parliamentary seat of Labuan is currently held by UMNO / BN.
In the 2004 12th GE, UMNO’s Suhaili Abdul Rahman, the incumbent, garnered 11,087 votes against 3,186 votes that went the way of PAS candidate Matusin Abdul Rahman to retain the seat for UMNO /BN.
Voter turnout that year was 14,761 or 68.59%, with 488 spoilt votes.
The breakdown of voters according to ethnicity in 2004 was :
Chinese: 25.20% Indians: 2.20  Bumiputra Muslims: 37%  Others: 35.60%
In the 12th GE, Suhaili Abdul Rahman was dropped and replaced by Yusoff Mahal, who was involved in a 3-corner contest involving PAS candidate Matusin Abdul Rahman and independent candidate Lau Seng Kiat.
Yusoff Mahal won, polling 10,471 votes, Lau came in second with 2,014 votes, whilst Matusin managed only 1,106 votes, losing his deposit.
Voter turnout was 14,149 or 68.1%, with 311 spoilt votes.
Why did the PAS candidate fare the worst of the 3 candidates?
I’m told by the locals, including some of the Muslims, that the lifestyle of the majority in Labuan simply does not favour a PAS candidate.
Notice how in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur in the 12th GE, of the 11 parliamentary seats there, PAS only contested and won in only 1 seat, that is, Titiwangsa?
Might this have anything to do, however slight, with the lifestyle of a large number of KLites, including those who profess Islam as their faith who, then, at least, might have been more ready to dump BN if the alternative was a non-PAS candidate?
The locals I spoke to in Labuan feel that given local sentiment, a non-PAS Malay candidate has a better chance of displacing UMNO / BN come the next elections.
Specifically, they have stated a preference for a Malay candidate from PKR.
The DAP, PKR and SAPP members and leaders I spoke to share this view, with one proviso.
PKR in Labuan, they tell me, is split into 2 factions.
Unless the PKR top leadership can get the 2 factions to settle their differences, picking a PKR candidate from either faction, assuming PAS makes way, risks internal sabotage from the other faction.
I am told that Sabah PKR chief, Tamrin Jailani, who I met in Labuan on 22nd February, has been asked by the local Labuan Pakatan leaders to intervene and resolve the dispute between the 2 factions in PKR Labuan.
DAP, PKR and SAPP members and leaders in Labuan that I have met have told me that they are confident that if PAS will  make way and PKR resolve their internal differences and offer a solid candidate, Labuan can be ABUed.
PAS?
PKR?
Can we work together to ABUkan Labuan?

Zaid akan bertanding di Kota Bharu atas tiket KITA

Umno menjadi lemah kerana dedalu-dedalu didalamnya

Oleh Aspan Alias | March 06, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

6 MAC — Ditempat-tempat dimana orang ramai duduk berborak, isu politik memang menjadi perkara yang wajib disebut, lebih-lebih lagi waktu kita menunggu pilihanraya yang hampir tiba ini. Bila pilihanraya, siapa yang akan menang dan kalah dan apakah isu yang mungkin menjadi bahan kempen oleh kedua-dua belah pihak yang menawarkan diri dan parti mereka nanti.
Tetapi isu orang Melayulah yang menjadi isu terbesar yang orang ramai selalu menyebutnya akhir-akhir ini. Isu memohon maaf Najib kepada orang ramai itu telah membawa isu baru pula. Ramai yang berpendapat apa yang dilakukan oleh Najib itu merupakan perkara yang merugikan Umno dari sudut politiknya. Adalah sukar untuk membuat tafsiran permohonan maaf secara terbuka Najib itu.
Walau bagaimanapun yang jelas sudah ramai pula yang beranggapan bahawa Najib tidak lagi “viable” sebagai pemimpin nombor satu negara dan sudah ada dikalangan orang-orang Umno sendiri berpendapat yang Najib sudah sampai ke penghujungnya, termasuklah dua orang pimpinan bahagian Umno yang bertemu dengan saya itu. “I think Najib should throw his towel now,” kata salah seorang dari pimpinan Umno itu.

Tetapi jika Najib hendak berhenti siapa yang akan mengambil alih? Adakah Muhyiddin menjadi pilihan untuk mengganti Najib? Salah seorang yang berjumpa saya itu bingkas menjawab, “Kalau Muhyiddin, tak payahlah. That will a bigger disaster,” kata seorang lagi.
Saya bertanya samada mereka berdua ini akan berusaha untuk menjadi calon seperti yang ramai-ramai itu. Mereka kata mereka tidak lagi berminat kerana sudah hilang semangat menghadapi keadaan serius dalam BN sekarang ini. Malahan mereka berkata yang niat mereka untuk berjumpa saya itu ialah untuk memulakan perbincangan untuk menyertai DAP kerana parti itu telah berjaya menunjukkan kemampuan untuk mentadbir secara baik seperti yang berlaku di Pulau Pinang.
Pulau Pinang seperti juga kerajaan negeri Selangor, telah terbukti ada perbezaan dengan pengalaman dibawah pemerintahan BN dahulu. Lagi pula kata mereka, selagi mereka berada didalam Umno selagi itulah mereka mendengar dan melihat isu buruk yang keterlaluan buruknya moralnya. “Saya tidak tahan melihat kita semua sentiasa dibayar untuk menyokong mereka. Saya yakin Umno sudah sampai garis penamat hayatnya. Buktinya jelas. Apabila pemimpin-pemimpinnya ke hulu ke hilir membayar dan membeli undi disana sini itulah petanda parti itu akan habis riwayatnya!,” kata salah seorang lagi.
Pandangan pemimpin Umno itu benar. Dimana-mana tamaddun besar dalam sejarah dunia ini pemerintahnya akan berakhir apabila budaya membeli, mengungut dan membohongi orang dibawah perintahnya. Dizaman Roman Empire yang begitu kuat dan stabil, Empire itu tersungkur selepas parkara-perkara yang disebut tadi berlaku kerana mempertahankan kuasa.
Bagi sesiapa yang berfikir dengan teliti dan tekun, ciri-ciri ini sudah berlaku dan berlarutan. Ianya bermula sejak pentadbiran post Hussein Onn dan sekarang sudah menjadi budaya yang sudah tidak dapat dileraikan lagi. Kalau ini berlarutan lagi maka yang kita tunggu hanyalah satu, iaitu kehancuran budaya dan akhlak kehidupan generasi kita yang akan datang.
Persoalannya sekarang bolehkah ianya dileraikan. Tahukah pentadbiran sekarang cara dan mampu untuk meleraikan budaya ini sedangkan mereka adalah pengamal tegar kepada budaya ini. Bolehkah BN membetulkan keadaan dengan memohon maaf dan berjanji untuk memberhentikan budaya ini. Tidak ada siapa yang mempunyai daya pemikiran boleh mempercayai janji-janji manis ini kerana rasuah itu sudah menjadi “addiction” kepada pemimpin-pemimpin BN khususnya Umno.
Kita tahu cara dan kaedah yang paling betul untuk penyelesaian terhadap budaya korup, salah gunakuasa, kemurungan sistem kehakiman dan “judiciary” negara dan berbagai-bagai lagi kemungkaran yang tidak dapat dikawal lagi ini. Caranya ialah untuk Najib dan seluruh kepimpinan dalam Umno itu meletakkan jawatan dan menjauhi kuasa yang mereka pernah menyalahlakukan itu.
Tetapi mahukah mereka berbuat demikian? Tentu mereka tahu kuasa itu adalah “ultimate” peribadi mereka dan bukannya untuk parti. Umno yang dikatakan parti yang baik itu telah dicemari dengan barisan pimpinan yang rasuah dan tidak berintregriti.
Umno itu ibarat pohon yang kuat tetapi oleh kerana terlalu banyak dedalu yang tumbuh dipohon itu, maka akhirnya pohon yang kuat juga akan akhirnya mati jika dedalu yang tumbuh mekar dipohon itu tidak dibuang.
Bagi diri saya sendiri, saya telah duduk kekal didalam Umno sebegitu lama kerana mengharapkan dedalu ini dicantas dan dibuang agar pohon itu (Umno) dapat kembali hidup subur. Tetapi hari demi hari, tahun demi tahun saya nampak dedalu itu bertambah membesar, maka saya mengambil keputusan untuk menyertai parti yang tidak ada dedalu ini tumbuh. Kata-kata saya kepada Umno ditempat dan negeri saya bertahun-tahun dahulu, ternyata menjadi kenyataan. Umno sudah tidak dapat diselamatkan lagi.
Dedalu-dedalu ini tumbuh dengan pesatnya sehinggakan pohon itu hampir mati dan tidak berbuah lagi. Bagi saya pohon yang disalut oleh tumbuhan dedalu tadi akan pasti mati, dan ianya tidak payah ditebang untuk membunuh pohon yang suatu ketika dahulu pohon yang kuat dan kukuh.
Dedalu-dedalu yang tumbuh dipohon rendang ini masih kekal, malahan bertambah membesar lagi. Saya hendak juga melihat bukti kalau ada pohon yang dihinggapi tumbuhan dedalu ini boleh hidup sampai bila-bila.
Bagi saya mana-mana pokok yang dihinggapi dedalu ini akan mati secara “natural” akhirnya. Kepada penyokong-penyokong Umno sama-samalah kita lihat apa yang akan terjadi kepada pohon (Umno) yang kian hari kian kurus kerana segala baja-baja pokok itu sudah disedut oleh dedalu yang hidup dan melekat kepada pokok yang suatu ketika dahulu merupakan pohon rendang tempat rakyat semua kaum khususnya orang Melayu berteduh.
Orang Melayu yang tekun berfikir merasa amat sedih kerana tempat mereka berteduh telah di ambilalih oleh dedalu yang hidup dipohon (Umno) sejak dua tiga dekad dahulu. Sekarang kita lihat Umno sedang berhempas pulas untuk mengambilalih kerajaan negeri Selangor selepas pilihanraya nanti. Rakyat Selangor mesti berfikir dengan tenang dan tekun, yang cuba hendak mengambilalih ini adalah dedalu yang hendak hidup dipohon rendang bernama Selangor itu.
Apa yang saya perkatakan ini tentunya akan mendapat tentangan dari penyokong pohon yang disaluti dedalu ini. Saya tidak kisah itu semua. Katalah apa-apa pun terhadap diri saya sekehendak hati. Yang penting bagi saya akhirnya nanti saya akan membuktikan kebenaran apa yang saya katakan ini. Semasa itu nanti menangis air mata darah pun tidak akan dapat menyelamatkan bangsa dan negara lagi.
Jika saya sudah tiada didunia ini dan apa yang saya katakan ini akan menjadi kenyataan, hadiahkan saya bacaan surah al-fatihah sekali seorang. Itu pun kalau ikhlas.
NB: Dedalu itu adalah sejenis tumbuhan yang tidak tumbuh ditanah. Dedalu ini tumbuh dipangkal dahan pokok-pokok yang rendang dan sentiasa duduk diatas sambil menumpang hidup dipohon yang rendang itu. Pohon rendang itu selalunya akan mati kerana dedalu yang menumpang hidup itu. Dalam bahasa saintifiknya dedalu ini adalah “parasite”. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

Zaid Ibrahim To Stand In Kota Baharu

PETALING JAYA, March 7 (Bernama) -- Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said Wednesday he would contest in the parliamentary constituency of Kota Baharu under the party's banner in the next general election.

Stating that Kita is also eyeing several other seats, he said details on the candidates and the list of seats would be announced at the end of the month.

Zaid, who spoke to reporters at his residence here, was Barisan Nasional's Kota Baharu member of parliament from 2004 to 2008 but was dropped as a candidate in the 2008 general election.

He then joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) but left the party in 2010 before forming Kita.

Why did AK sell his power assets to 1MDB?

Ananda Krishnan’s sale of his power generation assets at this time raises a number of questions and concerns – more so as the assets are being sold to 1MDB, whose debt is guaranteed by the federal government. 
 
1MDB is a “strategic development company” owned by the Malaysian government. The firm started life as the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which was set up to manage Terengganu’s RM1bn annual revenue from oil royalties under what would be the country’s second sovereign wealth fund. It has issued bonds (on the strength of its oil royalty income i.e. our oil money) and these have been guaranteed by the federal government (i.e. the public bears the burden of the guarantee).

The RM8.5bn deal between Ananda Krishnan’s Tanjung Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd and 1MDB should be viewed against the following backdrop:
Tenaga has been incurring huge losses in recent quarters. Apart from the shortage of natural gas, TNB is groaning from the heavy burden of capacity payments to IPPs. In FY2010, the capacity payments amounted to RM15.9bn; in FY2011, the these payments soared to RM19.2bn. IPPs, especially the first generation, have profited from such favourable terms – at TNB’s expense (and by extension, the Malaysian public’s expense – as TNB is a government-linked firm).

The Energy Commission has reportedly announced that these first generation IPPs would be required to take a cut in capacity payments (based on installed capacity) before their contracts can be extended. The Edge (5 March 2012) reported that when the first round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) start expiring in 2016, IPPs may have to mothball their plants if the PPA renegotiations remain deadlocked (which means they will not be allowed to sell their power to TNB).

Because of the shortage of natural gas (for whatever reason), Petronas is moving towards importing more natural gas. At present, gas subsidies are gradually being removed. Soon, the cost of gas that Tenaga buys will move up closer to market price, and the IPPs may be asked to absorb a share of the higher cost of fuel.

Also, Pakatan has indicated that if it comes to power in Putrajaya, it will renegotiate the lop-sided PPAs, which were entered into under the Mahathir administration – for which Tenaga has suffered immensely. The IPPs are bound to be concerned about what could happen if Pakatan comes to power. The gravy train could come to a screeching halt.

This article in the Malaysian Insider raises concerns about the deal itself.

Arizona mom accused of burning teen's face for refusing arranged marriage to older man

 

Yusra Farhan, left, is charged with beating her daughter. Mohammed Altameemi, 

top right, and Tabarak Altameemi also are charged with assault.

PHOENIX – An Iraqi mother accused of beating her teenage daughter for not going along with an arranged marriage pleaded not guilty Monday in a case police said involved burning the teen on her face and chest with a hot spoon.

Yusra Farhan, 50, entered the plea to charges of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest.

The daughter, 19, refused to participate in an arranged marriage with a 38-year-old man, authorities said.

Two other defendants, the victim's sister, 18-year-old Tabarak Altameemi, and father, 45-year-old Mohammed Altameemi, also pleaded not guilty to assault and unlawful imprisonment.

MyFoxPhoenix.com cited court records showing that on Feb. 7 Mohammed Altameemi got mad at his daughter because she left night class with a boy. The father picked her up at school and took her home.

He is accused of cutting his daughter’s neck with a knife. Police say he admitted he was trying to kill her, but Tabarak Altameemi intervened.

They, other siblings and Farhan then allegedly taped the 19-year-old's mouth, bound her hands and body with rope and beat her.

The altercation over the arranged marriage occurred in November, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported. At that time, the victim's sisters and mom allegedly held her down and beat her, with Farhan accused of putting a hot spoon against her daughter's face and chest.

"I swear I didn't hurt her, only slightly, just like any parent would do to their children. Nobody would hurt their own children. You can ask her if she can be here with me," Farhan told a judge, according to a translation.

Indian teen "suspects" jailed 17 days without charge: Uthaya slam police's "tukar gari" culture

Re: 1) Indian Juvenile (16) & (17) mere suspects jailed up to 17 days today without charge. 2) “Tukar Gari” becoming new police culture after amendments to CPC in reducing remand period. 3) Seven (7) such suspects in one day. 4) Racial profiling of Indian youths mere "suspects" 5) Resurgence of Polis Raja Di Malay-sia abuse of powers.

We refer to the above matter and in the general public interest wish to raise the following concerns:-

Single parent Dhanaletchumy (42) called over at the Hindraf Headquarters in Bangsar complaining that her son Yuvaneswaran a/l Rajendran (16) and his uncle Saravanan a/l Aryan (33) and their friend Venugopal a/l Ganesan (30) were unlawfully arrested by the Brickfields police when they were about to go up the lift to visit her sister at the PPR Pantai Dalam flats.

Dhanaletchumy told us that she is worried that they have been detained since 29/2/2012 at the IPD Klang Police Headquarters. She further said that at this police station one policeman had slapped Yuvaneswaran in the face and the other policemen told him that they have mixed another drug addict’s urine with her son’s and that he is now in trouble. Dhanaletchumy further fears for her son’s safety as there is a metal plate in her son’s right hand since a road traffic accident last year.

Police refused to answer

Our Mr. P.Uthayakumar immediately telephoned the Klang IPD Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Chief DSP Nik Ros Azlan bin Nik Abdul Hamid (019-3805917) who said that the three were detained on suspicion of car theft. But when P.Uthayakumar asked whether they were in the midst of stealing or were in possession of the stolen car to qualify to be an arrestable offence and to be arrested, Nik Azlan refused to answer the question.

P.Uthayakumar further questioned the police inefficiency in investigating this case. He reminded DSP Nik Azlan that in any event the International Police Investigating Procedure (IPIP) requires the police to thoroughly investigate first before zooming in to arrest any suspect. Had they done this, the police should not need seven (7) days (today) but could have completed the investigations within 24 hours going by the Western Civil society standards. (see note below)

And thereafter if there is proof they could always charge the suspects in Court which is the Rule of Law. P.Uthayakumar had also questioned why they are already detained for (7) days now especially so when the Criminal Procedure Code had been amended in 2008 to drastically reduce the remand period. But the police abuse of powers seem to be old wine in new bottles as they now abuse their powers by this their new found “tukar gari” police culture.

"Tukar gari"

DSP Nik Azlan told P.Uthayakumar that the suspects would now be “tukar gari” for the third time and handed over to the Petaling Jaya police for yet again another suspected drug case. To this P.Uthayakumar had replied that he would be writing a letter of complaint to the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police for them to be forthwith released.

We hereby express concern that today, in one day alone we have received complaints on seven (7) Indian youths via telephone including that of another juvenile (17), a lady worker Malarvili (41) and two other Indian youths “mere suspects” were arrested by the Taiping police. They have been arrested and detained for 17 days as of today. Malarvilli earns a mere RM550.00 per month as a worker and the other three are also workers at a scrap metal trader in Taiping.

Just because the boss had gone “missing” why unlawfully arrest their workers? These four have similarly been ‘tukar gari” to six (6) different police stations of Taiping, Sri Gombak, USJ, IPK Shah Alam, Kepong and to be transferred to Teluk Intan today according to the Kepong Investigating Officer Sergeant Effendi.

Malarvili had told her cousin brother Sutha that she is on the verge of committing suicide in jail.

As for the seventeen (17) year old boy his father is a disabled person receiving token Welfare aid and his mother a housewife.

Kindly take the necessary action and revert to us accordingly.

Thank You.

Yours Faithfully,



_______________

P.Uthayakumar

(De facto leader, Hindraf)

Note: An interesting statistic as to the position with regards to arrest and detention in United Kingdom vis a vis the at least 500% more backward and less efficient Malaysian police than the British police at expense of Constitutional freedom of the person (Article 5) may be of some relevance. In Civil Liberties, Cases and Materials by Bailey Harris and Jones at page 88 paragraph 3 the writer has outlined a very interesting piece of statistic. “The Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure found that about 75% of the suspects were dealt with within six hours and about 95% of the suspect within 24 hours. A survey done by the Metropolitan Police for three months in 1979 showed that only 0.4% of suspects had been held over 72 hours without charge or release”.)

Polis tunduk kepada gangsterisme Umno

Sekumpulan lelaki dengan diketuai oleh ketua kampung Kuala Sawah hadir dengan bersenjatakan parang di tapak program ceramah.

REMBAU: PKR Cabang Rembau hari ini melahirkan rasa kecewa dan terkilan dengan sikap Polis DiRaja Malaysia yang gagal menjamin ketenteraman dan sebaliknya tunduk kepada gangsterisme Umno di kawasan Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan, Dato’ Seri Mohamad Hasan.

Setiausahanya Norazizi A Aziz dalam kenyataan kepada FMT sebentar tadi menyatakan kekesalan tersebut apabila pihak polis daerah Seremban gagal memberikan permit untuk program ceramah yang pada asalnya dijadualkan berlangsung pada malam ini di Taman Jed Indah, Kuala Sawah, Rantau.

Menurut Norazizi, pada 6 Februari lalu telah dijadualkan satu program ceramah di pekan Kuala Sawah dalam kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (Dun) Rantau dan Parlimen Rembau.

“Namun ketika persiapan tapak dilakukan pada hari tersebut, sekitar jam 6 petang sekumpulan lelaki dengan diketuai oleh ketua kampung Kuala Sawah hadir dengan bersenjatakan parang.

“Ketika kekecohan berlaku di lokasi yang hanya jaraknya sekitar 300 meter dari Balai Polis Kuala Sawah, ada anggota polis datang dan selepas bercakap dengan ketua kumpulan penyerang (Ketua Kampung), anggota polis tersebut terus beredar.

“Selepas itu PKR membuat laporan polis mengenai serangan dan ugutan bersenjata namun polis gagal mengambil tindakan hanya kerana beliau merupakan ketua kampung yang dilantik Menteri Besar.

“Serangan bukan sahaja dengan menggunakan senjata tetapi juga bersifat perkauman apabila Ketua Kampung lantikan Umno itu mencarut dan memaki hamun petugas-petugas PKR berbangsa India yang ada bersama termasuk ugut ‘mandi darah’,” kata Norazizi.

Pada masa yang sama katanya, apabila berita ini tersebar ada juga sekumpulan orang kampung yang menyokong Pakatan Rakyat dalam perjalanan untuk datang ke lokasi kejadian.

Bagaimanapun untuk mengelak kejadian yang tidak diingini berlaku PKR Rembau membuat keputusan program ceramah tersebut ditangguhkan sahaja.

“Kali ini kami telah mengatur satu lagi program ceramah dengan mengubah sedikit lokasi ceramah iaitu di Taman Jed Indah tetapi masih berdekatan dengan pekan Kuala Sawah.

Umno guna otot, tidak guna otak

“Namun sejak semalam telah disebarkan sms daripada Ketua Kampung Kuala Sawah memanggil orang-orang Umno berkumpul untuk ‘menghancurkan’ program pembangkang di Dun Rantau, kawasan Menteri Besar.

Malahan sejak pagi tadi kami mula mendapat panggilan dari pihak polis yang ‘menasihati’ agar program tersebut dibatalkan kerana mahu mengelak berlakunya kekecohan.

“PKR amat kecewa dengan sikap polis ini. Demokrasi sudah tiada tetapi undang-undang negara semakin menjadi hukum rimba.

“Mengambil sikap mengelakkan daripada kekecohan maka program ini akan ditukar lokasi ke lain tetapi tetap di Dun Rantau yang kononnya kubu kuat Menteri Besar, ” jelas Norazizi.

Norazizi berkata Umno sebenarnya semakin lemah dan mereka panik apabila semakin ramai rakyat mengetahui maklumat sebenarnya.

Oleh kerana Umno semakin sedar maka mereka gagal menggunakan otak untuk berhujah sebaliknya terpaksa bergantung guna otot pula.

Umno menyebabkan politik negara menjadi politik rimba.

Justeru itu program ceramah tersebut akan diadakan pada malam ini di perkarangan Pejabat PKR Rantau (depan setesen Petronas) di Pekan Rantau.

Bertemakan “Pendedahan Hubungan Dagang Malaysia–Israel dan isu lembu NFC”, pemimpin yang akan menyampaikan ceramah pada malam ini ialah Pengarah Strategik PKR, Rafizi Ramli; Ketua PKR Cabang Rembau, Badrul Hisham Shaharin (Chegu Bard) dan Adun Paroi dari PAS, Mohd Taufek Abdul Ghani.

Pemuda Umno akan umum pendirian mengenai Ku Li

Ketua Pemuda, Datuk Bazlan Baharuddin berkata, segelintir AJK Pemuda mahu tokoh veteran Umno itu berundur.



PETALING JAYA: Pemuda Umno Gua Musang akan membuat pendirian sama ada menyokong Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah perlu bertanding dalam pilihan raya umum ke 13 dalam tempoh bebrapa hari lagi.

Ketua Pemuda, Datuk Bazlan Baharuddin berkata, segelintir AJK Pemuda mahu tokoh veteran Umno itu berundur.

“Saya nak tengok pandangan AJK bahagian yang lain tetapi waktu ini Ku Li merupakan calon terbaik BN untuk pilihan raya umum 13.

“Dia (Ku Li) masih boleh mentadbir Gua Musang dan ramai masih suka beliau. Cuma segelintir yang tidak puas hati,” katanya lagi.

Ku Li, kata Bazlan, sudah menjadi ahli parlimen Gua Musang selama 37 tahun dan menyumbang banyak pembangunan termasuk pembukaan tanah rancangan Kelantan Selatan (Kesedar).

Bagaimanapun, kata Bazlan, peneroka Kesedar tidak puas dengan Ku Li kerana tokoh veteran itu gagal menunaikan janji untuk melupuskan hutang peneroka berjumlah RM86 juta.

Bazlan berkata Ku Li berjanji jika Semangat 46 memerintah negara, hutang peneroka Kesedarkan akan diluputkan.

`Peneroka marah’

Bagaimanapun, parti itu kalah dalam pilihan raya umum 1990 dan 1994, dan akhirnya Semangat 46 dibubarkan pada tahun 1996.

Seorang AJK Umno bahagian mendakwa kira-kira 10,000 peneroka mula marah kepada Ku Li kerana tidak menunaikan janji tersebut.

Menurut Abdul Aziz Mohamad, bekas menteri kewangan itu membuat janji tersebut semasa memimpin Parti Semangat 46 pada tahun 1990.

Katanya, peneroka Kesedar dari sembilan blok Kesedar berpegang kepada janji-janji Ku Li untuk menghapuskan hutang mereka.

“Peneroka tidak suka lagi kepada Ku Li. Kalau dia bertanding, undinya akan merudum. Ramai peneroka tidak akan undi beliau.

“Saya sudah beritahu, kalau nak bertanding lagi kerana selesaikan hutang ini dulu. Saya beritahu Ku Li, peneroka marah kerana mereka ditipu,” kata Abdul Aziz yang juga ketua peneroka Jeram Tekoh. Kesedar.

Abdul Aziz juga mendakwa, beberapa lagi AJK Umno Gua Musang juga tidak setuju jika Ku Li terus bertanding dalam pilihan raya umum 13.

Borang Amanah

Kata beliau, generasi muda sudah tidak menghiraukan lagi Ku Li di Gua Musang walaupun telah menjadi ahli parlimen selama 37 tahun.

“Saya boleh katakan sambutan orang terhadap Ku Li tidak sama semasa beliau menjadi bos Semangat 46,” katanya.

Menurut Abdul Aziz, beliau ternampak beribu-ribu borang NGO Amanah pimpinan Ku Li di Gua Musang.

Bagaimanapun, borang tersebut belum diedarkan kepada orang ramai tetapi ramai berkata,`tidak ada orang nak masuk Amanah.’

“Mungkin Ku Li, jika tidak dicalonkan oleh BN mahu bertanding atas tiket bebas Amanah seperti yang dibuat selepas keluar Umno dulu,” kata Abdul Aziz.

PAS dilaporkan sedia membenarkan Ku Li bertanding atas tiket parti itu jika beliau tidak dicalonkan BN dalam pilihan raya umum 13.

No Prima Facie Case Against Abdul Razak Baginda, Says Judge

(Bernama) - Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda has no prima facie case to answer a charge of abetting two Special Action Squad members in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case in 2006, according to a written judgment released by the presiding High Court today.

Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin said that the notes written by Abdul Razak, which were found in Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri’s bag with Abdul Razak’s full residential address, together with the name of his father, Datuk Abdullah Malim Baginda, were wholly consistent with an innocent man asking for assistance from the police to patrol the vicinity of his (Abdul Razak's) house over Altantuya’s harassment and threats.
   
In his 70-page judgment, Mohd Zaki also said that even if Abdul Razak could be inferred as having any “motive” in the light of all the blackmailing letters of the deceased (Altantuya), it could not be made as a basis for his conviction without any direct or circumstantial evidence of his participation in any manner in the commission of the offence.
   
"I am satisfied that there is no prima facie for him to answer his charge. I, accordingly, find the third accused not guilty and order him to be acquitted and discharged," he said in his judgment made available to the media today.
   
Regarding Abdul Razak’s affidavit, Mohd Zaki said that he had no reason to disagree with Abdul Razak that Altantuya had blackmailed him.

In the affidavit dated Jan 5, 2007, Abdul Razak admitted having a relationship with Altantuya, whom he met in November 2004, and that Altantuya demanded money from him and blackmailed him as a result of the relationship.
   
"Can these parts (about Altantuya and meeting with Azilah) of the said affidavit be ignored or rejected? It is my finding that in the absence of any rebuttal evidence against them, coupled with the fact that there is no legal onus that lies upon the third accused to rebut any statutory presumptions, there is clearly to my mind, no reason for them to be ignored and rejected.
   
"I have perused through the whole contents of the said affidavit. The learned counsel for Abdul Razak submitted that all the exculpatory parts were corroborated in material particulars by P. Balasubramaniam (a private investigator), Burmaa Oyuchimeg (Altantuya’s cousin), Lance Corporal Rohaniza Roslan and Siti Aishah Mohd Azlan (Razak’s secretary), and the other surrounding circumstances have clearly negated and nullified the act of abetment as alleged against the third accused.
   
"I have no reason to disagree with him. The averment about threat and blackmailing, for example, is corroborated by the threatening letters sent by the deceased to the third accused," he said.
   
Altantuya was murdered sometime between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am, the following day, in a jungle clearing at Lot 16735, Mukim Bukit Raja, Shah Alam.

While Abdul Razak was acquitted, two others charged jointly with him, Azilah and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, were found guilty.
   
As for Azilah and Sirul Azhar, Mohd Zaki said the defence of each of the accused was essentially one of denial, blaming one another, irreconcilable and ambivalent.
   
He said Azilah also did not call any of his witnesses to support his defence and his alibi.
   
In his defence, Azilah said that he was not at the scene of the crime at the relevant date and time and instead, claimed that he was somewhere in Wangsa Maju.
   
Azilah also claimed that he was not the last person to be with Altantuya before he handed over to Sirul Azhar to send her back to Hotel Malaya.

Sirul Azhar, in his unsworn written statement, said he was a "scapegoat" and also claimed that he was not at the scene of the crime on the said date and time, but was instead, having tea at Devi’s Corner in Sri Hartamas and having ‘sahur’ at Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
   
He stressed that it was also not true that Azilah had handed over Altantuya to him for her to be sent back to Hotel Malaya.
   
"Having heard the submissions of both the defence and prosecution and having considered and tested the defence put up by both the first and second accused persons, individually and jointly, against the totality of the evidence for the prosecution, I find that the defence of each of the accused has essentially been one of denial, of blaming one another, irreconciliable and ambivalent. Consequently, they have failed to raise any reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case," said Mohd Zaki.
   
The Court of Appeal has fixed this Friday for mention to set a date to hear an appeal filed by both Azilah and Sirul Azhar against their murder conviction.
   
The case has been pending for two years while awaiting the completion of the written judgment by Mohd Zaki.

Please, PAS & PKR, can we ABUkan Labuan?

Since I got banned from entering Sabah last December, I’ve taken to Labuan to carry on my work.
A report in the Daily Express might give you some insight into the kind of work going on there.
And in the course of that work, I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and working with some of the leaders and members from PKR, DAP and SAPP in Labuan.
The parliamentary seat of Labuan is currently held by UMNO / BN.
In the 2004 12th GE, UMNO’s Suhaili Abdul Rahman, the incumbent, garnered 11,087 votes against 3,186 votes that went the way of PAS candidate Matusin Abdul Rahman to retain the seat for UMNO /BN.
Voter turnout that year was 14,761 or 68.59%, with 488 spoilt votes.
The breakdown of voters according to ethnicity in 2004 was :
Chinese: 25.20% Indians: 2.20  Bumiputra Muslims: 37%  Others: 35.60%
In the 12th GE, Suhaili Abdul Rahman was dropped and replaced by Yusoff Mahal, who was involved in a 3-corner contest involving PAS candidate Matusin Abdul Rahman and independent candidate Lau Seng Kiat.
Yusoff Mahal won, polling 10,471 votes, Lau came in second with 2,014 votes, whilst Matusin managed only 1,106 votes, losing his deposit.
Voter turnout was 14,149 or 68.1%, with 311 spoilt votes.
Why did the PAS candidate fare the worst of the 3 candidates?
I’m told by the locals, including some of the Muslims, that the lifestyle of the majority in Labuan simply does not favour a PAS candidate.
Notice how in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur in the 12th GE, of the 11 parliamentary seats there, PAS only contested and won in only 1 seat, that is, Titiwangsa?
Might this have anything to do, however slight, with the lifestyle of a large number of KLites, including those who profess Islam as their faith who, then, at least, might have been more ready to dump BN if the alternative was a non-PAS candidate?
The locals I spoke to in Labuan feel that given local sentiment, a non-PAS Malay candidate has a better chance of displacing UMNO / BN come the next elections.
Specifically, they have stated a preference for a Malay candidate from PKR.
The DAP, PKR and SAPP members and leaders I spoke to share this view, with one proviso.
PKR in Labuan, they tell me, is split into 2 factions.
Unless the PKR top leadership can get the 2 factions to settle their differences, picking a PKR candidate from either faction, assuming PAS makes way, risks internal sabotage from the other faction.
I am told that Sabah PKR chief, Tamrin Jailani, who I met in Labuan on 22nd February, has been asked by the local Labuan Pakatan leaders to intervene and resolve the dispute between the 2 factions in PKR Labuan.
DAP, PKR and SAPP members and leaders in Labuan that I have met have told me that they are confident that if PAS will  make way and PKR resolve their internal differences and offer a solid candidate, Labuan can be ABUed.
PAS?
PKR?
Can we work together to ABUkan Labuan?

The trouble with our race relations

Kee Thuan Chye |  Malaysiakini

COMMENT

Blogger Hussein Abdul Hamid aka Steadyaku47 made waves when he wrote in a posting asking the Chinese not to blame the Malays for being treated as ‘second-class citizens’.

Civil society activist Haris Ibrahim felt “troubled”. He was equally disturbed by what Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) had written about the Malays having become “kecik hati” (disappointed) because they feel the Chinese are not real friends to them.

Haris asked a senior journalist friend about what RPK had expressed, and the friend said it was true. He said the Umno-controlled media had been influencing the Malays by spinning that the DAP, “which is painted as a Chinese party, would be the principal benefactor if Pakatan Rakyat came to power”.

As I see it, this is ironic. The media says that the DAP is riding high in Pakatan and Umno leaders drum it in that PAS has become a puppet of the DAP, but look at what the MCA, Umno’s partner, is saying.

Repeating his theme for the umpteenth time, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek has just called the DAP, in relation to PAS, a “political eunuch”. He insists, as he has insisted many times before, that the DAP will have no guts and ability to stop PAS from bossing Pakatan and getting its way, including implementing hudud and establishing an Islamic state.

What a contradiction between what Umno says and what the MCA says! Umno says the DAP will be the principal benefactor, the MCA says PAS will be the one and the DAP will be the loser. So whom do we believe?

Of course, it’s plain to see that the BN strategy adheres to the archaic mould – Umno says one thing to its Malay audience, the MCA says another thing to its Chinese audience. Never mind if they are contradictory.

Perhaps that could have worked in the old days, when mass communication technology was not so sophisticated, but today anyone with brains and knowledge would say, “Whom are Umno and the MCA trying to deceive?”

The truth must be somewhere in the middle – if Pakatan wins, both the DAP and PAS will be winners, and both will likely see each other as equal partners. On hudud and the Islamic state, they have already agreed to disagree. So if Pakatan takes Putrajaya, there cannot be an Islamic state unless the DAP agrees.

Not all Malays are Umnoputras

Coming back to Steadyaku47’s proposition, I have to say that although some Chinese might have been resentful of the Malays in the past, they have since realised that the people responsible are actually Umno – and, by extension, the MCA as well.

This explains why the Chinese have largely rejected the MCA. Even former finance minister Daim Zainuddin has recently said that at the next general election, he expects only 20 percent of the Chinese to vote for BN. And that these would mostly be rural Chinese.

Nowadays, the majority of the Chinese blame Umno – and therefore BN – for making them “second-class citizens”.

In fact, a Chinese friend of mine asserts, “The Chinese have never blamed the Malays. Ask any Chinese person and they will tell you that. They do not blame; instead, they will compromise and look around for a solution. If they cannot find a solution, they will move away.”

He’s mostly right. It explains why Chinese businessmen still do all right settling for sub-contract work from bumiputeras who get government contracts (unless they are cronies of the government, like some of the big towkays, who get contracts directly); why until March 8, 2008, they rarely spoke out against the system even though it discriminated against them; and why so many Chinese have emigrated since the New Economic Policy came into force.

Those who stay back work doubly hard to make sure they fulfil certain dreams, and if they can’t get into the civil service, they go to the private sector. They do grumble and sometimes target certain Malays who have beaten them to certain opportunities, but they rarely malign the entire race.

Gov’t has poisoned ethnic ties

But to be fair to Steadyaku47, his blog posting does not accuse the Chinese of blaming the Malays as a whole. It is most unfortunate that his blaring headline, ‘The Chinese Must Stop Blaming the Malays!’ (with exclamation mark, to boot), gives that wrong impression.

After reading his article carefully, one would realise that Steadyaku47’s real intention is to urge the Chinese to blame the BN government, Umno, the MCA and “the lack of education to make our young understand the need to celebrate our differences”.

In fact, a large part of the article shows understanding and sympathy for the plight of the Chinese. And it also expresses the embarrassment Malays feel for having “a Malay-led government that is corrupt, arrogant and totally without compassion for its own race”.

Steadyaku47 asks, “Do you want to be a Malay whose private life … is under the control of … government-appointed religious bodies that think that it is their duty to raid houses of ill-repute to save Malay girls from … depravity while the same politicians that appointed them have lives that would rival Hugh Hefner’s?”

I think Steadyaku47’s intent is honest and sincere, and his meaning is clear.

We should be more concerned about Haris’s concern, i.e. that the Malays are “kecik hati” regarding the Chinese, thanks to the spin of the Umno-controlled media.

This idea that the Chinese are not friendly needs to be debunked, but it’s going to be very difficult because the government has done such an excellent job over the last few decades of polarising the races and sowing suspicion between them.

It will take decades more to undo the damage. It will take re-education. It will take new government policies that radically change the racial paradigm, beginning with the dismantling of race-based political parties. It will take the organising of countless programmes to foster goodwill among the various races.

Will it happen under the current BN government? Or will it stand a better chance under a Pakatan government? This is something Malaysians will need to think about when they cast their votes at the next general election.

The day when the Chinese and the Malays feel they are real friends will still be a long time coming, but the outcome of the next elections could decide if it can be somewhat shortened.

——————————————————————————–

KEE THUAN CHYE is the author of the new book ‘No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians’.

Malaysia Does Not Need A Revolutionary Programme - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia does not need a revolutionary programme but instead needed leaders committed to change who the people could trust.

The prime minister said this year promised to be a year of robust political discourse in Malaysia and hoped it would be one where more and more of the politicians addressed the real choices Malaysians faced.

"Ultimately it is the people who will determine the future. That is what our freedom from colonial rule was all about, that is what we preserved from the moment of Merdeka and we should all be proud of: a Malaysia where Malaysians decide," he said.

Najib said this in his latest entry titled "1Malaysia Is A Commitment To Transformation" in his blog www.1malaysia.com.my today.

He drew attention on those opposing the 1Malaysia concept, categorising them in two groups, the die-hards who say there should be no change from the approach of 1971 and the first wave of the New Economic Policy and those demanding revolutionary change.

As for the first group, Najib said: "I can understand why some are fearful: many of the historic imbalances in our society still need addressing; - and we will.

"But we must also have an approach that encourages all who can contribute to Malaysia to stay here and also we must recognise that widening ownership of the economy will not, of itself, fight poverty at root."

To those who feared 1Malaysia for these reasons, Najib advised them to be calm and patient as 1Malaysia was about a dynamic strategy to fight poverty in the country.

"And I believe, (1Malaysia) will achieve much more than if we refuse to change," he said.

The prime minister said it was the second group of opponents of 1Malaysia who worried him more.

"They dismiss anything and everything we have done as being not enough and instead demand a revolutionary programme of change. To different audiences they say different things: motivated only by a lust for power and what seems like congenital need to provoke more and more controversy."

"Of course, taken together their programme is a mess: one cannot promise to abolish road tolls, write off RM40 billion in National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loans and cut the budget deficit all at once: very quickly one of these promises would fall apart leaving a lot of angry people and an economy in free fall," he said.

Nevertheless, despite his fears, Najib said he was an optimist.

"Stocking up anger at the alleged failure of the current government to implement such a crazed programme will, I believe, only fail in the end, because the more such a dangerous mix of impossible promises is exposed to public scrutiny, the less and less credible those who seek to stir things up will be," he added.

Polis gagal jamin kententeraman dan akur dengan gansterisma Umno

(promosi asal yang terpaksa diubah tempat ke depan Petronas Pekan Rantau)

6 Febuari lepas telah dijadualkan satu ceramah di Pekan Kuala Sawah dalam Dun Rantau dan Parlimen Rembau. Namun ketika persiapan tapak dilakukan pada hari tersebut sekitar jam 6 petang sekumpulan lelaki dengan diketuai oleh Ketua Kampung Kuala Sawah telah hadir dengan bersenjata parang. Ketika kekecohan berlaku di lokasi yang hanya jaraknya sekitar 300 meter dari Balai Polis Kuala Sawah ada anggota polis telah datang dan selepas bercakap dengan ketua kumpulan penyerang (ketua kampung) anggota polis terus beredar. Malah kemudian PKR telah membuat laporan polis mengenai serangan dan ugutan bersenjata namun polis gagal mengambil tindakan hanya kerana dia ketua kampung lantikan Menteri Besar NS.

Serangan bukan sahaja bersifat bersenjata tetapi juga bersifat perkauman apabila Ketua Kampung lantikan Umno ini mencarut dan memaki hamun petugas-petugas berbangsa India yang ada bersama termasuk ugut 'mandi darah'.

Pada masa yang sama apabila berita ini tersebar ada juga sekumpulan orang kampung yang menyokong PR dalam perjalanan untuk datang ke lokasi. Untuk elak kejadian kami buat keputusan ceramah tersebut ditangguhkan sahaja.

Di lokasi hampir sama tetapi diubah sedikit di perkarangan rumah Sdr. Selvam ahli Jawatankuasa PKR Rembau namun masih di Pekan Kuala Sawah. Sejak semalam telah disebarkan sms dari Ketua Kampung memanggil orang Umno berkumpul untuk 'menghancurkan' prog. pembangkang di kawasan Menteri Besar (DUN Rantau). Malah sejak pagi tadi kami mula mendapat panggilan dari pihak polis yang 'menasihati' agar program tersebut dibatalkan kerana mahu elak kekecohan.

PKR amat kecewa dengan sikap polis yang jelas lemah dalam menjamin kententeraman dan akur dengan gangsterisma Umno. Demokrasi sudah tiada tetapi negara sudah semakin menjadi hukum rimba.

Mengambil sikap mengelakan kekecohan maka program diubah sedikit lokasi tetapi masih diteruskan. Mohon semua untuk hadir sama membantu kami menggempur kawasan yang konon kubu kuat Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan. Semua diharap sebarkan makluman dan hadir beramai ramai.

CERAMAH UMUM

6 Mac 2012, 9mlm

hadapan Pejabat PKR Pekan Rantau

(depan Petronas Pekan Rantau)

bersama

- Sdr. Rafizi Ramli (Pengarah Strategi PKR)

- YB Taufek (P/jaya PAS NS)

- che'GuBard (Ketua Cabang PKR Rembau)

- Dr. Ahmad (Penyelaras SAMM)

Umno sebenarnya makin lemah mereka panik apabila makin ramai rakyat mengetahui maklumat sebenarnya oleh kerana makin sedar mereka makin gagal guna otak untuk berhujah maka mereka terpaksa bergantung guna otat pula. Umno membawa politik negara menjadi politik rimba.

The secret meeting on 11 March 2008

Khalid Samad, the MP for Shah Alam, had a bad throat and was sucking lozenges. He had been barn-storming the ceramah trail, countering criticism from his one-time Pas ally, Hasan Ali, that there was a “parasite” group within the party.

His hoarse voice last night did not stop him from addressing about 80 villagers in a little kampung in Tasik Gelugor and later a few hundred others gathered at the PKR office bungalow in Tasik Gelugor town.

Wearing a black haj cap, Khalid denied he was such a parasite in the party. “As far as I know, a parasite is one that feeds on a mature organism, like a plant on an older tree,” he said. “I joined Pas in 1983 and Hasan Ali joined in 1998. How then can I be a parasite when I have been around longer?”

In fact, Khalid said he supported and welcomed Hasan when he entered the party.

But the bad blood began to surface when the 2008 election results started trickling in.

Although the non-BN candidates were waiting for the results to be released in dribs and drabs until 5.00am (on 9 March), Umno already knew they had lost Selangor by 8.00pm the previous night, recalled Khalid. That night, Hasan was in discussions with the Umno people for a possible alliance, alleged Khalid.

Matters came to a head when a meeting was arranged between Abdullah Badawi and Khir Toyo from the BN and Hasan and Pas president Hadi Awang, three days later.

Umno members, alleged Khalid, were touting Hasan as the next MB of Selangor, fuelling his ambitions – provided he could get Pas to join forces with the BN in Selangor in a coalition state government.

The Selangor state election results (seats):

PKR – 15
Pas – 8
DAP – 13
(Pakatan – 36)

Umno/BN – 20

Total – 56 seats

So you can see, Umno needed Pas’ eight seats to tie the Selangor State Assembly at 28-28, explained Khalid.

Just before the Umno-Pas meeting, when Khalid suspected something was up, he confronted Hasan angrily and asked him where he was going.

As Khalid recalled, Hasan was taken aback by the rebuke and vague in his response. “Even my father never spoke to me like that,” Hasan said.

“Well, this is not your father’s party either!” retorted Khalid.

When Pas leaders got wind of the meeting, they intervened but decided to go ahead with the meeting with the BN as Badawi and Khir Toyo were already waiting. But changes were made to the composition of the Pas team: it was hastily decided that Pas sec-gen Mustafa Ali would represent Hadi while Khalid Samad and Nasha would accompany him.

The secret meeting was held at a bungalow behind Parliament.

“Khir Toyo was standing around, looking as if he was the waiter, and he even poured me drinks,” Khalid told the amused villagers.

Toyo, he observed, looked pale and not his usual self. “Maklumlah, sudah hilang kerajaan negeri Selangor,” Khalid recounted.

At the meeting, it was pointed out that the new Selangor government lacked a Malay-Muslim majority among its ranks. With PKR’s eight Malay-Muslim members (out of its 15 winning candidates) and Pas’ eight candidates, a Pakatan government in Selangor would have only 16 Malay-Muslims within its ranks of 36 winning candidates, the BN side told the Pas team.

Abdullah then asked if Pas’ eight assembly members could join forces with them (and form a Malay-Muslim dominated state government).

Khalid countered with a deal crusher: “(If you are so concerned), why don’t you give us five of your Umno assembly members instead of expecting eight of us to cross over to your side?”

That effectively ended the meeting. And the bad blood between Hasan and Khalid boiled over soon after.

“What was on the cards amounted to a betrayal of the rakyat’s wishes, which was for Umno/BN to be ousted from Selangor,” Khalid would observe later.

Five months after that meeting, Hasan sacked Khalid Samad as Selangor Pas deputy commissioner and summarily dismissed Saari Sungib as Selangor Pas information chief when the latter tried to chime in, according to Pas sources.

Meanwhile, Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim tried to placate the ambitious Hasan by offering him senior positions and portfolios in the Selangor state government.

But the Shah Alam MP said a frustrated Hasan started pitting (“memperlaga-lagakan”) Pas against DAP over a number of controversial issues in Selangor that hit the headlines.

Unfortunately for Hasan, his star in the party began to fade. The motivational expert had secured the fourth highest number of votes in elections for the party’s central committee in 2009. But in the 2011 party polls, he could only muster 16th place among central party committee candidates.

After the 2011 polls, he was not chosen as the Selangor Pas commissioner.

The last straw came when Hasan’s own party division in Sri Gombak did not select him as their candidate for the coming election, said Khalid.

The writing was on the wall for Hasan, who these days has been going all out in his campaign against Pas.

Later last night, one Pas official told me he was concerned about the party’s prospects in Kedah and feared they could lose the state. Kedah has a problem: not enough state government revenue to see to the people’s needs.

But he thought Pas stands a good chance in Terengganu as the party has a dynamic team there. Moreover, the people in the state are still poor despite the state’s oil wealth. Selangor, he felt, was 50-50.

Forced Hindu conversions: Rinkle’s neighbourhood floods into Karachi to demand her release

Hindus, Sikhs and Christians came out to protest the alleged forced conversion and marriage of a Hindu teenager from Mirpur Mathelo on Sunday in Karachi. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI: “Give us our Rinkle back. Give us the daughter of Sindh back,” demanded the relatives of the 17-year-old Hindu girl who was allegedly kidnapped, forced to convert and married to a Muslim boy last month.

Rinkle Kumari’s relatives came from Mirpur Mathelo in Ghotki district and staged a protest outside the Karachi press club on Sunday. Christians and Sikhs came out in support.

The protesters wore black armbands and held aloft well-written handmade posters saying ‘Where should we go?’ and ‘Send Rinkle to a Karachi women’s shelter’. They kept up a chant demanding her ‘release’. One of her maternal uncles, Raj Kumar, said furiously, “Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Mian Abdul Haq and his men abducted our daughter at gunpoint. We want justice.”

The family claims that Rinkle was kidnapped from her home in Mirpur Mathelo by Haq’s men on the night of February 24. She was then taken to Bharchundi Sharif, where Naveed Shah, a supporter of the politician, forced her to convert to Islam and married her, albeit without her consent, they say.

On February 25, the family says, Rinkle refused to go back with the kidnappers while recording her statement in court. But, they say, the court ignored her statement and decided in favour of the other party when it announced its decision two days later.

“We were not allowed to attend the proceedings when the judgment was passed,” said Kumar. “The judge conducted the hearing an hour before the official court timings and he passed the judgment in only half an hour.”

Enraged youngsters from Rinkle’s hometown demanded justice and said that she should be presented before a court again or be sent to a darul aman till a court takes a decision. They said that the chief justice of Pakistan should take suo motu notice in this case.

Another relative, Ravi Kumar, said that videos were uploaded on YouTube in which Haq’s men were seen to be celebrating by firing in the air. He said that the forced conversion of Hindu girls was common in Sindh’s countryside, with around 20 cases being reported every month.

Another supporter, Daya Ram, said that initially the police was not even ready to register an FIR. It was only after a two-hour protest on the Super Highway that the police relented and registered a case.

While parliamentarians from the ruling party did not pay heed to the protest, a Muttahida Qaumi Movement parliamentarian, Munawar Lal, came to show his support to the family. He said that he would walk out of the Sindh Assembly if Rinkle is not returned to her family. “We are tired of picking the bodies of our children, and seeing our women being taken away by criminals,” he declared as people behind him shouted ‘Nai chalay gee, nai chalay gee, ghunda gardhi nai chalay gee.’ It won’t be tolerated, this won’t be tolerated, this hooliganism won’t be tolerated.

“Is this the same Pakistan that Quaid-e-Azam and our people struggled for?” he asked.

Ramesh Kumar, the father of a 28-year-old doctor, Lata Kumari, who was kidnapped last week from DHA’s Phase II, was at the protest. Lata was on her way to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan.

The patron of Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar stressed that Hindus were peace-loving people. “But sadly these conversions, kidnappings and extortions every day make our lives miserable.”

Sardar Ramesh Singh pitched in by saying that no religion allowed their followers to convert others by force. “Even Islam does not allow it. Then, how can its followers indulge in such wrongdoing?”

Published in The Express Tribune

Felda settlers explain fear of FGVH listing

Najib says would debate with ‘responsible’ leaders

Najib has yet to accept repeated attempts to get him to debate Anwar. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed today his readiness to participate in a debate but stressed his opponent must be “reasonable” and not prone to raising “conspiracy theories” to win an argument.

The prime minister reminded that the country’s diversity could easily be turned into a “fatal weakness” if political leaders choose provocation over responsibility and fail to restrain themselves during such debates.

“And it worries me that far too many who say they want to lead Malaysia are unable to restrain themselves when they are engaged in debate,” he said in his blog today, without naming any individual.

“For them, no story, no claim or outrageous theory, no matter how baseless or fact-free, is off-limits, even if it does massive damage to the country’s reputation abroad and our domestic stability.”

Najib added that “some in our country” could not resist the allure of raising conspiracy theories as such conjecture could absolve their promoters of responsibility for their own failures.

“Cannot win the argument or get your way? Then it is so much easier to complain that the system is fixed than it is to do the hard work of finding a better argument or humbly admitting one’s error,” he sniped, adding that conspiracy theories belong in “Jason Bourne movies” and not in rational political debates.

The federal opposition has repeatedly urged the prime minister to take on its leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in debate, arguing it would be the best platform for both men to lay out their ideas and policies to help Malaysians decide who to vote for.

The invitation was again raised recently when MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng faced off in a political debate on matters relating to the Chinese community.

Najib, however, is yet to accept the invitation. This has sparked off suggestions that the prime minister was afraid of criticism.

But he insisted today that he accepts dissenting views expressed against him, adding that he would be in the wrong career were he unable to handle them.

“That much I accept. I am happy to argue politics with any reasonable man or woman and appreciate Malaysian’s lively political debate,” Najib said.

According to a recent poll by Merdeka Center, most voters in the peninsula want to see regular debates between the prime minister and political rival Anwar, suggesting that this would help them decide which party to vote for.

Malaysia detains Australian over drugs

The Perth native was arrested on March 1in possession of 225 grams of methamphetamine.

KUALA LUMPUR: An Australian truck driver faces a possible death sentence after he was arrested in Malaysia on suspicion of drug trafficking, Malaysia’s top narcotics official said Monday.

The 32-year-old from Perth in Western Australia was arrested March 1 in the capital Kuala Lumpur in possession of 225 grams of methamphetamine, national police narcotics director Noor Rashid Ibrahim told AFP.

Malaysian officials have identified the man as Dominic Jude Christopher Bird. Australian diplomats said they were seeking access to the suspect in order to offer consular assistance.

Noor Rashid said the Australian was arrested along with another accomplice and that three more people were subsequently detained. He declined to provide the nationalities of the other detainees.

“We believe that the Australian national is involved in some sort of syndicate but investigations are ongoing so we cannot be more specific at the moment,” he added.

Noor Rashid said that while the Australian suspect had not yet been charged, “he is currently being investigated under the Dangerous Drugs Act and upon conviction could face the death penalty.”

Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty by hanging under Malaysia’s tough anti-drug laws. Anyone found in Malaysia to be in possession of at least 50 grams of methamphetamines is considered a trafficker.

- AFP

Two Indian tourists killed in Genting tour bus crash

Twenty others were injured when the bus on its way back from Genting Highlands overturned after hitting a road divider.

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Indian tourists were killed while 20 others were injured when a tour bus carrying 22 Indian tourists overturned at Km4.5 of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway near here today.

Police said the bus was on its way back from Genting Highlands resort when it went out of control and skidded while negotiating a sharp downhill bend at about 8am.
“It hit the road divider and overturned,” Bentong police spokesman told Bernama.

The victims – a man and a woman – died on the spot, he said. Police are establishing their identity.

The injured as well as the two bodies have been brought to Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
Police have detained the bus driver and attendant.

A Bentong Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said they managed to bring out all the injured victims from the bus at about 9.20am.

Some 50 personnel from the Bentong, Selayang, Kuala Kubu Baharu, Genting Highlands and Wangsa Maju fire stations were involved in the operation.

Fearing killers, ‘runaway’ lawyer goes on YouTube

A lawyer, who fled the country following accusations of embezzling his own company's funds, says that he has received death threats from those linked to the Johor royalty.

PETALING JAYA: Fearing that he would be assassinated on orders from an “influential person” linked to the royal Johor family, a “runaway” lawyer has made a video recording pleading with the government and police to help him.

Kamal Hisham Ja’afar, 42, a former legal counsel to the Johor royalty who has sought refuge in Dubai, also denied accusations of criminal breach of trust (CBT) for which he is wanted by police and Interpol.

In the YouTube video which was posted on Saturday, Kamal said that he recently received information that hired killers had been engaged to hunt him down and murder him.

“The assassin has already left Malaysia to hunt for me. With all the evidence that I have, I believe this information is true. I am worried, scared, pressured, because it involves my life and my family’s life,” he said.

“On Sept 5, 2011, I was given proof that a close acquaintance of a kerabat (royalty) had said that he would shoot me to death if I returned to Malaysia or if he saw me anywhere,” Kamal said.

He added that the threat was recorded and the evidence is in his safekeeping. “I believe this threat is a real and serious matter.”

Kamal said that on Oct 11, 2011, one of his family members had received a telephone call from a man he knew.

“That man told my family members that the older brother of the person who had earlier gave me the death threat had vowed that he would kill me if he met with me.”

Clear evidence

Kamal said that he was receiving these threats “just because I had refused to follow the orders of some ‘pembesar yang berkuasa’ (an influential member of the royalty) regarding “the division of his family [the latter's] inheritance following the death of his father”.

He alleged that the “‘influential royalty” had used his powers to “vengefully” manufacture false criminal accusations against him to tarnish his credibility as a lawyer.

“Among these accusations was one where the ‘pembesar’ had asked some people in January to claim that I have committed criminial breach of trust of a company amounting to RM660,000,” he said.

He claimed that he has “clear evidence” to show that he was not guilty and that the “influential royalty” was the one who committed many malpractices in that company.

Kamal has been accused by Southern Ads Sdn Bhd – an advertising company linked to the Johor royalty and in which he is also a director – of fraud, cheating and CBT.

Six police reports have been lodged against him since March 31, last year. The last report accused him of embezzling RM660,000 from the company.

Kamal left the country for Dubai in April 2011, and is reportedly running a “consultancy firm” there.

Kamal said that he started the company with his own capital in 2003. The Johor royalty, he claimed, did not inject any funds.

“The company was registered in 2005, and I received business contracts in 2004. The ‘pembesar’ had used his influence to disturb my business at that time and I had no choice but to accept his request to give him shares to avoid my business from being continually pressured by him.”

‘Pack of lies’

Kamal said that he also felt “very pressured” after receiving an SMS from an investigating officer from the Johor commercial crime department, which stated that he needs to attend a session for his statement to be recorded on March 5 (today).

“If I fail to give a statement as a witness, he would ask for a warant of arrest.”

“What I should do now, I also don’t know. With the threats that I have received, I am very worried and afraid what would happen to me and my family

“I humbly plead with the Malaysian government, police and foreign ministry: Please help me. I want to come home to Malaysia to clear my name.

“As a Muslim, I believe that what I am going through is a test by Allah. I have been slandered in the course of my duties as a lawyer and when I refused to be an accomplice to something that is against my religion and laws.”

When contacted, criminal lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu, who acts for Southern Ads, said that what Kamal was saying was all a “pack of lies” that serves as a “red herring” to the real issues at hand.

“He now wakes up on a Sunday morning and gives all sorts of excuses. It is designed by him to put off investigations against him… He is playing musical chairs. He is talking from la-la land and what he is saying is non-factual.”

“Any reasonable man would have immediately taken steps to protect himself if he received death threats, but it is only now – seven to eight months later – that this guy is speaking up about the threats,” said Baljit.

He said that Kamal’s new allegation against the Johor sultanate was a mere after-thought as he did not mention this when his lawyers gave a press conference on Jan 31 in Kuala Lumpur.

He added that Kamal had only mentioned that he refused to return because the Immigration Department did not have any record of him leaving for Dubai.

Baljit said the it would be better for Kamal to return to Malaysia and prove his claims rather than hurling accusations from abroad.

He added that his client – Southern Ads – would now possibly sue but declined to divulge details.