Whatever the circumstance and even if he ends up in prison again after the Sodomy II appeal, I don't think Malaysians should take to the streets for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
That is no longer the right thing to do for the battle for reforms has grown beyond the opposition leader, though he is still very much a part of it.
The rakyat have done so in the past when the struggle for a greater Malaysian democracy was voiced by Anwar and embodied in his privations and tribulations. But perhaps not now when the battle for reforms has grown bigger than him.
There is much we should thank Anwar for, in making the fight for freedom mainstream when once it was the province of opposition 'pariahs'. Because that was what the government he was part of treated all reformists.
That is until Anwar's fall from grace, and reinvention, from then prime minister and mentor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's favourite son into his worse nightmare.
When his struggle to right the wrongs against him quickly garnered support and demonstrated that other injustices in Malaysia, once thought of as a way of life, can be righted too.
Anwar thus rose to become the central figure in the federal opposition and his rallying cry for reforms resonated quickly with Malaysians disgusted with the BN government.
But perhaps going to the streets for him would not advance the struggle for democracy and reforms in Malaysia now.
Though the wily political player did hint that this is what may happen if he was to be incarcerated again if his appeal against the overturning of his Sodomy II acquittal fails.
While he was careful with his words and phrased his answer slowly, this was what he hinted in an interview with The Diplomat, cheekily mentioning Reformasi 2.0 which PKR chief strategist Rafizi Ramli is espousing.
But I would like to believe that the struggle for democracy in Malaysia has progressed beyond Anwar,
Was he wronged? There is plenty of evidence to support that.
It is clear to all right-thinking men and women that there is something amiss in the way Anwar and other federal opposition leaders are being hounded and persecuted.
But does he require 'avenging'? Should hordes of people take to the streets for him, like they did in 1998?
That is a more difficult question to answer, for the evolution of the Malaysian political landscape has given the matter a new dimension.
The struggle for democracy, rule of law and justice has progressed or should have progressed beyond the former deputy prime minister, by the agency of his persecution, leadership and contribution, along with that of other activists
The struggle for rule of law is perhaps embodied within the late Karpal Singh, the Tiger of Jelutong and the continued defiance of the Malaysian Bar Council against those who seek to misuse the law.
The struggle for equal rights for all, including the stateless and foreign workers embodied in the fight led by the late Irene Fernendez.
The struggle for democratic elections and transparency conjoined in the struggles of pro-electoral reform coalition Bersih 2.0 personified in Datuk S Ambiga, national laureate A Samad Said and their fellow compatriots.
The struggle to strive for human rights borne by the hobbled but dedicated Suhakam commissioners and other NGOs fighting for the rights of Malaysia's disenfranchised like the Orang Asal and LGBTs.
The struggle for advancing moderate Islam as a counter to religious persecution undertaken by progressive Islamists like those in the Islamic Renaissance Front.
What is refreshing with these icons is that their fight supersede themselves. None of these individuals would call for the people to go to the streets for themselves but for the values that they aspire to inculcate and the reforms they are passionate to enact.
Their principles and noble ideals they represent stood above their name and I think as such, the struggle for justice should not be about Anwar.
Malaysians should not take to the streets for Anwar or for any individual. If there is any pressing reason to embark on "street justice", then it must be for a greater cause, one that affects all citizens and their rights to justice and freedom, not for the interests of any individual, be it Anwar or someone else.
The Ant Daily
No comments:
Post a Comment