Introduction by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI rarely runs articles that have appeared in news websites such as the Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini or others since we feel it is unnecessary to duplicate their posts.
We are however making an exception in the case below. We hope not only that the international media picks up this story and investigates it but also that our local media and all Malaysians give it the attention and importance it deserves.
We should all be outraged and ashamed by the Government's vindictive persecution of Raja Petra Kamarudin and his family. The writer of this article, Suflan Shamsuddin, has appealed to the government not to "let this ...end in a tragedy for a family and a tragedy for the nation."
We want to add to this by appealing to all Malaysians not to let our sense of decency and fair play fail us again and show up the inertia and cowardice that seems to be part of our national character.
Below is an excerpt from the Malaysian Insider column article titled 'RPK and his son'.
For certain, the price he [Raja Petra Kamarudin] has paid for the choices he has taken far exceeds what most people would be willing to pay. And the frightening cloak and dagger, cat and mouse game he plays with the authorities is presumably part of that bargain. And somehow, this game between RPK and the authorities, as to which fox outwits the other, is played with some basic ‘law of the jungle’-sense of fairness. And so the dispassionate onlooker might see ultimate victory and defeat as fair game to either side.
But when a son becomes a pawn or collateral damage in this game, then the dynamics shift. The lack of gamesmanship that this suggests to any onlooker is deplorable and sickening.If indeed, the government is in anyway implicated in the physical and mental distress of Raja Azman, simply for the sake of getting back at RPK, then it deserves nothing less then the curse of the whole nation upon it. Were this to be the case, the people will damn this government in everyway it can, and those involved, for such a cowardly and shameful act. I am reasonably sure that every moment RPK and his family is tormented by the uncertainty of his son’s fate, millions of Malaysians around the world will be similarly tormented alongside them in sympathy for the pain that only a father, a mother or a member of the family can feel under such circumstances.
I implore the world media to pick up this story and help uncover what has really happened to Raja Azman, and truly find out how is he being treated.
I beseech the government to clarify his condition and the circumstances under which he has been looked after. Prove to the people that the government is beyond reproach in this matter.
Let this not end in a tragedy for a family and a tragedy for the nation.
