Anwar Ibrahim’s rise and involvement as a prominent politician in the
Malaysian government came to an abrupt halt in 1998 when he was sacked from his
posts by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. After he organised the
biggest reform protest in the nation’s history, his home was raided, he was put
into jail without bail, cuffed, blindfolded and was even beaten up by the
Inspector General of Police.
It was during that period when he
suffered that police assault that he was once mistaken for dead. His famous
photograph with a black eye became the symbol of his predicament worldwide and
the beating has left him with a permanent back injury that requires wearing a
fortified brace all the time.
Despite his serious injury and
harsh treatment, he is forgiving. He doesn’t expect an apology from the powers
that be and has no plans to sue the government. “Can you sue Hitler?” he asks.
He was a close aide and was said to be the protégé of former Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohammed, he took on corruption within the first family
leading to his arrest and conviction the first time. He has been described as a
prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International twice for the previous and his recent
imprisonment, and has received widespread support from the world over after he
was jailed.
Anwar was put on trial and
convicted for the crimes of corruption in 1999 related to dubious sexual
offences, subsequently he was imprisoned for the sexual misconduct only to be repealed
later upon a lengthy appeal. It was the most shameful and ridiculous bout of
absurdity in the courts as shown by the lugging about and frequent display of a
stained mattress appearing as “material evidence”. The official media and main
news outlets were having a field day shaming and slandering him. In 2008 the
whole shenanigan was replayed.
The first trials were conducted
during a major political fallout, amidst incessant disputes between Mahathir
and Anwar Ibrahim over financial and economic measures that were to be
implemented within the country during an economic crisis and viral accusations
of cronyism at the top. 6 years later, Dr. Mahathir’s successor, Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi, released Anwar much to Mahathir’s chagrin, and Anwar went on to become
the leading opposition figure until his second imprisonment for similarly
questionably charges. Mahathir never forgave Abdullah Badawi for giving such
latitude in allowing Anwar’s freedom.
Those who met him would realise
that it was his strong sense of humour and courage of conviction that he was
never in the wrong that helped him survive six years in solitary confinement
the first time.
When speaking of his time in
prison then, Anwar spoke of the hardship and the pain of losing his loved ones
and the deaths of those closest to him while he was incarcerated. In order to
endure that difficult time, he depended heavily on the Quran, the Islamic
religious text, prayers and meditation. He filled up the time with reading and
immersing himself with books. He was engrossed in great classical literature,
not just versions of Islam but also of the Bible and Confucian texts. He read
and read Shakespeare. He spoke
specifically about King Lear, saying that, “…
King Lear is in prison with Cordelia. He comes out wiser and more detached. So
when I came out, I’ve forgiven all of the past, let us move forward.”
Much of his political views and
thoughts are similarly centred around the same role of religious teachings of
peace, spirituality and forgiveness. “I’m
a practicing Muslim,” he said, “and I
think compassion is part of the religious teaching.” For Anwar Ibrahim,
that compassion means putting an emphasis on equality for all in Malaysia, not
just for the Muslims of the country but people of other confession and beliefs.
According to him, “More than half a
century after independence, we don’t want poor Malays to be marginalized or
Chinese to feel discriminated and Indians ignored.” He says his stance on
such issues does not make him pro-secularization, but rather makes him “pro-justice and freedom.”
Anwar spoke concerning Mahathir’s
incessant attacks even in his twilight years having shown no remorse or regret,
“When I was released I said that I would
forgive but not forget [the injustices heaped upon me and my family]. It was
sometime thereafter that Dr Mahathir resumed his baseless accusations against
my character in a manner that was undermining my rights as a Malaysian citizen.
I am within my rights as a human being to defend my reputation in the public
eye and will rely on Malaysian Courts to grant justice where justice is due.
But this is not a case about clearing my name - it is a question of preserving
my name against these ongoing vicious attacks in a manner consistent with the
protections afforded me by Malaysian law.”
Speaking of his relationship with
Mahathir and on perhaps things could have been done differently, Anwar said, “Others have asked me how I see Mahathir now,
and I spent the first 20 minutes talking about the nice time I had with him.
They said, “No, please be serious.” I said, “I am!” That’s a wonderful thing to
have. Of course I get angry, I counter his arguments, rebut very strongly, in
some ways despise his hypocrisy, the gross injustice, but I wouldn’t deny the
positive contributions he made. But the destruction of the institutions of
government, that’s unforgivable. Personally, I’m okay, I moved on, but the
judiciary, media, the police force, parliament, were all relegated to becoming
inconsequential.”
(On whether things could be
different) “Oh, I thought about that a
lot. You have to remember, I was in prison, so what do you do? Meditate, read
and think. And sing, I sing quite a bit too. You do, you reflect, but then it
was mutual, he was kind to me and I was exceedingly kind and loyal to him. It
was a very difficult period but I don’t think I had much option towards the
end. In fact, I’ve always said to my more critical friends that I have absolved
myself. After all, we were part of the government. Some of the decisions were
bitter, but we needed to draw the line.
Things like bailouts, things like the corruption reports against
ministers, already on your table, and for you to say “not to do anything”… you
have to bring it up! But people say you could have compromised, some friends
did say that. But then you would have transgressed the boundary. If or when you
do take over, how do you then rationalise with the public what you’ve done? If
it’s done by the prime minister, well there’s not much I can do. But if it is
condoned by you, you have a problem. So, do I regret it? No. Was it difficult?
Yes. Do I think I had other options? No, except to resign early, or to die a
fighter.”
Asked about the book he wrote, “Asian
Renaissance”, Anwar replied, “That book
became quite contentious because people close to Mahathir thought we were clearly
parting ways. Secondly, the central idea of economics empowerment is critical,
but not everything, that’s why I talked about renaissance, cultural
empowerment, I talked about freedom, and justice. And I think there was a flaw
in the thinking at that time of these economic gurus: prescriptions by the
World Bank, the IMF about the East Asian economic miracle, and so forth. They
didn’t talk about disparity, the marginalised, the poor, whether the judiciary
is independent or not, or if the media’s free. To them ‘the miracle’ was in
terms of a limited notion of economics and power. I hold very dearly the thesis
I presented in that book. That’s why I used the term ‘renaissance’.
But it’s a challenge. Once you are transformed into a relatively
vibrant democracy, then you actually allow for space. And that latitude is
essential for the mushrooming of ideas. That, to me, is very critical when you
talk in terms of economics or cultural empowerment.
That is happening more successfully in Indonesia and the Philippines
because they are more democratic. Although I wouldn’t want to deny the fact
that Indonesia, too, is facing a major problem due to endemic corruption and
marginalisation. If the issue of governance is not resolved, people have this
suspicion, then whatever policies, however rational or good, will always be
suspect. Is it to enrich your cronies or is it really something really
essential to the masses? Trust is
important.”
On his greatest political
achievement to date, Anwar says, “There is
still a long way to go. So we shall see. People say that success means you
assume office. It’s not true. Success is when you’re able to deliver.
It’s not when you attain the position. That’s I think the wisdom of
having been there and being downtrodden. And I think that keeps your sanity and
humility. I think that’s important. People think being prime minister is the
end, but I don’t think so.
I think you should be evaluated and judged. And when you’re able to
honour your commitments after you assume office, and remain true to your ideas,
that, to me, is a far greater challenge than articulating this ideal in the
absence of authority or power. When you’re there, you deal with the
realpolitik, with the power play, with the big forces, with the tycoons. If
they give you a 10 million dollar ring, what do you do?”
When asked how he would deal with
such tycoons and sustain his idealism, Anwar explained, “I’m a man of faith; I’m a practicing Muslim. At the same time, I grew
up well thanks to my parents. I’m grateful for my parents, they were quite
idealistic, my late mum and my father. My mother is not English-educated but
she’s an avid reader. She virtually read all novels in Malay or in Bahasa
Indonesia in those days, the entire collection of Balai Pustaka books. And my
dad, we always had these small compendiums of books, from Gandhi to Lao Tzu to
Confucius, and it’s interesting. For a Muslim family in a village, with a small
library at home, we have that. So you familiarise yourself. I go to Quran
class, and following the Nabi (prophet), as an intellectual, you don’t view
religion purely from a dogmatic sense but you engage.
Roger Garaudy was a great philosopher, who started off being a
Christian in France, then later on became a Muslim. It’s very interesting what
he said, unlike a new convert. He said, “I’m blessed, I grew up a Christian,
and that’s where I learnt compassion and tolerance. Then I became a Communist,
and I had strong empathy and love for the poor and downtrodden. Then I became a
Muslim and then I became more universal.” So just because he is a Muslim, the
past is no longer relevant? No, the past is what is him.
Exactly what Amartya Sen had said. In his book “Identity and Violence”,
he said, “I’m an Indian, I memorised Sanskrit at the age of nine and I think it
was a great thing, I’m a Hindu and I think we have a great civilisation, but
because I’m in India, I think that Muslim moguls have done wonderfully well.
But later I became a professor in Cambridge, in Harvard. I think it’s a great
institution and I love being here in America and despite the fact that I grew
up in Santiniketan, I am a great admirer of Shakespeare. So who am I?” And that
is beautiful. I use that a lot. And when you read it and understand it and you
see these people talking about Malay supremacy, oh my god, they know nothing.”
On why he was charged with such a
peculiarly reprehensible allegation, he said, “They cannot taint me with corruption or any other criminal misconduct
so finally sodomy was chosen - because this would enrage the rural conservative
Muslim constituency. Moreover it is easier, there is no proof required to
convict me, it is a matter of accepting the complainant’s view.”
He brought the matter up (criminal
slander, Qadhaf) to be tried under
Islamic Law explaining, “I did that
because they use Islam and they say you should swear by the Quran which to me
is an insult. I am a practising Muslim and it is an insult to Quran to consider
crimes to be resolved only by swearing on the holy book. You rape a girl and
you swear by the Quran and you are free? What does this mean? Is this what
Islam teaches us? I consulted all religious authorities and they said no (to
swearing oaths), they said the only option is to refer the matter to the
religious court. That’s why I decided to go there but they wouldn’t dare bring
it up.”
The sodomy charge used to harass him
apparently seemed to foreigners to be used commonly in Malaysia to which Anwar
expressly remarked, “No, I am an
exception. It’s a phobia created against me, a sort of xenophobia. You look at
the media on prime time TV-- I am a threat to security, I am anti Malay, they
say I went to India and attacked Malaysia. Once I asked the Minister of
Information, “Can you give me one week's leave?” He didn’t understand, he asked
me, “Where do you want to go?” He kept on asking – I finally said, “Shut up on
Anwar in your TV network.” The media is UMNO controlled, there is no freedom.
The foreign media has been kind to me. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch played a
major role in raising the issue.”
The most corrupt will be supporting legislation against corruption. We
must measure change from actual reform and actual implementation of the reform,
not pronouncements. If I am a rich man, I can pay 22 million US dollars to
appoint an international PR consultant appointed by Sani Abacha and others- so
naturally they must give him (the Malaysian Prime Minister) good advice- but
should you be presumptuous and accept their version? No. You should assess by
the performance what have they done. Is corruption rooted out? Is there a free
media? Is there an independent judiciary?
I was once arrested, and put in
a lock up on a cement floor for one night and then released, for no reason-
other than abuse --they could have asked me to go to the police station for
questioning. But the good thing is I have the humility now - that means your
passion for justice becomes strong- if I can be treated that way- I am a known person,
the world talks about me. What about the poor guys?”
Forgiveness is a vital part of
Anwar Ibrahim’s life, and it has consistently played a prominent role in his
dealing with others who have mistreated him. An example given was of an issue
that arose in 2008 when the Foreign Minister of the time called Anwar an
American agent. Such an accusation is taken extremely seriously, and Anwar
Ibrahim was thus compelled to take the case to court, but six years later, when
both men appeared in court, the ex Foreign Minister who had accused him of
being an American spy said that it had been long since this issue had occurred,
and urged that it was time to drop the case and move on. Ibrahim agreed, but
placed the condition that if he dropped the case, then the former Foreign
Minister had to retract his statements and publicly apologize. The former
Foreign Minister refused, saying that he would not do so in public but would do
so privately in the chambers so that it would appear in court documents. Much
to the shock of his family and friends, Anwar Ibrahim agreed, dropped the case
and accepted his accuser's apology. His family and friends, he said, were furious and
confused, but, “… then they understood.
They said that the Quran is very clear, and that it’s superior to forgive.” Thus,
both religion and forgiveness have played a vital role in Anwar’s decision
making.
Moving forward, Anwar Ibrahim
believes that justice must be consistent, and that love, compassion and
forgiveness is what we should focus on.
“If you show love, compassion, and forgiveness for those around you on earth,” said
Anwar, “then those in the heavens will
shower love and blessings on you.” (Borislava Manojlovic 2015, The Love
& Forgiveness Project. School of Diplomacy and International Relations,
Seton Hall University)
Concerning his family and
friends, Anwar said, “My wife has been
supportive all along. She became politically active only after I was detained
but my daughter is in politics. The government prompted people to ask my wife
--"Why are you still with your husband? Why don’t you demand a
divorce?" Can it happen anywhere else in the world? That is the state of
gutter politics in Malaysia - insulting human dignity and they call it moderate
Islam. I was badly assaulted and in pain but otherwise its okay. I survived reading,
meditating, being patient, and the conviction that ultimately you will be
victorious. The role my family, my wife Azizah and the children too played was
remarkable. People prayed for me- it was amazing the support I had.”
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