PETALING JAYA: The handshake between former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his protege-turned-nemesis Anwar Ibrahim is a betrayal to their supporters, says Raja Sara Petra.
In a statement, Sara, who is the daughter of self-exiled blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, related the pain she and her family went through for her father’s support of Anwar after the then deputy prime minister was sacked by Mahathir.
“I was just 13 and in Form 1 when the police stopped our car to take my father away,” she said, adding at the time she was not fully aware as to what was going on.
She said she was only told that her father might be away for a long time, though she did not know for how long.
Sara said she was told her father had to be locked away because he supported Anwar and opposed Mahathir, and was led to believe that doing so was a serious crime.
“On Monday, Anwar and Mahathir met up and shook hands. So, 18 years’ of animosity is now water under the bridge. The past is the past. Forgive and forget.
“But what about people like me, who for many years suffered emotional stress that every knock on the door is, yet again, the police coming to take my father away?”
For the last seven years, Sara said her father lived in exile because he supported Anwar and questioned whether Anwar and Mahathir were going to apologise to her for the 18 years of suffering and the weekly trips she had to make to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping.
She said the handshake between the two former Umno stalwarts was a betrayal to those who were dragged into their personal conflict and were now forgotten political pawns.
In a statement, Sara, who is the daughter of self-exiled blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, related the pain she and her family went through for her father’s support of Anwar after the then deputy prime minister was sacked by Mahathir.
“I was just 13 and in Form 1 when the police stopped our car to take my father away,” she said, adding at the time she was not fully aware as to what was going on.
She said she was only told that her father might be away for a long time, though she did not know for how long.
Sara said she was told her father had to be locked away because he supported Anwar and opposed Mahathir, and was led to believe that doing so was a serious crime.
“On Monday, Anwar and Mahathir met up and shook hands. So, 18 years’ of animosity is now water under the bridge. The past is the past. Forgive and forget.
“But what about people like me, who for many years suffered emotional stress that every knock on the door is, yet again, the police coming to take my father away?”
For the last seven years, Sara said her father lived in exile because he supported Anwar and questioned whether Anwar and Mahathir were going to apologise to her for the 18 years of suffering and the weekly trips she had to make to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping.
She said the handshake between the two former Umno stalwarts was a betrayal to those who were dragged into their personal conflict and were now forgotten political pawns.
Gua really bea' tahan about the logic of this out-of-the-blue & suddenly-so-out-spoken young chick!
ReplyDeleteProbably, doesnt realise this outburst shows she has a wasted schooling & thus an unpolished end-product.
Who should u blame when yr idol makes goods with his/her diehard enemy?
U or yr idol?
More so, who SHOULD u seek remorse when that idol was chosen by yr dad!
Go & seek yr fatherly advice lah, since u might say u have zilch choice in choosing that idol!
As a filial piety daughter, she shouldn't point finger at her father, so blame herself lah, betul?
“So the fight was not really about change after all as we were told. It was just about power.”
ReplyDeletehow true.. it applies to both ai and tdm. we would never dream to see that fake handshake if tdm is still in umno and tdm is still holding the strings on the 'puppet(s)'.
had ai being the pm after ge13, most probably tdm is serving his time in 'hilton' now..?
pain? betrayed?
ReplyDeletehow about us who attended many candle vigils in support of your dad when he was ISA-ed?
Grow up, Sara.
candle vigils equated to a girl deprived of her dad? Wow
DeleteWow...izznt it for those who hold candle vigil ALSO deprived their family members of the time spent????
DeleteApa logic tu?
a few hours away in contrast to being incarcerated - no comparison lah
DeleteLook at it this way - choice!
DeleteI'm a supporter & by my own choice I went to the virgil.
I can very well main tea party with my daughter in the warm of the house for that time spent in the cold.
U r the daughter, who has no choice in yr father's sole decision leading to his incarceration.
Thus the 18 years of suffering and the weekly trips she had to make to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping is bounded through their bloodline.
She, too can choose not to go. No?
One is a stranger whose ONLY link is shared ideology. While the other is blood related.
So, who has sacrificed more? & time here IS relative!
How to compare?
Its nauseating hypocrisy for the New RPK and his daughter to talk about betrayal.
ReplyDeleteNo one has done more to betray Anwar Ibrahim than the New RPK.
Once glance at the pages of the New RPK's New Malaysia Today - one glance is all I can stomach - reveals His all consuming Dedak-driven attacks against everything that Anwar Ibrahim has fought for in the last 18 years..