Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
"Prison Department's task is to control them with a feeling of
humanity and help them lead useful and law-abiding while in custody and
after release." - Official portalof Prisons Department of Malaysia COMMENT When
a person is imprisoned for his or her views, they do not go to prison
alone. Their families are in prison with them. This reality came sharply
into focus when I was talking to Uthayakumar's wife, S Indra Devi. Her
anxiety about Uthayakumar's condition in prison flows in a torrent of
words that is a mix of fear, anger and sadness. She is proud of him but
at the same time fearful of what may lie ahead. She understands his
cause and has been through his incarcerations before but this time it is
different. This time she fears for his very life brought on by physical
ailments he suffers and uncaring prison system which by all accounts is
more soul destroying than being incarcerated under the ISA. She
is very aware that at the end of the day there is only so much help
that she can get. The news cycle works against her and she alone is the
human face that represents her husband. She talks of closing up his law
practice and wonders how she will carry on now that he is in prison. She
constantly fears of how he is coping in a system that by his own
admission he has waged a lonely crusade against. She knows that
as a lawyer, it would have pained Uthayakumar a great deal that his
appeal papers were confiscated. She worries that his emotional state
will not hold up and this will take its toll on his physical well-being.
Indra is furious that her allegation against the prison system that
holds her husband, and was collaborated by another prisoner, was
dismissed as pleadings for special treatment. She always knew
that Uthayakumar fought for the downtrodden, specifically the Indian
disenfranchised, but is helpless when he has become one by virtue of his
social and political activism. However, what she fears most is the
"dark room". Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed that there
was no VIP prisons and all prisoners are treated equally. However, Indra
is not asking for special treatment for Uthayakumar. All that she is
asking for is that her husband be given the medical treatment that he
requires. The prison doctor himself has claimed that he has "no
power" to refer Uthayakumar to a hospital. Which begs the question what
kind of treatment is Uthayakumar getting in prison? What kind of prison
is this when a pillow and chair are substitute for medical treatment and
that if a prisoner complains, he or she would be banished to a 'dark room'? Uthaya not asking for a waterbed Indra
scoffs at the doctor's powerlessness. The Indian community knows what
it means to be without power, she says. This is what Uthaya has been
fighting for, she continues. "If he is ill, medical treatment
will be given according the SOP (standard operating procedure) of the
Prisons Department," said Zahid. However, he neither elaborated on what
constitutes the SOP of the prison system nor assured those concerned for
Uthayakumar's welfare that he was getting the treatment necessary for
his physical condition. Instead, what he did was to dismiss Indra
concerns as pleas for special treatment. I would like to remind the
honourable minister that Uthayakumar is not asking for a waterbed like a
certain Abdullah Ang, only that he be accorded the same rights as any
other prisoner in a prison under the ambit of a political party that
wants to be the best democracy in the world. Of course, the irony
here is that Uthayakumar continues to raise uncomfortable questions
while he is imprisoned as when he was free. Questions like how prisoners
are treated. Alternatively, the responsibility of the state in ensuring
that prisoners are treated humanely and not be subject to a vengeful
system. "I
assure you that the facilities being accorded to Uthayakumar are the
same (as those made accessible) to other prisoners," claims Zahid, but
this assurance means very little when stories of dark rooms, assaults
and other kinds of ill treatment filter through the narratives of former
prisoners. The very fact that judges continue to hear
allegations of mistreatment by the security forces of this country
points to a reality that the security apparatuses in this country
willfully ignore. Credibility is lacking when it comes to how the state
handles issues of security and it becomes even more difficult to trust
the words from authority on issues that involve the prison system
because it is a whole other world, which many Malaysians are not privy
to. Most people do not pay attention to the human rights
violations when it concern prisons or immigration detention camps.
Social activist Irene Fernandez has spent a good part of her life at
great expense to herself exposing what goes on in these places. For
this, she has been vilified as a troublemaker or worse, and her
narratives of those on the margins should be read by anyone interested
in how we treat the outcast of our society. PDRM at its lowest point At this very moment, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and the security apparatus of the state is at its lowest point. The
so-called Sulu invasion, the numerous deaths in custody, the allegation
of police corruption, the public assassinations of government officials
(deputy custom head) and former bankers (Arab-Malaysian Bank founder), points to a level of lawlessness not seen in this country for some time now. You cannot blame the opposition for this. When you have an activist
who was gunned down and in critical condition because he allegedly
wanted to expose police corruption at the highest levels, those in power
must concede that this old way of doing things must change. This of
course will fall on deaf years. Critics will be accused of exaggerating
the problem or worse attempting to gain political mileage. So
with all of this going on, can we really be assured that prisoners are
being treated fairly by the system. Does anyone really care? The reality is that Uthayakumar lost his war with the state. He lost the war of perception for his cause. He lost Hindraf to the establishment. He has very few supporters
who will speak out for him and the oppositional forces in this country
are waging their own war against the establishment and have very little
time for Uthayakumar who made no bones about the fact that he considered
both alliances, more of the same. The state won as Uthaya always
predicted they would. It is pointless making a martyr out of him. If
the state cannot see the nobility of what Uthaya did on his own at least
be cognisant of the fact that if anything happens to Uthayakumar in
prison, down the road, some young man or woman, will be inspired to pick
up his cause, knowing the consequences. And one fine day you will see another Hindraf bloom from the ‘compassion' of the state.
She
is very aware that at the end of the day there is only so much help
that she can get. The news cycle works against her and she alone is the
human face that represents her husband. She talks of closing up his law
practice and wonders how she will carry on now that he is in prison. She
constantly fears of how he is coping in a system that by his own
admission he has waged a lonely crusade against.
"I
assure you that the facilities being accorded to Uthayakumar are the
same (as those made accessible) to other prisoners," claims Zahid, but
this assurance means very little when stories of dark rooms, assaults
and other kinds of ill treatment filter through the narratives of former
prisoners.
So
with all of this going on, can we really be assured that prisoners are
being treated fairly by the system. Does anyone really care?
