COMMENT | In deporting Turkish asylum seeker Arif Komis (above) back to Turkey, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad made some extraordinary claims. Well, not exactly extraordinary (for him), but rather the usual blame-shifting comments he makes when cornered.

Dismissing the fate that would probably befall Komis and his family, he asked the question that opens this piece. Well just in case our prime minister is not up to date on the kind of strategies the Erdogan regime practices, here is the link to the Amnesty International (UK) press statement, which calls for the need for independent monitors to access detainees amid torture allegations:

“Reports of abuse, including beatings and rape in detention, are extremely alarming, especially given the scale of detentions that we have seen in the past week. The grim details that we have documented are just a snapshot of the abuses that might be happening in places of detention.

"It is absolutely imperative that the Turkish authorities halt these abhorrent practices and allow international monitors to visit all these detainees in the places they are being held.
“Despite chilling images and videos of torture that have been widely broadcast across the country, the government has remained conspicuously silent on the abuse. Failing to condemn ill-treatment or torture in these circumstances is tantamount to condoning it."

This was three years ago, after the failed coup, and which the Erdogan regime blamed on Feto, which Komis is alleged to belong to. If the Pakatan Harapan government or the prime minister think that Amnesty International is just another "Western" organisation out "against" Islamic regimes, many of these same politicians, when in Barisan/Umno, had no problem using Amnesty International when it came to the horrors of Abu Ghraib or the numerous other atrocities committed by the "West" on Muslim countries.

Remember the war crimes tribunal that Mahathir set up to dispense justice to Bush and Co all those years ago? Here is a reminder, in case some have forgotten: “The tribunal, to be formally launched at a peace conference Mahathir is hosting Feb 7, will not have the legal authority of any international organisation and will not be able to impose penalties - but Mahathir said its aim is to condemn the accused in the history books. "The accused may disregard'' the tribunal, Mahathir said at a news conference. "There will be (other) people who will take it seriously, and historians will attach an epithet that they will not like. They will go down in history as war criminals.''

The anti-war literature at the time, especially in Malaysia, was a compilation of data, anecdotes, statistics and press releases from Amnesty International and other humanitarian organisations.

So, really, this plea for “evidence” of torture by the Erdogan regime is just horse manure, and the reality of the situation is that, for whatever reason, the Harapan regime has no problem sending UN-protected asylum seekers to their possible torture and death. Why do I say, Harapan regime? Well, because in March of this year the government shipped off four Egyptians who may face execution by the military regime in Egypt.

“This has been done secretly, flouting international human rights standards,” said Latheefa Koya (above), when she was the executive director for Lawyers for Liberty. She made it a point to differentiate between the Harapan regime and the Barisan Nasional regime.

“We would have expected this inhumane conduct on the part of the (previous) Barisan Nasional regime, but it’s outrageous that the Pakatan Harapan government is doing the same thing," Latheefa said.

So now we know, that when it comes to inhumane conduct, in many ways, the Harapan government is just as bad or worse – because it is supposed to be the saviour of Malaysia – unlike the previous BN government.

But hang on a minute. The prime minister said that Komis is to be shipped out on the advice of the police. So the question then becomes, what kind of investigation was carried out by the PDRM?

What did this investigation reveal? It must have been a speedy investigation because the PDRM apparently concluded that there was “proof” that Komis should not be in this country. What is this “proof”? Is Komis a threat to national security?

Imagine that. The PDRM investigated Komis and concluded that he should not be in this country, and apparently they have “proof”. Meanwhile, Zakir Naik (above) is busy suing politicians in this country – politicians from the ruling coalition. While Zakir has been banned from making public speeches because he makes racist statements, he is defended by not only the ruling coalition, but also by far-right personalities who use him (and are used by him) to propagate anti-Malaysian ideas. And he gets a free pass from the Harapan regime.

The PDRM has not made an assessment on this charlatan. How queer. I mean, what's the holdup?

Now, some people will say that Zakir remains here because of the prime minister. However, the prime minister now says that someone like Komis is not here because of the PDRM. What nonsense is this? Is the prime minster protecting Zakir, or does the PDRM think he belongs in this country? It is all very confusing.

Mahathir asks people to tell him where to send Zakir Naik. Why not ask Zakir where he wants to go? After all, just two years ago, Zakir boasted that he had citizenship offers from 10 countries - “By God’s grace, I have been offered citizenship by at least 10 Islamic nations,” he added. “Maybe in the future I will accept if appropriate, as even according to (Islamic texts), if people are persecuting me for my thoughts, I have to protect myself.”

If the prime minister is too busy, maybe the young boy minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman could ask Zakir where he wants to go. Maybe over dinner, and then he could tweet about how Zakir is moving on, which would mean that we could all move on as well.

Of that failed war crimes tribunal, Mahathir said that historians would attach an epithet to leaders who perform egregious acts that they would not like. The problem with this kind of thinking is that while facts go down in history or are eventually rediscovered, the reality is that people do not know their history - or more often, forget their history.