What punishment does Zaid Ibrahim deserve?

I suppose Zaid Ibrahim is a little short on friends these days, in his own words no less. 

I’m not the most natural candidate for such an honour, as the eminent lawyer and I have not always seen eye to eye in this land of the written word.

A long time ago, he took the time to write one of the most amusingly critical articles focused on me - the words he chose were unforgettable, and never fails to amuse my family at the dinner table.

In any case, Zaid has found himself at the centre of quite a lot of attention these past few days, after some choice words directed at the sultan of Selangor.

A lot of that attention was very angry in nature.

It is impossible to avoid some sort of evaluation of those words, but that will not be the focus of the article today.

Violence is never acceptable

Whatever our feelings about Zaid and the things he said this last week, or throughout his career, I am hoping we can rely on any sane, reasonable Malaysian to share one view at least: that Jamal Md Yunos has once again gone too far.

Jamal has every right to criticise Zaid, and to be upset about what the latter said. He even has a right to express his anger.

I believe there is a moral line that is undoubtedly crossed however, by burning images of Zaid, and stepping on and hitting cutouts of him with a sledgehammer.

My first reactions upon reading of the latter incident were of horror and disgust. I admit, when I finally actually watched the video, the whole act might have seemed more ridiculous than anything else.

Nevertheless, these are still actions that should be taken seriously.

The saddest thing Jamal represents is the fact that there are many among us who still seem to feel that violence is an acceptable expression of politics.

This is, literally, the method of resolving conflict relied upon by apes. We are not apes, and therefore should not behave as such.

Credit to the police

I was deeply gratified to see that the police may perhaps share this view, in deciding to arrest Jamal and remand him for two days.

I suppose a cynic might say that this is a slap on the wrist for show, or that the police acted merely because Jamal insulted the police; and yes, there may be some precedents that might encourage such a view.

That said, I think we should allow the police the benefit of the doubt, and give them credit for upholding the law.

Said law in this case is Section 504 of the Penal Code, concerning making insults with intent to breach the peace.

I don’t think anybody should be arrested for making an insult, but I do believe that threats of bodily harm should never be condoned in any civilised society.

Charge any wrongdoing in court

Believing this does not mean condoning Zaid’s own actions, nor does it offer particular comment on his opinions.

Zaid expressed his views on a sitting monarch in his way, and I too have expressed my own views on constitutional monarchy recently in my own way.

If what Zaid said can be proven to have been against any just law, then there is reasonable cause to take him to court and charge him.

The rightness or wrongness of his approach or his words however, should be irrelevant as we seek to denounce any form of violence in politics.

Every individual should be prepared to face the consequences of their actions and words, but it is not the place of the general public to visit such consequences on any individual in any physical manner.

Abandoned by DAP?

It may be worth noting the reaction of Zaid’s current party, DAP, to this entire matter.

Almost immediately, Selangor DAP chairperson Tony Pua basically hung Zaid out to dry, saying that he would have to deal with the consequences of his actions on his own.

To be fair, we cannot say for sure whether Pua was aware of Jamal’s sledgehammer antics at the time his comments were published, but I think we can say with some confidence that he was at least aware of Jamal’s burning of Zaid’s image.

I think it will come as no surprise that many people probably view Zaid as a political liability, leaving behind a trail of dissatisfaction in the many political parties he has joined and left.

That said, to abandon him in such a fashion, without making any comment on the threats of violence against him seems a little cold, to say the least.

Pua is of course taking the politically correct position; he did not however, have to do so with such vociferousness, and with no mention at all of the violence being perpetrated by Jamal and friends.

I am proud to say that my MP at least, Lim Lip Eng, had the presence of mind to speak out against the burning of Zaid’s images.

We all know that criticising the monarchy in today’s political landscape costs, rather than gains, political points - well, all of us except Zaid perhaps, who I suppose has a tendency to shoot from the hip without a great deal of foresight.

He was probably looking to defend his good friend Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who could in the circumstances, hardly be expected to reciprocate.

Our shared boat

The DAP eventually extended more support, through a visit by Lim Kit Siang, Teresa Kok and Liew Chin Tong, and the police eventually made the right move in acting against Jamal.

That said, I hope we will all move faster to defend one another - Malaysian brothers and sisters all - anytime anyone would threaten any type of violence.

We may disagree on the direction of our shared boat, but this should never be a justification for trying to throw one another overboard.

As for comments regarding the monarchy, I suppose someone willing to live with the consequences is free to say whatever he or she likes; but for those intent on long-term political change, perhaps it is wise to choose words with care.

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NATHANIEL TAN looked up to a star in search of dignity over the weekend, but found the opposite. - Mkini

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