I refer to the letter by Dato' Salehudin Hashim entitled An open letter to non-Malays which appeared just before the general election.

I, the wife of an ex-army officer, beg to be heard.

Where was our former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim when non-Muslim soldiers appealed to him for help when they had religious problems including not being allowed to pray in their quarters?

Where was Anwar when exceptionally outstanding non-Muslim students were left out in their pursuit of higher education? Where was Anwar when the Selangor state government passed the mubaligh law targeting non-Muslim children?

(This law was for non-Muslim children who after passing their puberty, could embrace Islam, even at the age of 11, without their parents' consent.)

Yes, where is freedom of religion when Keadilan remained silent on Abdul Hadi's call for blood with regards to people who leave Islam? Why this double standard? The fight for souls should be a two-way traffic. When a religion allows its adherents no choice, it means it's a fascist doctrine.

What did Anwar do in the 20 years he was in the government? Who spearheaded the Islamisation programme? Was he not the cause of polarisation in schools with his great emphasis on Islamic values (as if the other religions had none)?

'The Malay grassroots are now acutely aware of the excesses of Umno politicians, of their material self-interests and their desperation.' Anwar was strangely silent on this when he was the deputy prime minister.

Is he not one of those same, tainted ones indulging in the excesses Salehudin mentioned? Why was he silent on the prolonging of the ISA, OSA, UUCA and Printing Presses and Publications Act which curtail the civil liberties of Malaysians?

The proliferation of headscarves and skullcaps do indeed scare me. These were not normal during my younger days. They started mushrooming after Anwar's visit to an ayatollah in the Middle East.

Strange as it may seem, there has been a drastic erosion of Malay culture and values whereby an alien Arab culture is adopted as pointed out only recently.

In Muslim countries, non-Muslims are often the receiving end. In Egypt, the Coptic Christians are being persecuted. Until today, the Turks deny the massacre of the Armenian people who happened to profess Christianity.

In Morocco, theocracy has a final say on apostates, which is death. Indonesia slaughtered 400,000 East Timorese. Why was Anwar silent during this genocide? For God's sake, he was the deputy PM.

The theocracy Salehudin mentioned in his letter is a theocratic dictatorship. Is it a veiled threat when he says: '... that non-Muslim Malaysians would be doing Keadilan a favour if we help you to stop Umno- bred diseases before despondency tempts you to look for unthinkable alternatives?'

It is indeed 'poetic justice' for Anwar. Only now he realises his folly - along with his supporters - for the need of non-Muslims.

Keadilan is a Trojan horse for PAS. No way shall we support or condone it. As it is, we are treated as second-class citizens, why must we have a theocratic dictatorship which would treat us humiliatingly?

Anwar should not be in jail for sodomy charges. He deserves to be in jail for criminal negligence for all he had not done.