Prison may be a forbidding place, but Najib Abdul Razak, who is desperate to jail his adversary, Hishamuddin Rais, forgets that Hishamuddin is a creactivist. Megalomaniacs cannot triumph over creactivists.

Creactivists are lethal. Creactivists are the worst sort of social activist. Being a creactivist is bad enough, but Hishamuddin is also a playwright and a philosopher. Few can dislike Hishamuddin, who has a sense of humour and the ability to laugh at himself. Unlike Hishamuddin, Najib cannot tolerate anyone making fun of him.

Speaking out about injustice and corruption is costing Hishamuddin his freedom. He has our admiration and respect. People like Najib send people to gaol, because they allegedly want to suppress the truth.

The prison may be barren and minimalist, but ironically, prison will whet the pen of Hishamuddin the playwright, and sharpen his philosophical mind.

Jailing Hishamuddin is a miscalculation. Prison, with its captive audience, will spawn more disciples of Hishamuddin Rais.

If Najib thought that he could break Hishamuddin’s spirit and soul, he may need to think again. From the government's point of view, prison is to punish Hishamuddin and make him an example for others.

Sadly, the government neglected to appreciate that Hishamuddin is a veteran of at least 12 prisons around the world. The prison experience is designed to humiliate the person, remove his identity, strip him of his rights, and make him obey orders.

Behind bars, the survival instinct kicks in and Hishamuddin has often said that yoga, meditation, imaginary friends, real ones like Jenny (who was a frequent visitor to his cell), and talking to oneself, are his coping mechanisms.

Najib and his government are desperate. He targets individuals who have a massive following and who can influence public opinion, like Hishamuddin and the cartoonist, Zunar.

These men are their own bosses. They do not belong to any organisation. They have no need of one, because they are powerful in their own right. Najib wants to remove Hishamuddin from the public arena to deny him the ability to reach out. Last July, the government had already imposed a travel ban on Hishamuddin.

Creactivists like Hishamuddin and Zunar must be doing something right for them to be feared, criticised and charged with sedition.

In 2001, former PM Mahathir Mohamad said that Hishamuddin was a danger to society and detained him under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Fast forward to after GE13, it is now Najib’s turn to fear Hishamuddin.

In both cases, the PMs said that Hishamuddin was a threat to the nation and to public security. The irony is that both Hishamuddin and Mahathir have now joined forces to topple Najib.

In March, Hishammuddin claimed that he had great difficulty to stop himself from laughing, and probably had to bite his tongue when Mahathir referred to Najib as a dictator. Mahathir told a small gathering, which included Hishamuddin, “... kalau nak jatuhkan diktator ...” (if you want to topple a dictator).

Mahathir has probably uttered more seditious remarks than all the creactivists and NGOs combined, but Najib is too cowardly to hound Mahathir and put him in jail. Instead, he actively targets the creactivists, as he is too scared of confronting Mahathir.

Hishamuddin was probably close to wetting his pants as he tried desperately to stop himself laughing, when Mahathir told him, “In the past, I, too committed many wrong things, but at least, I knew when to stop.”

Mahathir is ever the optimist

Never known for talking bad about himself, Mahathir is ever the optimist, or perhaps is still living in a state of denial.

Mahathir continued, “... but Najib and co have committed worse things. They simply do not know when to stop.” (sic)

It is true that Najib must be stopped. His megalomania is harming Malaysia, turning it to extremism and into Asia’s latest banana republic.

So, will prison break Hishamuddin? He has a great sense of humour, and his wit and affability should sustain him. To be mingling with a restless and captive audience should be his forte. Najib’s worst nightmare will be when Hishammuddin cultivates a strong following among the prison inmates.

One can visualise Hishamuddin educating the prison masses about the big bad world of ‘Najibomics’ and ‘Rosmania’. The prison wardens will try to stop Hishamuddin from ‘indoctrinating’ his new-found friends. What will Najib do then? Put Hishamuddin in solitary confinement? Maybe the prison wardens will warm to the truth.

Solitary confinement would backfire. Solitude will sharpen the mind of Hishamuddin, the philosopher. The isolation, which comes from solitary confinement, will not stop him from ‘indoctrinating’ others.

Philosophers are a peculiar breed. They speak a language of their own and spend a lot of time ruminating.

Solitary confinement will improve Hishamuddin’s focus, and allow him to rest and reflect. Najib will unwittingly give his adversary ample time to clarify his thoughts.

Jailing Hishamuddin will antagonise many people, and for Najib to make new enemies when he knows he has few friends left, is a move which is a politically suicidal.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.