I refer to Shukri KM's defence of Dr Chandra Muzaffar (Mar 15). Firstly, I wish to point out his reasons for giving Chandra some credit (because he lost his job, because he got arrested under the Internal Security Act in Operation Lallang) shows that the author has run out of ideas and justifications.

If Chandra deserves our sympathy for these sacrifices, then what does Anwar deserve? He is also an ISA detainee, sacked unceremoniously from his job, then humiliated, tortured and separated from his family, so why does Shukri not give Anwar any credit for his sacrifices?

I am appalled that Shukri finds it suspicious that Anwar is still surviving on painkillers after not being allowed to undergo surgery last year. What is he hoping for? That we wait until Anwar is completely paralysed before we realise that under normal legal circumstances, he should have been allowed the medical treatment of his choice? I am not pro-Anwar but I believe we should allow the man his rights.

Shukri derides people for attacking another person's character. I wonder what is his perception of Chandra's latest character assassination attempt on Anwar and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail? It's not enough that he insinuates that both of them are not god-fearing and virtuous, but has also threatened to 'expose' them when the time is right. That does not sound like Chandra, the academician, but more like Chandra, the politician, expecting to gain some political mileage.

If, as Shukri suggests, Chandra had quit politics because Keadilan was losing support, then it only proves how shallow his struggle is. But it is not surprising, considering that after he lost in the 1999 general elections by a thin majority, he had already wanted to give up and sent in a resignation letter. It seems to me that Chandra will not undertake a struggle unless some sort of benefit to his personal agenda is assured (political mileage, media exposure, international credibility, intellectual reputation).

I am not saying that Keadilan's leaders are all saints. But to see Chandra behave in exactly the same way as those he criticised before is very disappointing. Back-stabbing, character assassination and throwing insults are the very things I thought Chandra were averse to. In the early part of his political career, I had thought that he would be a moral influence on the party. But those illusions are all shattered now.