Chandra's departure from Keadilan seems to have stirred up something of a controversy in the malaysiakini letters section. Is he a self-serving pseudo-intellectual, or the real deal?

Abdullah Junid claims he has been following Chandra's career for many years, and has concluded that Chandra is the former. His letter

, however, is full of inaccuracies. He accuses Chandra of knowing just how far to dance without sustaining any personal loss through his activities. This is clearly grossly inaccurate. Chandra actually quit his post at Universiti Sains Malaysia in the 1980s to work for Aliran full-time without pay. He later also lost his job at the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue in Universiti Malaya because of his support for Anwar.

I am not seeking to portray Chandra as a saint, but it would be ludicrous to suggest that he is not committed to his cause. No one who has met him could deny that he is a man of great intelligence and who has dedicated his life to social justice. It would also be hard to deny, however, that he has a quiet arrogance and possibly a tinge of self-importance.

To me, it seems that Chandra was caught in a dilemma. For a long time his concern with international issues led him closer to the Malaysian government, and Anwar in particular, with whom he shared a sense of outrage at how the West treated developing countries. Yet his concern with local issues has driven him away from the government.

Ultimately, however, I would suggest that it is his own arrogance mixed with uncompromising idealism which has left him politically friendless. We were given some sign of this with his much-publicised tussle with Marina Yusoff who quit her vice-president post in the party soon after, and now again with another party VP, Azmin Ali.

This does not mean we should dance on his grave, however. Malaysia would be a much better place if we could all learn a bit of Chandra's thoughtfulness, religious tolerance and commitment to social justice.