When reading Dr Jacob Georges letter Impound passports of those who smear country (April10), I had to ask if the writer knew what human rights violations those so slammed by him were talking about.

It became clear that he obviously has not been keeping up with the human rights violations in the country. It is interesting to note that the writer who writes so regularly to the letters columns not only in malaysiakini but also other publications seem to miss the 'human rights violation'-type news.

It is a pity that he takes cover under the beat-up old idea of impounding passports just because he has not actually done his homework.

If he had, he would know that the peace, economic growth and security of the nation that has been painfully worked for over 45 years was the hard work and toil of all Malaysians, not just a selected few politicians.

Let's also not pretend the wealth has been for all or that the inequality in this country is non-existent or so terribly minor. The lives of estate workers in this country are really painful and I doubt anyone living in comfortable housing estates in Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya would trade places with them and face the hardship they do. There is a big difference in security, in all senses of the word, between say working at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre and working in any estate in Malaysia.

Police brutality does take place in the country, extrajudicial killings are reported, brutal forced evictions are levelled against the poor and also indigenous people. All this I am slowly coming to realise from reading from various sources.

People are made fools of and forced to sign their pledge of loyalty, major newspapers run by political parties, laws changed in a blink of an eye to entrench the power of a few. What a joke. There is so much more I, an average Joe, can think of  never mind those actually documenting human rights violations.

Maybe the writer does not mind being trod on so he does not realise what violation is. But many others, including me, recognise it and detest it.

I believe no one actually wants to buka pekung di dada (wash dirty linen in public), so the nation should buck up, get its principles right, govern the nation fairly and cleanly, and not give the critics reason to 'bash' us.

Why it is there is no talk of 'embarrassment' when the violations are being perpetrated? Is it not embarrassing to know that dogs and water cannons were used against squatter families defending their homes from being torn down?

Kenapa bila buat tak malu, bila orang cakap baru kenal malu? (Not afraid to do wrong but afraid of getting caught?)

As for the conspiracy theory, the timing of the allegation, as I read it, has more to do with the timing of the conference in Geneva than the travel plans of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

It's all well and good to tell the 'good news'. But when you pretend violations do not happen and do not bother to find out, aren't you lying about and misrepresenting the state of affairs in the country?

Should the passports of liars be impounded too?

Perhaps in the interest of the nation, we should conduct in-depth investigations on all individuals who forsake the nation by ignoring its injustices, find out what their ulterior motives are or perhaps what positions they may be trying to secure for themselves.