On Sept 10, former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's solicitor, Sankara N Nair, dispatched a letter (below) to Information Minister Khalil Yaakob, lambasting him on the libellous and slanderous feature that government-owned TV station RTM recently ran on Anwar.

RTM's action is, in fact, tantamount to contempt because Anwar is still appealing against his conviction and is not considered 'confirmed' guilty until he exhausts all avenues of appeal.

In the letter, Nair pointed out that Khalil should not be moralising when he himself is not free of immoral acts.

And quite rightly so! Who is Khalil to call Anwar names? This is like the pot calling the kettle black. And the kettle, in this instance, is not even black but still grey - the grey area being whether Anwar is really guilty of the various charges or not. And the majority of Malaysians, plus a fair share of the rest of the world, thinks not.

I remember some incidences that happened back in the late 1980s. Khalil was then chief minister of Pahang, while Anwar was then the Umno Youth leader and was being challenged by Syed Hamid Albar, the present foreign minister.

Anwar was on the campaign trail to defend his position, taking him the entire length and breadth of Malaysia. I was not an Umno member but was very much in Anwar's campaign team and had joined his entourage when it travelled to Pahang. We stayed at the Hyatt Kuantan.

Khalil, who had just come back from playing golf, popped into the Hyatt to meet Anwar. I, who had just jogged a few laps around the golf course, couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.

Anwar cautioned Khalil about the indiscriminate granting of logging concessions. It was beginning to become a controversy.

Khalil defended himself by saying that the "palace" was pressuring him to grant the concessions. The concessions, argued Khalil, were for the Sultan.

"So what?" asked Anwar. "Just refuse the palace. After all, the Sultan had been given enough timber land."

Khalil just shrugged his shoulders.

Today, however, the truth has not only surfaced, it has exploded. Recently, malaysiakini revealed that hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of timberland had been given to Umno and to companies that had 'donated' large sums of money to Umno. To add insult to injury, the land premium , though heavily discounted, had not been paid.

And this was all Khalil's handiwork.

As they say, those who live in a glass house should not throw stones. Khalil should learn from this. He is orchestrating an Anwar hate-campaign. He is using the government-owned TV stations to paint Anwar as an immoral person.

Dirty hands should not be pointing fingers.

Letter

from Sankara N Nair to Information Minister Khalil Yaakob

10 September 2003

Yang Berhormat,

Per: Tohmahan Terhadap Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Kami merujuk kepada perkara di atas.

Untuk makluman pihak Yang Berhormat, peguam kami Encik Sankara Narayanan Nair telah menemui anakguam kami, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, pada petang 9 September 2003 dan memaklumkan mengenai siaran ulangan RTM yang telah memfitnah dan mencerca peribadi beliau.

Beliau sungguh kesal kerana setelah lima tahun, pihak Yang Berhormat selaku Menteri yang bertanggungjawab masih dan terus mengamalkan dendam kesumat dan memaki hamun beliau pada hal beliau telah dipenjara selama lima tahun dan kini masih menunggu keputusan permohonan ikat jamin. Dalam keadaan sekarang, beliau sama sekali tidak berpeluang menjawab tohmahan pihak Yang Berhormat.

Kami menuntut pihak Yang Berhormat agar menghentikan segala amalan keji mengaibkan peribadi orang lain. Dalam kedua-dua kes tohmahan terhadap anakguam kami Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, perkara tersebut belum diputuskan secara muktamad oleh Mahkamah. Tohmahan rencana pihak Yang Berhormat nyata memberikan gambaran yang sebaliknya.

Pihak Yang Berhormat tentunya menyedari mengenai kebejatan moral yang berlaku di kalangan pihak Yang Berhormat sendiri. Maka adalah tidak wajar mengalihkan masalah dengan mengecam peribadi kalangan lain.

SN Nair & Partners