The Bar Council is certainly little more than a sad shadow of what it was just over two decades ago (see 'A sad day for the Malaysian Bar', Aug 25). The old Bar Council was certainly made of sterner stuff than the present anxious Council, which thought it fit to oppose R Sivarasa in his recent bid to retain both his Council membership and his post in a political party. As if this is not enough, they chose to raise petty technical objections in opposing Sivarasa's suit.

It is the government's tedious habit of accusing independent bodies of being political whenever such bodies criticise it, that has led to the unfortunate behaviour of the Bar Council in this matter.

Deeply disturbed by the periodic attacks of the government upon them, the Bar Council has clearly become fixated upon ensuring that they are not branded as being 'political' by contact with politics, politicians or NGOs.

Instead of standing firm in the face of the unjustified criticisms of the government, they run for cover whenever faced with a situation which may give the government the opportunity of accusing them of being 'political'. Nothing but the fear of being ravaged by the government and its lackey media, can explain their fetishistic obsession with the 'danger' of being perceived as being political.

To have facilitated the removal from the Bar Council of a prominent member of the Bar such as Mr Sivarasa who has served diligently over many years in countless committees of the Bar and who has an excellent record in advancing the cause of justice, amounts to a serious abdication of their duties by the Bar Council. Their conduct makes me heartily ashamed of being a member of the Bar.

It is silly in the extreme for Wan Sou Hai ('Court and Bar right to object to Sivarasa's application', Aug 27), to suggest that allowing politicians to hold office in the Council would lead to the presumption that it is tainted by political influence.

A person need not hold political office in order to have a political bias. The fact that the other Council members don't hold any official post in any political party does not mean that they will not allow their political inclinations to affect their decisions.

The writer need not worry about the public losing respect for positions taken by the Council, because the public are more intelligent and discerning than he gives them credit for. As for his wild remark that Sivarasa's motives were 'self-serving', he obviously does not know him!