news feature

Every day for the past 10 days, 19-year-old Muthanna Sungib has been sleeping in a tent at the PAS headquarters in Taman Melewar, Kuala Lumpur. During the day, the bespectacled young man would don a white T-shirt with the message Mogok Lapar (hunger strike) across his chest, and lie on the thin mattress that is his bed. Refusing food, he would wait, in the sweltering heat, for news that his father would be released soon from detention under the Internal Security Act.

Every hour. Every minute. Every second. Every day. Ignoring his hunger pangs, focusing only on his father, Keadilan leader Saari Sungib.

Muthanna has fainted three times and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. Friends at the PAS HQ say that he is very weak.

He hardly has any stamina or energy now. He used to be such an active boy. These days, if he stands up for a while in the sun, he would faint, said Muhammad Hidir Khalid, a fellow hunger striker.

Muthannas mother, Aliza Jaafar, has been actively campaigning for her husbands release, too. Nevertheless, even she has begged him to stop, but he refuses to.

All I want is for my father to be released. He has done no wrong, he said simply.

Politically motivated arrest

Muthanna is one of the 15 hunger strikers who have embarked on a solidarity campaign with the six reformasi activists who are also on hunger strike in their cells in the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak.

Besides Saari, Keadilan leaders Tian Chua, Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Lokman Noor Adam, Dr Badrulamin Bahron and malaysiakini columnist-cum-filmmaker Hishamuddin Rais have been campaigning since April 10, the first anniversary of their arrest under the ISA which allows indefinite detention without trial.

The six are serving a two-year detention for allegedly seeking to topple the government via militant means.

They claimed, however, that their arrest was politically motivated and since the government has not produced any evidence to substantiate its allegation, they want to be released or tried in open court.

Suhakams attention

The plight of the hunger strikers did not go unnoticed. On Wednesday, Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) issued a press statement voicing concern over their health and situation.

The commission has agreed to probe into their arrest as it is within its jurisdiction according to the Suhakam Act, 1999.

Badrul Hisham Saharin, 26, another hunger striker, says that their cause was worth dying for.

He used to teach in Negeri Sembilan but has been jobless for more than a year. He has had to leave his job since becoming actively involved in party politics.

Badrul is the Negeri Sembilan Keadilan Youth leader. Since hunger striking 10 days ago, he has been to the hospital twice. His blood pressure is high and he suffers from fainting spells.

I am more fortunate than others as I am single and do not have to worry about wives and kids, he said.

Badruls daily routine at the PAS HQ is to keep supporters and the media updated via the Internet about the daily goings-on and health of the hunger strikers.

The pain will pass

No one, however, can be more determined than another hunger striker, Tuw Ah Mei, 63, who has vowed, If I die, please sent my body to (prime minister) Mahathirs front door.

Tuw left her home in Pahang 10 days ago to join the hunger strikers. It was entirely her choice. When she left home, her children did not know her plans. However, her son visited her at the hunger strike site on Tuesday and offered her water to drink, but she refused.

If you think of why you are doing this, you will not feel hungry, she had said.

While she feels pain in her abdomen at least four times a day, she said, I think of what and who I am doing this for, and the pain will pass.

They, the hunger strikers, come from all walks of life, young and old, people of different backgrounds, cultures, ethnic groups and religions.

What do they have in common? A total disgust for detention under the ISA and how it affects the lives of families, men, women and children.

Not about Anwar

Former premier Anwar Ibrahim himself has been fasting from dawn till dusk, drinking only water and milk, in his Sungai Buloh prison cell.

However, when he heard about the ISA detainees deteriorating health in Kamunting, he wrote a note requesting the hunger strikers to discontinue their action.

His request sparked off a conflict between the Keadilan leadership and the hunger strikers at Taman Melewar. While the former wanted the strikers to start eating, the latter said they would abandon their campaign when their demands were met.

This is not about Anwar, Ezam, or Keadilan. This is about principles. They cant just use Anwars name or the partys leadership to ask us to give up what we believe in, said Badrul.

Hunger strikers at Tmn Melewar :

    Aisah Osman, 52, mother of ISA detainee Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor

Badrul Hisham Shaharin, 24, Keadilan Youth exco

Md Ab Nasir Md Isa, 40, social activist, Keadilan supporter

Md Zaki Abdul Rasid, 56, Keadilan Nibong Tebal division chief

Mohamad Zainal Osman, 40, Nasi Kandar chef

Muhammad Hidir Khalid, 27, Kedah Keadilan Youth information chief

Muthana Saari, 19, computer science student, son of ISA detainee Saari Sungib

Muttmaein Samsuri, 22, reformist

N Gobalakrishnan, 35, Keadilan Youth leader, party supreme council member

Nor Amin Ahmad, 20, activist

Norazimah Mohd Nor, 28, reformist

P Krishnasamy 42, Keadilan Klang division chief

Raja Petra Kamaruddin, 52, FreeAnwar.com webmaster

Sanusi Abdullah, 39, Exco Keadilan Youth

Tuw Ah Mei, 60, DAP Pahang

As of April 19, 2002, Norazimah is no longer fasting and neither is P Krishnasamy and N Gobalakrishnan.