Aliza Jaafar, the wife of Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Saari Sungib, has written a book on her struggles since her husband's arrest in an attempt "to record the people's fight for justice and against tyranny in our beloved Malaysia".

Aliza's husband was detained on April 10, 2001 with five other reformasi activists for allegedly attempting to topple the government through militant acts.

Her Diari Perjuangan (Diary of a struggle) details the hardships and significant moments faced by the wives and families of the ISA detainees in their efforts to free their loved ones right from day one.

Apart from Saari, a Keadilan leader, the five others who were detained on the same allegation included Keadilan vice president Tian Chua, Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, Keadilan Youth leader N Gobalakrishnan, Free Anwar Campaign director Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and malaysiakini columnist-cum-filmmaker Hishamuddin Rais.

Unstinting support

Aliza, who married Saari in 1978 while pursuing a degree in mathematics at the University of Aston, United Kingdom, maintains that the arrest of her husband was politically motivated.

The housewife says the ISA has robbed their family of happiness, but not love.

The couple are blessed with seven children of ages between 23 and four. All gave unstinting support to their parents' struggle against the law which allows indefinite detention without trial, and have been a source of strength to them.

Their 19-year-old son, Muthanna, took part in an 11-day hunger strike to demand for the release of ISA detainees. The picture of his weakened body being attended to by Aliza is captured on the cover of her book.

The youngest daughter, Wasilah, even made a political 'debut' of sorts in Parliament with her mother who had wanted a few words with the elusive Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin over the Federal Court's landmark Sept 6 ruling that the arrest of the reformasi activists was illegal and in bad faith.

Guide to fight tyranny

In her prologue, Aliza says she hopes her first-hand experiences in Diari Perjuangan will be a guide for today's generation as well as those to come, on how not to bow to tyranny.

The ISA wives and families' struggles documented in the book range from sending memorandums to all relevant authorities including a hand-delivered one to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at this year's Umno general assembly to going on roadshows and lobbying for international support, campaigning for the opposition in by-elections, and publishing books on Special Branch methods of 'investigation'.

Aliza herself even had to spend time in a police lock-up once.

Although the Abolish ISA Movement has yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Aliza is optimistic that victory is already on their side with the court's Sept 6 judgment of bad faith on the part of the police in the arrest of five reformasi activists including her husband.

A deceptively diminutive figure, Aliza promised that her struggle will go on until justice is done to all the ISA detainees.

On the blurb of her book, she wrote: "My children and I, and scores, even hundreds, of wives and children who are the victims of the ISA have gone through a bitter experience that will be hard to forget.

"We cannot rest knowing that there will be other wives and children of Malaysians who will become victims and suffer what we have gone through. The ISA must be abolished now!"