You know Mahathir is desperate when he licks back his spit

Mahathir is finally beginning to understand the meaning of karma. Today, all of Mahathir’s many sins over the last 47 years are catching up on him. Mahathir is now facing a fate worse than death. And that was what Ustaz Fadzil Noor prayed would happen: that Mahathir will live long enough to see payback time for all his sins.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

While many were very angry with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the then Prime Minister back in 1998 who arrested and jailed his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, the then PAS President, Ustaz Fadzil Noor, took the opposite stand. Ustaz Fadzil did not wish Mahathir dead, like many of the Anwar supporters did. Instead, Ustaz Fadzil prayed that Mahathir would have a long life so that he can live long enough to see the damage and destruction he had done to Malaysia and face the karma of all his sins.

Anwar’s ‘sin’ was that he tried to oust Mahathir and take over as Prime Minister. But that is not a crime and one cannot be jailed for that. So Mahathir had Anwar arrested and jailed for the crimes of corruption and sodomy instead, even though many allege that Abdul Gani Patail fabricated the evidence against Anwar at the behest of the Prime Minister. Of course, Gani was rewarded for his evil deed by being appointed the new Attorney General not long after that.

Ustaz Fadzil was well respected by many, not just by PAS members or supporters. Even the royal family, especially from his home state Kedah, respected Ustaz Fadzil — who was seen as a most moderate Muslim who even the non-Malays had no problems supporting. His death 14 years ago in 2002 was, therefore, a loss to the entire nation. And it was because of Ustaz Fadzil that the non-Muslims began to warm up to PAS. I was there the day Ustaz Fadzil died and many non-Malays were also outside the hospital to pay their last respects.

Anyway, in 2000 Ustaz Fadzil prayed that Mahathir would have a long life so that he can live to see the day the karma of his sins catch up with him. Mahathir must only go to his grave after he realises that everything that is happening to him towards the end of his life is payback for these sins he committed over 47 years or so since 1969. And one of the first sins Mahathir committed was against Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who is related to the Kedah Royal Household, meaning also to His Majesty the Sultan of Kedah and Malaysia’s current Agong who is the Tunku’s nephew.

Is it not ironical that Mahathir committed his sin of durhaka against Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1969 and 47 years later he crawls on his hands and knees to seek an audience with the Agong, the Tunku’s nephew, to plead for His Majesty’s help in ousting Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak? Does Mahathir not see the karma of his actions? Mahathir durhaka against the Tunku and then he durhaka against all the Rulers almost 20 years later, and now he crawls back to those same Rulers he durhaka against for help.

Ustaz Fadzil’s doa is very powerful. And not a single Muslim whether from PAS or from Umno would disagree with this (although the PAN Malays would only agree with whatever DAP says they can agree with). Ustaz Fadzil did not pray for Mahathir’s early death in spite of what the old man did. Instead, Ustaz Fadzil prayed that Mahathir would live to a ripe old age so that he can live long enough to see his sins come back to haunt him and be made to suffer and regret and realise that what he is suffering from is karma for the sins he has committed.

In case many of you did not notice, Mahathir’s audience with the Agong was in the Sultan of Kedah’s palace, Istana Anak Bukit in Alor Star. That means the Agong met Mahathir as the Sultan of Kedah rather than as the Agong. The Agong meets VIP guests in Istana Negara. Meetings in the Sultan’s palace are considered unofficial or informal meetings whereas official meetings, especially with VIPs, would be held in Istana Negara.

It is the same with Selangor. The official palace is in Kelang whereas the ‘other’ palace is in Shah Alam. For ‘family’ meetings we will meet His Highness the Sultan of Selangor in Shah Alam but official functions would be held in Kelang. We can dress casually when we go to the Shah Alam palace but for functions in Kelang we must be properly attired like a member of the royal family should.

I wonder whether Mahathir realised that his meeting with His Majesty in Alor Star instead of at Istana Negara is a strong message for those of us who know protocol. Most Malaysians probably do not understand the implications of this but then what can we expect from those ignorant of Malay and Royal protocol, customs and traditions?

And this was one of Mahathir’s complaints. He grumbled that Malays are too feudal and that is why Malays are backward and are not successful and progressive like the Chinese. Mahathir said the Chinese are more pragmatic and that is why Singapore is very successful — because it is a Republic and does not have Sultans that are a nuisance.

If he had his own way, Mahathir would have abolished the Monarchy and would have turned Malaysia into a Republic 30 years ago at the height of his power. And all the Rulers know this. But Mahathir could not do that because the Malays would never allow it and if he had tried that would have been the end of Umno and Barisan Nasional back in the 1980s.

And this was why Mahathir was so angry with the Malays 30 years ago. He had wanted to cut the Rulers down to size but could not. The only thing he was able to do was to amend the Constitution so that the Agong’s consent and signature is no longer required for Bills to become law. And now, because of that, karma has come back to haunt Mahathir, which was why he was in court recently on 5th September 2016.

So now Mahathir not only had to crawl on his hands and knees to meet the Agong after saying all sorts of nasty things about the Monarchy. Mahathir also had to crawl on his hands and knees to pay homage to Anwar Ibrahim after all sorts of nasty things he said about him as well. Within the same month Mahathir has had to eat humble pie twice. Anwar and the Monarchy are Mahathir’s most bitter enemies and now he has had to crawl to them on his hands and knees.

That, as the late Ustaz Fadzil would say, is a fate worse than death. Finally, towards the end of his life, Mahathir has had to lick back his spit in plain sight of 31.5 million Malaysians. If God had wanted to treat Mahathir kinder, He would have taken Mahathir five years before this. The fact that God allowed Mahathir to live this long only to see the humiliation he has to suffer at the end of his days is a form of punishment from God. Muslims believe that if your sins are great enough God will punish you on earth before you face punishment in the Afterlife.

Tunku Abdul Rahman went to his grave without ever forgiving Mahathir. And for Muslims this is something very serious. The Tunku is from the Kedah Royal Family and Mahathir needs the goodwill of the Agong, who is also from Kedah. Do you think the Agong cares two hoots about Mahathir? Was it not the Kedah Palace that demanded the resignation of his son, Mukhriz, as the Kedah Menteri Besar? So whom is Mahathir trying to fool with his audience with the Agong to hand over the Citizens’ Declaration with 45 signatures?

And do you think that after paying homage to Anwar on 5th September 2016 Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and all her children are going to forgive Mahathir and accept him with open arms? They want Mahathir to openly apologise in front of 31.5 million Malaysians and to admit that Anwar is innocent of all those allegations of corruption and sodomy and that he is victim of false charges and fabricated evidence.

Anwar’s family and supporters will accept nothing less than that even if Anwar himself is prepared to compromise. And knowing Mahathir he would rather get another heart attack and die instead of doing that. And this is what Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Ali is worried about. Mahathir appears to be under tremendous stress after having to demean himself by paying homage to Anwar and after that disastrous audience with the Agong. Siti Hasmah is worried that Mahathir might end up in IJN for probably the tenth time and this time he might not come home.

Yes, karma is a bitch. The non-Malays may have forgotten and even forgiven Mahathir for what he did but most Malays have not. Maybe the non-Malays forgot that it was Mahathir who announced that Malaysia is an Islamic country. It was Mahathir after the 1999 general election who told PAS to introduce Hudud. It was Mahathir who elevated the status of the Syariah court to be at par with the common law court.

And today the whole system is in a mess.

It was Mahathir who messed up Malaysia’s education system. It was Mahathir who refused to end the NEP (New Economic Policy) in 1990 and turned into a Never Ending Policy that is going to go on till the end of time.

These are the three main issues that the non-Malays are very upset about. And on all counts it was Mahathir who is the culprit. Yet the non-Malays today suck up to Mahathir and treat him as Malaysia’s Mandela and Gandhi two-in-one. If we say orang bukan Melayu bodoh they get angry. But then if we do not say that what else can we say? And yet these urban non-Malays think they are cleverer than the rural Malays.