"Sumpah Laknat" may not be the most optimum religious act according to the swirling controversy surrounding it. But it is a way that is effective among the masses to discredit the video. Anwar should do it. If his intention is sincere in saving the ummah, Allah will be with him.
by Dr. Ariff Effendy via e-mail
The debate on the authenticity of the sex video purportedly showing Dato Seri Anwar patronising a prostitute has bewildered me, to say the least. Everyone seems to be either an expert in videography or has seen Anwar naked so often as to be able to determine if indeed he has the belly of a 40-year old.
That the whistle-blowers are not exactly of impeccable reputation is a reality in public opinion. That the powers that be are capable of manipulating circumstances in a situation that will benefit them, is also a probability.
I should then just ignore the video.
To be absolutely honest though, I have not been able to. It does bother me. Not because I really care about another person's carnal activities nor am I such a righteous person sincerely wanting to offer salvation to the misguided.
It is the blatant hypocrisy that disturbs me.
None of the whistle-blowers have been convicted in a court of law, yet we are quick to dish out our judgement of their character. Perhaps they have escaped the arms of the law because of the selective prosecution wanton in our country presently. Yes, that is a probability. Damn them for upsetting our apple-cart though.
I don't have to listen to these characters' judgement of Anwar but I am curious about the case they had presented. If Hitler had said the Aryans are the superior race, I would have ignored that judgement coming from a racist supremacist. However, just because Hitler said two plus two totals four, I'm not going to dispute it just because it comes from a mad man. You see, facts can be determined independently of the carrier of the message.
So how come the authenticity of the video and the identity of its participants seem so difficult to determine? It's not rocket science. The same people who believe that the video is a fraud made using technologies not even available to the CIA, KGB and Mossad, seem reluctant to resort to proven technology readily available to identify the video's participants.
So maybe there's no legal reason to do that as none of the country's laws have been broken and a royal commission that has been mooted should focus on more critical matters.
How much of critical importance is this sex video to me? Very very critical. I am sick of the hypocrisy of our country's leaders whom we have voted into office. And I am not about to replace them with characters just as bad, or worse.
I am very alarmed that an unfair allegation has been made against Anwar and yet Anwar who wants me to trust him to be my leader has refused to sue these people for defamation. If he doesn't trust this country's courts, then let us ask if he is willing to sue in United Kingdom if those people repeat the defamatory statements in the UK? Then Malaysians like me will have the benefit of the latest technology to resolve this matter if their defence is that of justification.
Whoever wins or loses, it is the rakyat that actually win. We are with him. Is he with us?
Or if he is partial to Islamic traditions, just do the "sumpah laknat" and get it over with. Public opinion will swing to him away from those rouges. After all, he has nothing to worry about as we all are very sure that Anwar the propagator of "penyerapan nilai-nilai Islam" in governance while he was in government would be the last person to patronise a prostitute.
"Sumpah Laknat" may not be the most optimum religious act according to the swirling controversy surrounding it. But it is a way that is effective among the masses to discredit the video. Anwar should do it. If his intention is sincere in saving the ummah, Allah will be with him.
I have reduced all this fog to just simply wanting to know the truth about my aspiring leader. This is not about the character of the rogues or the appropriateness of "sumpah laknat" or the fairness of our courts.
It is about whether person in the video is Anwar and whether there was a gun to his head while he was committing the act. The rest is just anybody's spin to divert the issue.
It is the hypocrisy that I can't stand. From whosoever.
DR ARIFF EFFENDY
