April Fool's Day Extended Indefinitely...

Exclusive interview with the author of 'Murdered in Malaysia: The Altantuya Story'

Author  & blogger E.S. Shankar in his study

When did the idea of writing Murdered in Malaysia: The Altantuya Story first occur to you? How long did the process take till completion?

The idea was planted in my head by my cousin in June 2014. Like me, he was outraged that here was an open-and-shut case of a massive cover-up being so obviously orchestrated by the State, and no one was doing anything to expose it. People with no motive whatsoever were being convicted of murder. The entire machinery of justice – the police, AG, prosecutors, defence lawyers and the Judiciary – had been subverted and hopelessly undermined and compromised by Najib and his wife Rosmah, and yet the citizens seemed powerless to stop this travesty of justice.

I shot off the opening chapter the day following that conversation with my cousin. The outline of that chapter is pretty much as you see it now, relying on my memory, as I had been writing about the Altantuya murder at my blog for several years.

I completed the book in March 2015. I could have completed it earlier, but between October and December 2014, I had writer’s block and also got stuck on how to retrieve voluminous high court trial transcripts.

Were you able to gather any data directly from individuals linked to the drama or did you have to rely entirely on internet research?

No, I conducted no interviews, as I did not wish to alert anyone about this dangerous project, especially government authorities. Most of the material was gathered from internet research and blogs.

You mentioned at the start of the book that there were rumors of Altantuya Shaariibuu being a foreign agent, part of a honeytrap sting operation. Did you come across any further evidence that this may have been the case? Or do you believe she was merely misguided in the kind of company she kept?

The source of this possible foreign agent suspicion is from a certain Gopal Raj’s blog. Full details of this blog post is in Appendix 22 of MIM.

Altantuya Shaariibuu at a party

My gut feeling tells me that Altantuya meeting Abdul Razak Baginda was no coincidence or chance encounter. Given what had transpired with DCNS and the submarines scandals and murders in Taiwan and Pakistan, there is a strong possibility that someone in France recruited Altantuya with the intention of seducing Abdul Razak Baginda. After all, Abdul Razak Baginda was never a philandering husband or playboy before, did not have cash to burn and does not exactly have Hollywood or Bollywood looks, does he?

French investigators also found documents which incriminate Abdul Razak Baginda with leaking official secrets concerning the Navy’s procurement specifications and plans for which he was paid RM142 million.

So, it is not beyond the pale that DCNS once again recruited a femme fatale, this time Altantuya, to compromise Abdul Razak Baginda, as they did with Lily Liu in the Taiwan scandal.

The complication arises from PI Bala’s Statutory Declaration, where he claims Najib introduced Altantuya to Baginda. So, was Najib compromised in some way by the French as well? Scary thought, but interesting, isn’t it?

Did you have the opportunity to speak with P.I. Balasubramaniam before his suspiciously timed fatal heart attack a week before he was scheduled to go on the road with the Altantuya saga? If so, what did you learn from this personal contact?

No, I never met or spoken to PI Bala or his wife.

But, having read all the newspaper and online news portal articles, blogs and watched every single connected YouTube video, my honest opinion is that there was nothing suspicious about PI Bala’s heart attack and subsequent death.

Conspiracy theorists may beg to differ, but during that period he was constantly in the company of friends and family. The people linked to Altantuya’s murder may be at home with guns, bullets and C4 explosives. But crediting them with inducing remote-controlled coronary failures with or without chemicals and/or poison, would be far-fetched.

Of course in superstition-bound Malaysia, Deepak’s book about Rosmah’s witchcraft and bomoh sorties and escapades cannot be totally ignored!

There have been numerous U-turns made by various individuals linked to the case: first there was the dramatic withdrawal of P.I. Bala's incendiary statutory declaration of 1st July 2008, followed by a second statutory declaration on 4th July which glaringly omitted all references to Najib Razak. Then there was RPK's shocking appearance on TV3 in April 2011 where he backpedalled on his explosive 18 June 2008 statutory declaration naming Rosmah Mansor as an active party to the execution of the Mongolian woman. Following that we had Deepak Jaikishan's titillating series of media conferences wherein he revealed his own role in the dramatic damage control exercise following P.I. Bala's first SD, in the process implicating Najib Razak's brother Nazim, as well as Cecil Abraham, a senior legal counsel, in the cover-up. Shortly after Deepak's public confessions, there were reports of shady land deals involving Umno bigwigs who had attempted to shortchange Deepak, thereby prompting him to spill the beans. In the aftermath, Deepak Jaikishan abruptly vanished from public view, and even the Bar Council's disciplinary hearing on Cecil Abraham's alleged role in the cover-up eventually evaporated into thin air. Do you believe money was the common denominator in all these high-profile U-turns? Or might there have been ominous threats involved?

We have to look at each case separately.

PI Bala was certainly coerced into withdrawing SD1. His wife and children’s lives were also threatened. They were bundled out of Malaysia to Singapore, Thailand, and then India, within 24 hours of SD1. Who has the power to do that in Malaysia? Who has the power to alter immigration records, as testified to by Altantuya’s cousin?  No doubt PI Bala, finding himself in a Catch 22 situation, tried to make some money in the circumstances he was thrust into. But, his primary motivation in pointing the finger at Najib and others was never money.

RPK’s son Azman who was in prison on trumped-up charges of theft had claimed he was being tortured in prison and had attempted suicide. The relationship between father and long-lost son may have been tenuous. But, it would have taken a cold-hearted father of stone to ignore a son’s dire predicament in that situation. Whatever deal RPK made with Najib, the result was his son was freed and found his way to safety soon in London.

But everyone must remember that in RPK’s original SD, he clearly did not say what everyone thought he did. The opening sentence there clearly starts with “I have been reliably informed…” He was clearly saying he only had second-hand knowledge of the accusations against Najib and Rosmah. So, he can’t really be faulted for everyone’s presumption. Of course he could have clarified it later, instead of allowing the apparent misunderstanding to mushroom internationally, but did nothing to dampen opinions that Najib and Rosmah were guilty.

When he attempted to do so in the 2011 TV3 interview, he of course lost credibility and respect. Legions of his fans dumped him forever.

Deepak Jaikishan the carpet dealer

What we should now take seriously are Deepak’s numerous accusations implicating Najib and Rosmah in Altantuya’s murder and in coercing PI Bala to recant SD1.

Deepak belongs in that exclusive class of Malaysia’s amoral Alibaba fraudtrepreneurs. Money is his only credo. He was investigated by MACC and Bank Negara and came out with guns blazing that he was fronting for Najib and Rosmah.

But, so far he has not been sued by Najib or Rosmah for his accusatory YouTube videos, Black Rose 1.0, witchcraft book, etc. So, the public are entitled to assume that Najib and Rosmah are guilty.

We can also assume that Deepak has the real goods on Najib and Rosmah, for how else can he still be walking tall and free?

Deepak did not vanish. He got married in 2014 and probably needed some private time to think things out, given the additional family baggage and responsibility.

He also came out last year saying he was prepared to testify against Najib and Rosmah under oath if he were granted full immunity.

In recent days, it has emerged that Deepak has decided not to contest the civil case filed against him by PI Bala’s wife, represented by solicitor Americk Sidhu. This basically means that all that PI Bala had stated in SD1 is true and Deepak concurs that Najib and Rosmah were absolutely behind PI Bala’s disappearance and withdrawal of SD1.

As for the Bar Council's ongoing inquiry into Cecil Abraham’s possible misconduct – illegally drafting PI Bala’s SD2 - we are still waiting for a public announcement of its verdict. The delay is annoying, but no doubt they will come out with some statement like: “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine” - or something boring like that.

There are hundreds of interwoven threads around the Altantuya murder case involving complexities within complexities. How were you able to gather these seemingly disparate threads and re-weave them into a coherent, readable narrative? Did you use index cards or special software to keep the data organized and accessible?

E.S. Shankar: encyclopedic erudition

No, it’s nothing special. I did it the old-fashioned way that has much to do with my UK (London) accountancy training as what in those days was referred to as an ‘articled clerk.’ I went about it methodically, downloaded and organized articles and links in folders in my Dell laptop, and made copious notes in an old diary. I then read and re-read them many, many times to gather and understand it all.

Fortunately, I have an analytical brain that can (no, I don’t have a photographic memory) accommodate and retain a vast array of information, recall and search out the threads, and often make connections, and write them out in a logical and fairly readable manner.

Please give us a brief summary of your career prior to your embarking on your current vocation as an author of controversial books?

I must first tell you that during my schooldays, Mokhtar Dahari, Malaysia’s greatest footballer, was in the same year in Victoria Institution as I was. We both played for the VI U/15 first eleven. We even used to cycle home together. This is something I have always been proud of and can never forget.

I am what is called a P/Q accountant (part qualified). I did not get through all my final Chartered Accountancy (ICAEW) exam papers way back in the 1980’s. On returning to Malaysia, I worked as the financial controller and later CEO in a leading private company. After stints at business development at two real estate Plcs, and a brief stint as a consultant at a Plc, I quit working in 2009, to embark on full-time writing.

Like so many, I was outraged by the kangaroo courts and crooked trials in the persecution of Anwar Ibrahim. I decided I had to do something to stop Malaysia from becoming a police state and embarked on satire and sopo blogging, as writing was my forte. The threads of my various blog posts led to Tiger Isle: A Government of Thieves published by Gerakbudaya Enterprise.

However, Tiger Isle was not my first book. In 2011 I collated all my blog posts from my VI blog (about my schooldays between 1966-1972) and self-published them as a hard-cover book titled Let Us Now With Thankfulness. Sales were surprisingly brisk.

I have a great interest in Malaysian history, and have written articles about Parameswara, Hang Li Po, etc., based on the Sejarah Melayu, and a short piece titled A Brief History of the Peoples of Malaya.

Besides that, I read everything I can get my hands on about cosmology, quantum theory and phenomena (so far I have understood perhaps about 30%, probably less, of what I’ve read). My other hobbies besides reading are cricket, football and music (very eclectic taste as in books).

Your debut novel, Tiger Isle: A Government of Thieves, was published in late 2012. It depicts a fictional kleptocracy broadly inspired by actual events and characters in Malaysia. Was the book well received by the public and did it result in any unwanted attention from the Malaysian secret police?

Yes, the initial print was well received and sold out. But, there have been no reprint orders, despite the fact that Tiger Isle won the 3rd prize for fiction in the STAR/Popular national literary awards. Booker prize winner Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists was placed 2nd!!

As for unwanted attention from the Special Branch, no, I received none. I was told by some informed bloggers that the standard of English is so poor in Malaysia nowadays, that a satire/fiction novel in English would fly way below the radar of Najib’s thugs and goons.

Was Murdered in Malaysia written in Malaysia or when you were living abroad? Did you go into voluntary exile because you anticipated unpleasant consequences if you remained in the country? Or were you already planning to migrate anyway?

MIM was conceived and completed wholly in Malaysia.

I went overseas only in September of this year, as clearly, I feared for my safety and life once the book was published. I am no Mandela, and as someone recently said, you can’t do much fighting from the inside of a prison.

I have never contemplated emigrating. Malaysia has always been my home. If the coast was clear, I would return home in a flash.

Altantuya & son

From all the evidence already on hand it would appear that the only reasonable conclusion we can arrive at is that there has been a colossal cover-up to protect the most powerful couple in the nation. With the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Chief of Police actively collaborating to suppress a potential resurrection of the Altantuya case - and with the Scorpene investigation in France yielding no further results after several years - do you envisage any unforeseen breakthroughs that might lead to a final denouement in this gruesome drama?

No one must be allowed to get away with murder. No one. In the Altantuya killing, we also have the added spice of corruption involving the RM7.5 billion Scorpene submarines, treason and perversion of the course of justice by Najib and Rosmah. The Navy, police, AG and judiciary are all involved in this travesty of justice.

No, we must keep pressing till Najib is thrown out of office, and a truly independent Royal Commission of Inquiry is instituted to lift us out of the clutches of this government of murderers and thieves.

One of the convicted assassins is currently detained by Australian immigration, while the other is presumably still in prison pending execution. Do you feel there might be a possibility that either or both may decide to go public with their stories and tell all?

I doubt either will talk any more. Azilah has remained silent from day one. We can safely assume that whatever deal was struck between him and Najib/Rosmah, it has been honored and he will go to the gallows as his part of the bargain. Of course, there is talk (not to be discounted) that eventually, he will receive a royal pardon.

Sirul has now made the startling admission that it was Abduk Razak Baginda who pulled the trigger. Despite that, our worthless and political IGP insists that there is no new evidence to re-open the murder investigations. Should he not be hung by his goolies?

I also believe that Sirul is using his safe position in Australia to canvass for money from Najib. He has asked for A$15 million to keep his gap shut. No, he will never go public with so much money at stake.

In recent months another monumental scandal has erupted in the form of 1MDB. Do you feel this massive financial debacle has eclipsed the Altantuya murder? Many who seemed apathetic to seeing justice being done in the Mongolian murder case now appear to be galvanized into action by the prospect of being held liable to a public debt of unprecedented proportions. Does this suggest to you that money remains the bottom line - not ethics, morality, or justice?

No, the Altantuya murder has not been forgotten in Malaysia or in the rest of the world. Do remember that PI Bala’s civil case against PM Najib and his two brothers, Rosmah, etc, is not over. I would bet my bottom dollar that Americk Sidhu and his team will not let up even if our judges continue to place obstacles in their way.

Do not forget that the 101 East team from Al Jazeera is keeping close tabs on every development of the case - as is Sarawak Report, The Wall Street Journal, Asia Sentinel, The Economist, and one or two leading newspapers in Australia..

The 1MDB fraud and fiasco is godsent. It has furnished us firm, additional evidence that Najib is a serial liar and thief, and is unfit to be the prime minister of even a fourth world state. His statement that RM2.6 billion deposited in his personal bank account was a “donation from a friendly Arab party’ has provoked intense anger and outrage among Malaysians as never before.

The real problem in Malaysia is public apathy created by Najib and his minions with our descent into a police state. The well-off fear loss of their accumulated wealth and comforts. The silent majority have that ‘let that other guy fight for our rights’ attitude. If push comes to shove, they will sulk in silence or emigrate. So, ethics and morality are forced to take a back seat while the nation burns.

History tells us that a few good men and women will have to lead and make the sacrifices.

As a relatively young independent nation, we have a long way to go before ethics, justice, moral and human rights issues take precedence over money. You must remember that before the USA became what it is today, they had to fight a war of independence and go through a civil war, all within 100 years of 1775.

So, there is hope for Malaysia yet!

Najib and Rosmah remain in charge of the main levers of government, despite being the target of so much negative publicity. Yet the feeling on the ground is that their luck has almost run out and that they will soon be forced to step down, no matter whom they bribe. Do you think, when they are no longer in power, that the Altantuya saga will be revived and finally resolved?

The era of Najib/Rosmah’s villainy is a shameful period in Malaysian history. Our Constitution will have to be amended to ensure that never again shall so much power be allowed to be concentrated in one person’s hands.

The Altantuya murder MUST be one of the primary issues to be resolved post-Najib/Rosmah. The PEOPLE must be protected from such an incident ever again recurring.

What would be the ideal of scenario, in your view, if power changes hands in Malaysia? Under what circumstances would you feel comfortable enough to return to your homeland?

Power will definitely change hands for the better in Malaysia. It is only a question of when. Look at Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India and China and no one can doubt that the change WILL come.

Ideally, we should proscribe race or religion based political parties. Religion should be removed from the province of government funded or aided schools and institutions of higher learning, government offices and statutory bodies.

I will negotiate to return as soon as Najib is thrown out of office. I will ask for immunities from government prosecution and/or private criminal or civil law suits relating to MIM, and guarantees for my safety and that of my family.

Blog - http://donplaypuks.blogspot.com/

Website - http://esshankar.com/

MURDERED IN MALAYSIA: THE ALTANTUYA STORY

This meticulously researched, honest and informative book is for you and for all those Malaysians who want to know the full truth about the disgraceful and barbaric murder of a Mongolian girl, who had the misfortune to associate herself with persons which led ultimately to her murder and the disintegration of her dead body, and perhaps her unborn child, by explosion.

E.S Shankar has produced a tour de force in terms of research and the comprehensive scope of his enquiries, leaving no stone unturned in his quest to bring to light facts that were disgracefully suppressed and covered up by one of the most shocking examples of interference in the judiciary that Malaysia has experienced in its history. The impact on the independence of Malaysia's law enforcement agencies has been far-reaching and malign.

Clare Rewcastle-Brown

Sarawak Report

Encourage your friends to buy this book and support 

freedom of information and justice.

[First posted 19 October 2015]

101 EAST ~ Murder in Malaysia (a film by Mary Ann Jolley)

Published 10 Sep 2015

Shot, then blown to smithereens with military grade explosives, the 2006 killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu was one of Malaysia’s most sensational murder cases. Even though years have passed since the young Mongolian woman’s death, it is one case that has refused to disappear. If anything, the mystery has deepened.

101 East investigates those who were involved in the case and asks whether the two men convicted of her murder are “fall guys” for others who ordered the killing of Shaariibuu.

Raids in the Rainforest - The Fight for Amazonia (47 mins)

Raids in the Rainforest - The Fight for Amazonia

A powerful documentary by Thomas Wartmann for Aljazeera English

At the age of 27, Ana Rafaela D'Amico is the youngest national park director in Brazil. In order to save the rainforest, she has declared war on the drug gangs and logging mafia and on illegal fishing.


The Campos Amazonicos National Park is like a microcosm of all the problems found in Amazonia: illegal logging, cattle breeding, tin mines - and a drugs route that goes right through the middle of the park.


"Our biggest problem here in the park - and all over the Amazon - is that we don't know who the men behind this environmental crime are. We always find the poor man hired to occupy or clear the land. But we seldom find out who is really behind it, who provides the money, or which politicians support and fund these criminal acts."


We face pretty much the same situation in Malaysia - particularly in Sarawak - but thanks to the rapidly growing Green Movement, more and more young people have been galvanized into political activism against relentless and unnecessary "development" - the ultimate crime against Mother Earth!

An historic moment in the Arab world...

For more than 4,000 years the Middle East has been Ground Zero for a holographic insert featuring a patriarchal archetype codenamed Abraham. This enormous vortex of religious shock and awe spawned Judaism, Christianity and Islam - book religions designed to disconnect human beings from their own natural environment and keep them trapped in the semantic dimension of dogma and theology, of superstitious belief in an almighty, all-knowing, wrathful Father God quick to punish us for the "original sin" of disobedience - instead of rewarding us for our curiosity and our spirit of adventure and innovation.

On 26 January 2008 the vortex reversed its polarity (when Pluto shifted into Capricorn) and now amplifies people's desire for freedom and justice. This is the beginning of the end for the powerful, parasitic bloodlines that have misruled through cruelty, oppression and tyranny. People now look for leaders they can respect and love, not fear. Soon they will realize the leaders they are looking for are looking back at them from every mirror.

What is happening in the Middle East will ripple out across the entire world, igniting the spark of hope in every human heart, inevitably resulting in the overthrow of authoritarian, plutocratic regimes that continue to cling on to inherited privilege and the power of tradition - and refusing to spiritually evolve.

30 years of misrule by secret police and hoodlums on the payroll...

Hosni Mubarak in Washington last September [Getty Images]

Taking on Pharaoh's hired hooligans

By Mozn Hassan | Aljazeera | 03 Feb 2011 15:39 GMT

The Egyptian people's uprising has reached a crucial phase in which the Army's true stance is soon to be revealed

If the military is ever to be a legitimate national force, it must side with the protesters against Mubarak's thugs and the police. These thugs today have been ridiculously and mistakenly labelled by right-wing media as "pro-Mubarak demonstrators." It is crucial at this moment in the Egyptian Uprising to understand that this is the Egyptian Army's moment of truth. As the thousands of unarmed demonstrators are tortured, trampled, firebombed and molested by Mubarak's thugs, will the military move to protect, or to crush the non-violent democratic movements that have occupied Tahrir Square in Cairo for the last ten days. Following up on Paul Amar's useful analysis, we need to know which faction of which branch of the army is in ascendant, and where exactly we can identify and energise possible allies of the people within these forces.

Mubarak goon squad, believed to be working for the Mukhabarat (intelliegence services) adding gratuitous violence to the popular uprising [Getty]

The newly appointed Vice President is Omar Suleiman, who everyone assumes is being groomed to be the next president. We Egyptians know him as the person who managed the negotiations between different Palestinian groups and assuages Israel's security concerns. Suleiman is welcomed by the US as a trusted man who caters to international interests. Suleiman is from the Intelligence Services (mukhabarat) which is loosely associated with the Army. Intelligence is charged with international security and countering the external Islamist militant threat. Suleiman is not hated by the people, but his base of support is as much in Washington and Tel Aviv as it is in Cairo.

But Suleiman does not have an exceptionally strong base of support at home. On the other hand, Field Marshall Muhammad Hussein Tantawi, the General Chief of the Army (al-Geysh) does indeed have a domestic base of legitimacy and respect. So this plays out now as a very critical struggle between Mukhabarat and Geysh, that is, between Soleiman and Tantawi. Since the police and security forces have done most of the repressing and torturing, the Geysh have kept their hands clean. So Tantawi is the person whom we Egyptian people respect. But we do not know him that well and we wonder if we can trust him and the Geysh.

[AFP]

Citizens have an image that the soldiers of the army are people who care and have a national mission to protect the people and the land. However, the Intelligence services are thought of as politicians whose role is to protect the US and Israel - and to protect their own political power as dependent to the international scene. Egyptians generally do not have a clear opinion on Suleiman or the Mukhabarat but they suspect that Suleiman is drawing out the endless Israeli peace/security mandate. Whereas under Nasser, the military was serving the nation; under Mubarak, the Intelligence Services serve the individual leader’s personal ambitions.

People in Egypt feel safe with the army and love them without dealing closely with them. Once they have to deal with them directly as repressors or direct rulers, the limitless hate they have now for the police may be transferred directly to the army. Citizens should create a clear position toward the army and the army should play a decisive role in favour of peoples’ demands in order to maintain the nation's respect.

During the next days Tantawi's armed forces will have their chance to reaffirm the national fabric and legitimacy of the country, or to plunge into the mire of brutality and corruption – the place where Suleiman’s Intelligence Services now wallow along with Mubarak's thugs and the monstrous police forces.

Mubarak mob captured by pro-democracy protesters are handed over to the army [Reuters]

Tantawi today must step up to protect the people, evict the Mubarak family from the country immediately, and subordinate the international mission of the mukhabarat to the national mission of the people. He could then facilitate the peaceful transition everyone wants to a new parliamentary election and a presidential one.

Mozn Hassan, Director for the El-Nazra for Feminist Studies in Cairo, is a prominent leader of the Democracy Movement in Egypt and an expert in human rights, international law, gender policy, and constitutional reform.

Jack Burkman for Umno President!

Jack Burkman comes across as an absolute jackass. His mind distorts reality to suit the Neocon Agenda and he appears totally convinced that he's right - and the other panelists are wrong.

His abysmal ignorance is surpassed only by his sheer arrogance. In short, Jack Burkman sounds exactly an Umno warlord - albeit a lot more telegenic than twits like Hisapmuddin Hussein, Raip Yatim, Duhyiddin Massin, Ali Rustup, Najis Tong Rosak and Mahatahi Megalomad.

I think Jack Burkman is the right man to save Umno from oblivion. I'm sure, for the right price, he will agree to change his name to Johan "Jerk" Burkaman, embrace Islam and Ketuanan Melayu - and help Umno destroy Anwar Ibrahim and his pipe dream of a New Dawn in Malaysia.

[Brought to my incredulous attention by Robin Tan]

RPK, Jo Kukathas & Kee Thuan Chye with Riz Khan on Aljazeera

Part One

Part Two

Raja Petra Kamarudin (blogger), Jo Kukathas (actress/director/playwright), and Kee Thuan Chye (actor/playwright/director/editor/author/social commentator) chat with Riz Khan on Aljazeera. Broadcast live on 3 December 2008.

People & Power: Malaysia's Internal Security Act

Aljazeera uploaded this video on YouTube on 9 September 2008. Three days later, Malaysian home minister Syed Hamid Albar decided to play the Bad Guy and arrest three innocent citizens under the indefensibly cruel ISA, in what could be the start of another terror campaign against democratic principles and the people's yearning for internal regime change. I viewed this powerful short documentary on Din Merican's blog and immediately decided to spread the message.



FROM ALJAZEERA:

Malaysia's Internal Security Act or ISA has its roots in the 1950s, when the country, then under British colonial rule, was fighting a Communist insurgency.

Almost six decades on and the Communist threat has gone but the law remains.

Opponents say many of the act's original checks and balances have been eroded over the years and the ISA is now being used to stifle political dissent.

But the government says the law is a necessary tool in the pursuit of social stability.

Aloke Devichand reports on those fighting to have the ISA abolished once and for all.