Why has Appa been arrested? ISA turns spouse into activist
by Vasanthi Ramalingam
I am Vasanthi, the wife of Gobalakrishnan Nagapan, who was detained under the draconian ISA on 10 April in Pulau Langkawi.
On the evening of his arrest, Gobala had phoned me several times and I teased him, �Hey friend, you are still free when your comrades in the struggle have already been detained.
�Not for long,� laughed Gobala.
At precisely 11.30 pm, Gobala phoned again. His last request was that I take care of myself and the children and continue the struggle. That was the last day I spoke to my husband.
Hearing the news, the children started wailing: �Why has Appa been arrested, why has Appa been arrested?�
I tried to console them, telling them that their father was a hero and not a coward.
Two days later, I read in the newspapers that they were detained on suspicion of possessing grenades, bombs, and Molotov cocktails, which they were going to use on 14 April when handing over the People�s Memorandum. This was a preposterous, slanderous lie against the keADILan leaders.
The much-awaited 14 April event took place peacefully, proving that the keADILan leadership was all along peace-loving and not out to create chaos. Here the question arises: Who are the ones out to create chaos each time a keADILan gathering is held?
After a week, I, along with my eldest child, Pravin (he had to skip classes), went to the Shah Alam Court in the hope of meeting my husband, but it was in vain.
Then, together with the wives of other detainees, we went to Bukit Aman to meet DSP Joon. The response we got there was really disappointing: �Wait for your turn to meet your husband.�
How sad it was for me as a wife to have to wait my turn to meet my husband, who is innocent, when it should have been my right.
Meanwhile, the habeas corpus case was going on at the Shah Alam High Court. I understood from my lawyer that on Friday, 4 May, Justice Datuk Hishamudin Yunus had directed that Gobala and Ghani (Haroon) be produced in court.
The day I was waiting for � 8 May � finally arrived. My children (skipping classes again) and I waited in the court compound to see their father/my husband. It had been 28 days since we had last seen Gobala.
Unfortunately, my husband was not produced in court although he and Ghani were brought there for the case. Unable to meet them, we were crestfallen and wept.
We were then invited to Wan Azizah�s home. There I managed to regain my composure thanks to Kak Wan�s motherly concern and after being pacified and reassured by our friends in the struggle. That night, my children and I returned to Prai.
Although the police have assured me that my husband would not be harmed, I have no confidence in their promises after what happened to Dato� Seri Anwar Ibrahim despite their assurances that he was safe and sound. It is very likely that my husband would have been harmed, and that is why my children and I have been unable to see him to this day.
I am always contacting DSP Joon or DSP Philip over the phone to seek permission to visit my husband but so far I have been unsuccessful. Their standard reply is that the people at the top have not yet given any instructions. Who are these �people at the top� anyway?
Gobala was born in Sitiawan, Perak. He was once a National Youth Secretary of MIC. He used to follow Dato Seri Samy Vellu and fully supported him. Following the scandals over the Maika Holdings and Telekom Shares, however, Gobala was disillusioned with Samy Vellu. Gobala considered that most Indians had hardly benefited either from the government�s programmes or the party�s activities. All this made Gobala dissatisfied and I used to see him very unhappy after each meeting. He was also very unhappy at the injustice done to Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. That was the main reason Gobala left MIC and the Barisan Nasional and joined keADILan.
Gobala is a caring and loving person. He is a man of strong will. As a politician, he is very brave and firm with his words. He doesn�t think of himself. He believes that one must fight for one�s rights. He strongly believes that everyone should be given equal rights and that human rights should be upheld. People in the Alternative Front accept his ways and he accepts the Alternative Front because they have the same ideology.
Gobala is not an outlaw. At present, Gobala is the Secretary-General of keADILan Youth. He considers this to be a democratic country and, so he speaks for democracy and fairness. I don�t understand why he has been detained under ISA as though he is a communist or an armed terrorist.
Before my husband was detained under ISA, I practically did not know anything about politics. I used to grumble at my husband when he came home late and tired after his political meetings or ceramah. But today, I�m forced to know a little bit about politics.
I will not keep quiet even if it means that it will take another 200 days for my husband to be freed. I promise that I will participate in keADILan activities throughout the country and explain to the rakyat all the misdeeds that have been committed and the injustices done to us, to the country and to our husbands.
ABOLISH THE ISA!
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Our so-called great leaders have turned me into an activist. Since they have already detained the well known activists, leaving their spouses and children without any help, they have made activists of the spouses who now speak fearlessly at all ceramahs.