Najib’s administration may not be aware but each time they ban books or publications of authors, writers and cartoonists, much publicity is generated and sales of the banned items, both locally and abroad, rise.
Malaysian cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque’s book, ‘Cartoon-o-Phobia’, may have courted the wrath of Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak last September, but it delighted audiences at the 23rd Cartoons and Cocktails dinner in Washington in the United States.
The International cartoonists group Cartoonist Right Network International (CRNI) had a fund-raising dinner event at the National Press Club in Washington on the 28 October. The highlight of the fund-raising dinner was the auction of cartoon artworks and books from 150 cartoonists from around the world.
According to the CRNI director Robert Russell, some of the cartoonists whose works were depicted, have been ‘in deep trouble for their cartoons’. They include Molly Norris who is under a ‘death fatwa’, Nik Kowsar, an Iranian living in exile in Toronto and Prageeth Eknaligoda, a Sri Lankan who has mysteriously disappeared.
CRNI has petitioned the Prime minister to safeguard the freedom of expression in the country and to drop all charges against political cartoonist Zulkiflee, popularly known as Zunar.
In a letter which he addressed to the Prime minister, Russell said, “Healthy democracies have nothing to fear from criticism. We find it contradictory that Zunar's rather pointed, yet affectionate cartoons would be thought to encourage sedition. They rather encourage accountability, transparency and are really very powerful anti-corruption devices. Anyone fighting against these political qualities cannot be for democracy and must be for tyranny.”
The Sedition Act - for publishing books considered ‘detrimental to public order’, that could ‘influence the people to revolt against government policies’ was used against Zunar.
Zunar’s third comic book, ‘Cartoon-o-Phobia’, touched on issues such as the murder of Altantuya and the second sodomy case against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Just before the launching ceremony of 'Cartoon-o-Phobia' on Sept 24, Zunar's office was raided by the police and he was arrested and detained for two days.
A statement signed by 1,386 cartoonists worldwide, including the letter from CRNI urging Najib to stop harassing Zunar and to drop restrictions on his publications, was delivered to the Prime minister’s office yesterday.
Najib’s administration may not be aware but each time they ban books or publications of authors, writers and cartoonists, much publicity is generated and sales of the banned items, both locally and abroad, rise.
It happened to Cartoon-o-Phobia just as it did to Kim Quek’s book titled The March to Putrajaya — Malaysia’s New Era Is At Hand and Dr. Kua Kia Soong’s May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969.
Dr. Kua’s latest publication is Questioning Arms Spending in Malaysia: From Altantuya to Zikorsky.
The Defence minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi warned, “If the contents have been extracted from classified documents, action will be taken subject to the OSA (Official Secrets Act) and other laws.”
He has apparently declined to reveal details of the book for fear he would give publicity to the book and its author.
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