Callous indifference to plight of our women

The prime minister's wife was recognised internationally for her efforts in empowering women, but the driving force behind gender equality seems detached from domestic violence issues.

COMMENT

A mother’s tears, grief and worry for her six-year-old son who has been kidnapped by his ‘mualaf’ (convert) father could not tug the heart strings of Rosmah Mansor, the Permata founder and driving force behind the early childhood programme.

S Deepa’s former husband, who now goes by the name Izwan Viran Abdullah, had converted the couple’s children to Islam in April last year without her consent. On April 9, Izwan abducted Mithran from Deepa’s house in Rumah Rakyat Sungai Rotan in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan.

While the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in Deepa’s favour and gave her custody of the children, the Syariah High Court had ruled in favour of Izwan.

Making matters worse was the Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar, who decided to ignore the report lodged by Deepa all because there were two different court orders. Khalid, instead, asked Deepa and Izwan to settle their problem privately, saying the police was not worried about the child’s safety as he was in the good hands of his father.

The police had long been indifferent to Deepa’s plight. The Women’s Aid Organisation, which has been assisting Deepa, claimed she had lodged more than 20 police reports against alleged abuse by Izwan. Like in the many other domestic violence cases that have been ‘dismissed’ by the police, Deepa’s case too has been shown the door.

But this worrying indifference to domestic violence and violation of a High Court ruling by the police is not what concerns Rosmah, who takes liberty with husband Najib Tun Razak’s premiership. Rosmah instead is upset with the lampooning that Putrajaya got due to it miserable performance in the handling of Flight MH370 crisis, describing them as cowards for not providing solutions.

“Don’t throw stones and then hide your hands behind your back. That’s cowardice, don’t just talk and not provide solutions,” she told Bernama’s Ruang Bicara programme on Monday night. Rosmah said as a woman and mother, she felt for the families involved and recalled how some had begged her for answers during a meeting with them.

“I felt helpless…I wanted to help but could not. All I could do was to try to comfort them,” she said.

Rape of Penan girls

It is both sad and an irony that while Rosmah claims that the ‘woman’ and ‘mother’ in her could feel the anguish of families of those on board the lost flight MH370, she was never more detached when it came to helping put an end to the rapes perpetuated by timber loggers in Sarawak on Penan girls and women.

A juxtaposition indeed, given that two years ago Rosmah was lauded and awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey for her efforts in empowering women and gender equality and her role in encouraging early education among Malaysians.

Putrajaya has in awkward fashion found itself a ‘defender’ in Rosmah. While there are a myriad issues that beg for attention and help, it is Putrajaya that will remain as Rosmah’s priority, given the dominance she sways over husband Najib’s political agenda.

While tradition has always dictated that only the prime minister goes on air to render his Hari Raya speech, Rosmah in 2011 set an ‘unprecedented’ move when she became the first prime minister’s wife in the country’s history to deliver her own Hari Raya speech via a special slot on television.

Maybe this is how Rosmah can best ‘reciprocate’ the deeds Putrajaya accords her – defending it no matter how poorly Putrajaya performs.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.