PETALING JAYA: Kasthuriraani Patto, fondly known as Kasthuri, was just eight years old in 1987 when she heard that her father P. Patto had been detained under the now defunct Internal Security Act (ISA). He was incarcerated at Perak’s infamous Kamunting Detention Camp.
“He was one of 119 Ops Lalang detainees, who were held for what the authorities then deemed ‘voices of dissent’ and a threat to national security. At the time, my sister Shaalini Anne was just six years old. We heard that uncle Lim Kit Siang was also detained.
“My mother was getting phone calls telling us to be on standby ‘because Patto would be next’.
“While my mother initially tried to shield us from the news that we wouldn’t be able to see our father, she eventually told us that he was detained by police.
“My sister and I were upset because we knew our father didn’t steal nor was a criminal. My father and my sister share the same birthday – Dec 19 – so it was tough for her that she was not able to cut a cake together as she would usually do,” Kasthuri told theSun.
The Batu Kawan MP recounted that her mother became worried over how her father would be treated in detention.
“It was terrible going to school knowing that my father was a prisoner, especially when schoolmates asked: ‘Is your father in jail?’”
Patto was detained under the ISA twice, first in 1978 and then on Oct 27, 1987, under Ops Lalang, when he was placed in solitary confinement for 60 days.
He was the state assemblyman for Gopeng at the time. Later, he was elected state assemblyman for Sungai Pari and MP for Menglembu in Ipoh. He was the state assemblyman for Bagan before he died in 1995.
“When we were allowed to visit him, mom would start cooking all his favourite dishes such as thosai, idli, mutton peratal and chicken curry as early as 3am. This went on for months, and we mainly saw him through a partition.
“But as children, my sister and I were allowed to sit on his lap.”
Patto was Bagan MP for just 78 days before he passed away, and Kasthuri was just three weeks shy of turning 16.
Now in her second term as Batu Kawan MP under the DAP banner, she is often compared with the senior Patto for her firebrand oratory style.
“When I hit the campaign trail in Batu Kawan and people asked me in good faith if I could speak like my father in Tamil, Cantonese, Mandarin and Bahasa Melayu, I would just laugh and say: ’Who can speak like my father?’
“They would burst out laughing and continue to encourage me. The people keep me grounded.
“I may be Patto’s daughter, but I still work towards my ideals. I feel a duty to carry on my father’s legacy, which is also DAP’s legacy. Since young, I was exposed to the best part of politics, which is to put the interests of the people and nation above all else.
“My parents laid the (background) for my sister and me on what politics should be like in Malaysia. We grew up understanding politics through the eyes of DAP leaders and unionists.”
She said at school, her teacher would ask what she wanted to do when she grew up, and Kasthuri would say “ahli politik”, not fully understanding what that meant.
“At one point, I wanted to be an artist, but there was always a politician in me. I felt that this was the way I could fight for the oppressed and victims of the system. Their rights must be fought for and upheld.”
In building this nation, Kasthuri said: “I enjoy speaking about and fighting for human rights as it is a fundamental and universal issue, not a Western ideal. The fundamentals of human rights are to live with dignity and be treated as a fellow human being. This is my hope for building a Malaysia we can all be proud of,” she said.
