HARESH Deol, a 43-year-old sports journalist with the online portal Twentytwo13, was attacked by two men on the streets of Bangsar at 3.30pm, on Nov 25.
The truth isn’t always convenient for everyone, and powerful people often have an interest in suppressing the truth. Powerful people often want to distort the truth into some twisted, unbelievable story – and journalists are in the first line of defence against such perversions of the truth.
This puts journalists in the line of fire – sometimes literally. Recent history is full of relevant examples, especially from other parts of the world.
Sometimes the attacks on journalists are verbal in nature.
US President Donald Trump just a few days ago called a reporter “ugly”, following an incident earlier this month where he told a reporter who was asking a question about Jeffrey Epstein: “Quiet, piggy.”
This kind of uncouth and degrading language is not only entirely unbecoming of a leader of that stature; it also breeds a culture of misogyny, sexism, and violence against journalists.
It seems that when powerful people like Trump do not have reasonable answers to reasonable questions from professional journalists, they resort to personal attacks.
Trump’s poor regard for journalists also came to light in the way he not only feted with full force the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia upon his visit to Washington, but openly and vociferously defended him amidst accusations of his involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi was a fierce critic of Saudi Arabia’s rulers, an advocate for women’s rights, a critic of the war in Yemen, and much more.
In October 2018, he walked into the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, to get documents related to his upcoming marriage, and never came out.
Khashoggi was dismembered by a bone saw after he was killed, and America’s CIA concluded that this had been done allegedly on the orders of top Saudi leaders.
Khashoggi’s abduction and murder shocked the world, showing once again how dangerous it was to be a journalist who spoke out against powerful people.
And then there are all the journalists who have worked to cover the genocide in Gaza.
As of August 2025, it is estimated that Israel had killed up to 274 journalists, 269 of whom were Palestinian.
This was not random killing. This was a concerted effort by Israel to silence those in Gaza whose work focused on showing the world the truth of what was happening on the ground. It is an effort by Zionists to replace truth and reality with falsehoods and lies, by permanently silencing those who attempt to expose that truth.
Mariam Abu Dagga was one such Palestinian journalist working in Gaza. She captured images of the suffering in Gaza with great sensitivity and poignance, showing the world the true face of suffering that was unfolding throughout the genocide.
Mariam had a son, Ghaith, who was evacuated to Egypt and then the United Arab Emirates. Prior to the war, she donated her kidney to her father, saving his life.
In August 2025, when she was only 33 years old, Mariam was at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where she was born, when the Israeli military bombed the hospital.
There were two sequential strikes, the second killing many journalists and emergency response workers who had rushed to the hospital to help, including Mariam.
After her death, a letter was made public, written by Mariam to her son Ghaith:
“Ghaith, you are your mother’s heart and soul. I want you to pray for me and not cry for me, so that I may remain happy. I want you to hold your head high, to work hard, to excel, and to become capable. I want you to succeed, my beloved.
“Always remember me. I have always done everything to make you happy, to keep you joyful and comfortable, to give you everything. And when you grow up, get married, and have a daughter, name her Mariam, after me.
“You are my love, my heart, my support, my soul, and my son, of whom I am proud. I will always be happy to hear of your good reputation. One task I leave you, Ghaith: your prayer, then your prayer, then your prayer, my dear.”
These were the heartbreaking words a mother who gave her life to show the world the truth.
Closer to home, we have many cases of journalists who have been attacked as well.
Noel Bellen Samar was a radio journalist who was shot to death in October 2025; Khandaker Shah Alam, was a Bangladeshi reporter who was killed in June 2025. Cambodian environmental journalist Chhoeung Chheng was killed in December 2024 while covering illegal logging. In Myanmar, Myat Thu Tan in Myanmar was found dead in February 2024, after being arrested and tortured.
Malaysia has so far thankfully been free from any kind of murder of a journalist on our soil.
But this is not something we should take for granted.
Haresh was lucky to have survived with only minor injuries. But in a case like that, falling the wrong way on the wrong spot on the floor could have just as easily led to death.
Haresh had been reporting on the scandal involving the granting of seven foreign footballers Malaysian citizenship.
This seems again to be a case where powerful people want to replace a truth that is obvious to everyone, with falsehoods that make sense to no one.
Whatever is being said about Haresh’s attack, all involved should be sensitive to how this looks to the general public.
For the rest of us, it is our duty not to be intimidated or frightened into silence.
And it is our duty to stand together with all of Malaysia’s brave journalists who are fighting to uphold the truth, without fear or favour.
Nathaniel Tan recommends nangka and the book “Devil’s Place” by Brian Gomez. He can be reached at nat@engage.my. The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.
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