WHEN Karpal Singh passed away some time back, amidst the outpourings of grief and tributes to his life and achievements, one or two politicians bucked the trend by saying some unkind things about him. On Twitter and Facebook, many condemned and criticised these politicians. What they did was, by most accounts, “offensive”.
Yet, putting aside whether it was appropriate, both politicians still had the right to say what they said. They were, at the end of the day, expressing their freedom of speech and expression; their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental liberties and protected human rights. No one can and should deny them this right, even if most of us took offence at what they said.