Photo taken from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's Facebook.
KUALA LUMPUR: Mourning his cherished friend, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says the former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh had extended kindness and offered scholarships to his (Anwar’s) children during his darkest days in prison.
The Prime Minister said not many Malaysians know of this and it was time he shared this with them.
“During the years of my incarceration, he extended kindness that he didn’t have to – one that was neither politically expedient nor, as one can imagine, appreciated by the Malaysian government at that time.
“Yet, true to his character, he did it anyway. He offered scholarships to my children, particularly my son, Ihsan.
“Although I declined the gracious offer, such a gesture undoubtedly showed his extraordinary humanity and generosity, demonstrative, as the Bard (William Shakespeare) would have it, of a man so full of ‘the milk of human kindness’.
“Goodbye, my mitra (friend), my bhai (brother), Manmohan,” Anwar said in a deeply personal revelation on Facebook, Bernama reported.
Manmohan, who served as India’s 13th prime minister from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Thursday night.
Celebrated as the architect of India’s economic reforms during his tenure as finance minister and later as prime minister, he played a key role in transforming India into a global economic powerhouse.
Anwar described the late leader as a pivotal figure in India’s modern history.
In extending his condolences to Manmohan’s bereaved family, he said: “Obituaries, essays and books aplenty there will surely be about this great man, celebrating him as the architect of India’s economic reforms.”
“As prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh was the midwife of India’s emergence as one of the world’s economic giants.”
Anwar also reflected on his personal connection with the late Manmohan, recalling their tenures as finance ministers during the 1990s.
“I had the rare privilege of witnessing the early years of these transformative policies first-hand while we both served as finance ministers.
“We shared a fervent commitment to the war against corruption – even collaborating on unravelling a major case,” he said.
Anwar also highlighted Manmohan’s uprightness and steadfastness, which he said were qualities that earned him respect as a statesman.
“The praise that will follow in the days ahead will be truly well-deserved.
“Dr Manmohan Singh, slightly awkward as a politician but undeniably upright, steadfast and resolute as a statesman, leaves behind a legacy that will inspire generations to come,” he added.
