The 74-year-old died on the spot, as did his personal assistant C. Michael. His son Ramkarpal and the driver sustained light injuries. His Indonesian maid, however, is critically injured.
On Twitter, politicians from both sides of the divide expressed their shock and sadness over the incident.
Prime Minister Najib Razak tweeted that he had received the news after landing in Turkey.
“I have just landed at Ankara when I heard the news that YB Karpal Singh died in a road accident. My condolences to the family,” he posted.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said: “We’ve lost a colleague; an indefatigable fighter for justice; d legendary Karpal Singh! Our sincere condolences to d family. RIP.”
Karpal had represented the PKR de-facto leader in his sodomy trials.
Human rights advocate and lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan said the news was “heartbreaking” and praised “towering” Karpal as “a man of principle, courage and a true patriot.”
Some responses however were downright distasteful.
Zulkifli Noordin who is the vice-president of extremist NGO Perkasa, tweeted in Bahasa Malaysia: “As the PAS-led Kelantan state government struggles to implement hudud with Umno’s help, Allah has killed off Karpal, who was the major opponent of its implementation!”
Meanwhile controversial blogger Papagomo also celebrated the Bukit Gelugor MP’s demise, declaring that he was now going to “step over Karpal’s dead body”. He also attached an extremely distressing and graphic photograph of a bleeding Karpal.
Papagomo was referring to a controversial remark made by Karpal in 1990. Karpal had uttered “Islamic state over my dead body”. In 1999, he withdrew the statement and made a public apology.
Zulkifli and Papagomo were however in the minority; most netizens, many of them legal practitioners and members of the press, remember Karpal “the gentleman politician” with fondness.
“R.I.P Karpal singh/C.selvam,” photographer Keow Wee Loong tweeted. “Let’s pray for Ramkarpal.”
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| Keow Wee Loong Picture : Karpal Singh |
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