Family and friends remember Dr Kassim Ahmad as being a fighter for justice until his health failed in the last few years of his life.
With tears running down his cheeks, the youngest of Dr Kassim’s three children, Ahmad Shauqi, said his father always stood by his principles and fought for the people.
“People think he was a rich man but he was not. All he wanted was justice for the people.
He was a simple man who enjoyed his home library. The 84-year-old thinker and social activist died yesterday morning.
Ahmad Shauqi broke down again as he spoke about the hardship faced by his father, who spent his last few years travelling between Kulim and Kuala Lumpur fighting two charges of insulting Islam.
Dr Kassim was arrested and accused of insulting Islam in March 2014 but was acquitted and discharged by the Syariah Court about two months ago. His health deteriorated soon after that and he was admitted to hospital on Sept 16.
“He discharged himself on Oct 2 but was warded again a few days later. He slipped into a coma on Monday and passed away at 10am today (Tuesday),” said Ahmad Sauqi.
Dr Kassim’s eldest daughter, Soraya, said she was by her father’s side when he breathed his last. “He taught me to read the Quran with a critical mind. Even at his age, he was still intelligible. I can’t be like him, a fighter to the end. He told us that every soul will taste death and he went peacefully, without a struggle,” she said.
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