Hadi: Ridiculous to say nation never colonised

PAS leaders ridiculed the views of a historian who yesterday claimed that Malaysia had never been colonised, saying such statements were aimed at misleading the rakyat.

Party president Abdul Hadi Awang (left in photo) said such “polemics” was being raised now to “fool the rakyat” and shift public attention on the many problems with the electoral system.

“In effect, people are being fooled so that they won't think about the cases of electoral fraud (recently raised).

“Thinking about issues from 40, 60 years ago, (the people) won't think about issues of today. In fact, those old issues should have been long settled,” said Hadi Awang at a press conference this morning.

He also agreed with the view that such polemics over our Independence history was deliberately being played up to portray that only Umno has fought for the Malays.

“We hope that the Malays do not get fooled by these 60-year-old issues.

“And what of the issue 700 to 800 years ago, when the Portuguese arrived and no one opposed them?

“It is as if the only ones who put up a fight against the colonisers were Umno,” said Hadi.

“I have studied history as well. In those days, there was no Umno and no PAS, but people were already fighting the colonisers,” he added.

Hadi was speaking after launching the PAS forum on their welfare state manifesto at Taman Melewar, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Yesterday, the Sultan Idris Teaching University (UPSI) head of history Zainal Kling claimed that it was untrue that Malaysia had been colonised by the British, who only gave us their “protection”.

He claimed that only Singapore, Malacca and Penang were British colonies.

Umno a 'Hindustani actor'

PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said such academics who are now weighing in on the Mat Indera issue should instead be helping the people understand the episode in history.

He echoed Hadi's sentiments, likening Umno to a “Hindustani film hero who had arrived too late”.

“He only wants to gain publicity and claims that it was he who had defeated the coloniser,” he said.

Further, said Tuan Ibrahim (right), such revisions has far reaching implications on our 54 years of independence, and would require an entire overhaul of the history syllabus and academia.

Tuan Ibrahim pointed out that even Umno has been fooled into celebrating Merdeka annually over the past half century.

He quipped that if it is true that Malaysia has never been colonised, then the government did not need to celebrate Independence Day on Sept 16 as planned.

In Najib's Merdeka Day message this year the PM had announced that the annual celebration would be held on Malaysia Day instead, owing to the clash with Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

“In the joy of Aidilfitri, I hope we do not forget the struggles of our forefathers in fighting for the country's independence,” the PM had tweeted on Aug 31.

No common sense

Meanwhile, some NGOs have also called the professor's claims nonsensical.

“No one with common sense would say that our motherland has never been colonised, when at the time our sultans only had limited ceremonial powers over religious and cultural matters, and the British managed all other administrative matters as the real masters,” said president of Teras, Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid.

Azmi in a joint statement today with Shura president Abdul Ghani Samsudin slammed the National Professors' Council and Zainal for claiming that leftist fighters were not freedom fighters, accusing the professors of distorting historical facts.

“How could this interpretation be accepted, when the British had banned many Malay movements such as PKMM, API, Awas and Hizbul Muslimin as communist movements?

“The idea of labelling hardline Malay movements as communists comes from the British and their sympathisers,” said Azmi.

He pointed out that labels such as 'leftist' were British concoctions, and asked why the present professors were so enamoured with British labels.

“Leftists were considered communists, meaning all movements opposed to the British and not aligned with Umno's approach,” he said.

“This would include the ulama who had taken up arms against the British. They were resisting in the name of Islam. Are they also considered not freedom fighters?

“How dare they group the ulama who fought against the British, like Tok Janggut, Abdur Rahman Limbong, Tok Guru Hussin Dol as communists just because the British had labelled them as insurgents?” he said.

He questioned the basis on which such so-called professors made their claims, and called them to show proof.

He asked if Zainal was caught in a colonial mentality for only accepting the British version of history, by claiming all those who had struggled for independence who were not aligned with Umno as illegitimate.