Hisham insitgates offended groups to sue over Mat Sabu's comments

PUTRAJAYA - Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein today suggested that the people offended by a PAS leader's statement allegedly hero-worshiping communist terrorists and discrediting the country's security forces institute legal action.

These people could be the descendents of the nation's freedom fighters or members of ex-policemen's associations, he said, adding that police investigation into the statement allegedly made by PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu could take time.

Mohamad Sabu was alleged to have said at a "ceramah" (talk) in Tasek Gelugor, Penang, on Aug 21 that the communist terrorists who attacked and killed 25 police personnel and their families in the Bukit Kepong tragedy in February 1950 were the real heroes because they were fighting against the British.

He was also alleged to have said that Datuk Onn Jaafar and Tunku Abdul Rahman were not eligible to be considered as independence fighters because they were officers of the British.

Hishammuddin said he hoped that the police would expedite their investigation in the matter.

In KUALA LUMPUR, the Malaysia Ex-British Army Association (PBAB) today hit out at Mohamad Sabu for questioning their sacrifices in the defence of the nation.

Its deputy president, Abd Jabar Mukibat (rpt) Mukibat, said the sacrifices of the security forces then were for the sake of the country's independence.

If the security forces had failed then, the country would not have achieved the independence it now enjoyed, he told Bernama.

"I am not a politician but all quarters should refer to the history books and find out who the real colonialists were then," said the 70-year-old who had served in the Royal Corps of Signals between 1957 and 1970.

Another ex-soldier of the British army, Abd Rahman Ahmad, 67, said the security forces in the British administration continued to defend the country even after independence was declared in 1957.

He said that during the confrontation with Indonesia in the 1960s, he was in a team which cooperated with the British commandos to defend the nation along its border in the jungles of Sabah and Sarawak.

In JITRA (Kedah), the Taman Mahsuri Bandar Darul Aman Rukun Tetangga sector lodged a police report today over Mohamad Sabu's alleged statement at the Jitra police station.

The report was made by its chairman, Ahmad Shaker Ahmad, who was accompanied by 11 members of the sector including four ex-servicemen.

-- BERNAMA