Pakatan Rakyat is backing PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu who is underfire from BN over a speech, purported portraying communists as heroes, and is blaming Umno and BN for grossly distorting his remarks.
Top officials from PAS, PKR and DAP said in a joint statement that BN-controlled media organisations were trying to paint Mohamad as a communist sympathiser who glorified communist insurgents in the Bukit Kepong incident. “Both claims are categorically untrue. We believe thatsaudara Mat Sabu (as Mohamad is widely known) has made no remarks to that effect.
“(We) strongly condemn the irresponsible spin-mongering being perpetrated by Umno leaders and the media,” says the joint statement by PAS central committee member Dzulkefly Ahmad, PKR information chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and DAP international affairs bureau chief Liew Chin Tong.
The joint statement comes just a day after DAP chairperson Karpal Singh urged Mohamad to retract his contentious speech because it was unjustified and could hurt Pakatan's image.
'Mat Sabu merely raising doubts'
However, the three Pakatan leaders today clarified that Mohamad had never mentioned the communist specifically in his speech and that his attempt to highlight historical plurality had been grossly taken out of context.
“We hereby firmly attest that we do not question Mat Sabu's motivations in attempting to raise legitimate doubts about the historical narrative of our country.
“However, we do seriously question the reckless and insidious reporting of Utusan Malaysia, which has time and again resorted to fabricating fictitious arguments with malicious intent,” they said.
Mohamad's contentious speech (see video here) was made on Aug 21 in Tasek Gelugor, Penang where he attacked Umno for self-glorification come every Merdeka Day anniversary.
He said that Umno had ignored the contributions of non-Umno elements who contributed to Independence and used the Bukit Kepong incident as an example, because television programmes about the incident would be aired near Merdeka Day.
Mohamad said that those who attacked Bukit Kepong were fighters for Independence, because he police then served the British. He also made note that the insurgents were led by Muhammad Indera.
“He is a Malay, but this is not in the history books,” said Mohamad.
Sanitised version of history
Expanding on this, the three Pakatan leaders said that Malaysians were being fed a monochrome view the country's colourful history, that only recognised the contributions of Umno and its cohorts.
“What has happened to names like Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Ishak Haji Mohamed otherwise known as Pak Sako, and many others?
“What about organisations and movements such as Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) and the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM)? They were effectively the pioneers of organised Malay political activism.
“And then we have the groundbreaking "People's Constitution", crafted 10 years before Merdeka was achieved in 1957 by the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) and Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (PUTERA).
“The PUTERA-AMCJA effort was not only momentous in scope and effort, but more importantly our country's first truly multiracial coalition,” they said.
The group said that Independence was not the result of a singular effort by the Umno-led Alliance coalition but took place on many different frontiers and led by many different people.
“Surely the sacrifices undertaken by anti-Colonial champions such as Tok Janggut, Abdul Rahman Limbong, Tak Ku Paloh and others should also be accorded its fair share of space?”
“Our history textbooks are not only missing a chapter or two, but an entire parallel history that has now been successfully erased from official memory.
“We conclude by stating again that Mat Sabu was not wrong in attempting to contest existing perceptions of history. What is wrong is the fact that Malaysians have been manipulated for years by the propaganda machinery of the Umno-BN Government,” they said.
However, the three Pakatan leaders today clarified that Mohamad had never mentioned the communist specifically in his speech and that his attempt to highlight historical plurality had been grossly taken out of context.
“We hereby firmly attest that we do not question Mat Sabu's motivations in attempting to raise legitimate doubts about the historical narrative of our country.
“However, we do seriously question the reckless and insidious reporting of Utusan Malaysia, which has time and again resorted to fabricating fictitious arguments with malicious intent,” they said.
Mohamad's contentious speech (see video here) was made on Aug 21 in Tasek Gelugor, Penang where he attacked Umno for self-glorification come every Merdeka Day anniversary.
He said that Umno had ignored the contributions of non-Umno elements who contributed to Independence and used the Bukit Kepong incident as an example, because television programmes about the incident would be aired near Merdeka Day.
Mohamad said that those who attacked Bukit Kepong were fighters for Independence, because he police then served the British. He also made note that the insurgents were led by Muhammad Indera.
“He is a Malay, but this is not in the history books,” said Mohamad.
Sanitised version of history
Expanding on this, the three Pakatan leaders said that Malaysians were being fed a monochrome view the country's colourful history, that only recognised the contributions of Umno and its cohorts.
“What has happened to names like Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Ishak Haji Mohamed otherwise known as Pak Sako, and many others?
“What about organisations and movements such as Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) and the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM)? They were effectively the pioneers of organised Malay political activism.
“And then we have the groundbreaking "People's Constitution", crafted 10 years before Merdeka was achieved in 1957 by the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) and Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (PUTERA).
“The PUTERA-AMCJA effort was not only momentous in scope and effort, but more importantly our country's first truly multiracial coalition,” they said.
The group said that Independence was not the result of a singular effort by the Umno-led Alliance coalition but took place on many different frontiers and led by many different people.
“Surely the sacrifices undertaken by anti-Colonial champions such as Tok Janggut, Abdul Rahman Limbong, Tak Ku Paloh and others should also be accorded its fair share of space?”
“Our history textbooks are not only missing a chapter or two, but an entire parallel history that has now been successfully erased from official memory.
“We conclude by stating again that Mat Sabu was not wrong in attempting to contest existing perceptions of history. What is wrong is the fact that Malaysians have been manipulated for years by the propaganda machinery of the Umno-BN Government,” they said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.