PAS wants cabinet committee to review history

In a show of unity and support for its embattled deputy president Mohamad Sabu, top PAS leaders have urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to set up a cabinet committee to review the nation's struggle for Independence.

Speaking today at party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, vice-president Salahuddin Ayub (right) said such a review would show the government's sincerity in recognising the nation's freedom fighters.

"If he is sincere, Najib can form a cabinet committee to rewrite history of the country's pre-Independence history [sic]. Call representatives from all sides. We are willing to send representatives," he said.

Salahuddin, who is Kubang Kerian MP, added that the issue of rewriting history would be "a main focus" for PAS during the next Parliament sitting.

Mohamad had on Aug 21 in a speech in Tasik Gelugor, Penang said that insurgent Mat Indera who had led the attack on the Bukit Kepong police station in 1950 should be acknowledged as a hero.

Transcript reviewed

Secretary-general Mustafa Ali said that PAS had reviewed the transcript of the recording of Mohamad's speech and agreed with the "gist" of it.

"The central (message) of the speech was the need to revisit the history of the struggle for Independence,” he said.

"There needs to be a rewrite because what exists does not show historical honesty (or) do justice to the story of Malaysia's struggle for independence."

He said more credence should be given to the "pioneering" figures of the independence movement like PKMM leaders Dr Burhanuddin Helmy, Ahmad Boestaman and Ibrahim Yaakob.

"These are leaders who were jailed by the British in 1945. Umno was formed in 1946," he said.

Mustafa said this does not mean that PAS does acknowledge the contribution of Umno, in particular its leader Onn Jaafar (left) and Tunku Abdul Rahman.

"There were two approaches in the independence struggle, PKMM took the stand of total confrontation.

"Onn and the Tunku opted for peaceful cooperation...so their tactic was to be ready to be British officers, but we never denied that they too were working towards Independence.”

He added that the contributions of other freedom fighters shouldn't be "blacked out".

Also at the press conference was PAS central committee member Dzulkefly Ahmad who said that the Johor Heritage Foundation book shows that Mat Indera's story was not only blacked out but the historical figure was “demonised”.

Reading out an excerpt of the bookPengukir Nama Johor, published in 2004, he noted that “people close to Mat Indera denied the lie (that he had abandoned Islam and became a communist)”.

“They did not believe that that of Mat Indera. They questioned how Mat Indera's exemplary characteristics suddenly became deplorable in a blink of an eye,” he read out.

Mustafa added that the book also quoted Mat Indera's (left) contemporaries to say that the historical figure had never taken up the Communist Party of Malaya's (CPM) cause.

Reading out from the book, he said Mat Indera's aim “was solely to oust the British from his homeland. He did not align himself with the CPM who wanted to take over power”.

“He had joined the guerrilla movement upon pressure from the (British) government as he had become a wanted person following his involvement in API,” he read out, noting that this had happened in 1948, when all political parties and movements other than Umno were banned.