A free-for-all at PAS ceramah in Rembau

A scuffle broke out when a group calling themselves a movement to dignify national heroes tried to gatecrash the Mat Sabu ceramah.

REMBAU: A free for all broke out last night between supporters of PAS, PKR and a group calling themselves the movement to dignify national heroes at a PAS ceramah here.

The group’s, Gerakan Memartabatkan Pejuang Nasional (GMPN), target was PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu.

The group was lying in wait for Mat Sabu and when he arrived at the ceramah venue, they marched 300 metres to the ceramah location to heckle him.

But, this time the PAS supporters were prepared for it. In an earlier ceramah in Seremban last month, GMPN also created a fracas.

For the ceramah last night, PAS had mobilised 3,000 PAS and PKR supporters from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Johor and Malacca.

The ceramah was held in the fully fenced Negeri Sembilan PAS commissioner Mohd Taufek Abdul Ghani’s home.

When the 100 plus GMPN supporters neared the gate of the house, PAS supporters formed a human barricade.

Shouting “Jangan ganggu majlis orang” (Don’t disturb others function) and “Balik! Balik! (Go back! Go back!) the PAS supporters forced the group to retreat.

A scuffle broke out and both sides were trading blows for nearly 35 minutes. The situation was brought under control when the police intervened. No injuries were reported.

Memo submitted to Mat Sabu

Later Rembau PKR division chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin discussed with the GMPN representative known as Yusof to allow two of their members to submit a memorandum to Mat Sabu.

Yusof and another GMPN member known as Arafat were allowed to enter the house and submit the memorandum.

Arafat said they will hold another protest at Bukit Kepong, Johor on Oct 16.

Even though the group identified themselves as GMPN, most of the supporters present were the same who were at last month’s fracas at Ampangan under the Perkasa banner.

The chairman of GMPN Mejar (R) Razali Zakaria in his speech in fact shouted “Hidup Gerakan Memartabatkan Pejuang Nasional”, “Hidup Bekas Tentera” and “Hidup Perkasa”.