Hadi Awang claims PAS was involved in Malaya’s independence

 

IT appears history can be rewritten if ignorance is a disease common among the masses. George Orwell, the visionary beyond his time foresaw this with his novel 1984, which for the moment, is but an extreme example of what’s going on in Malaysia.

Where elections are concerned, the narrative can quickly spin out of control as pointed out by a vigilante on X named @SyedAkramin.

He shared a post with a snapshot from Berita Harian reporting a statement by PAS president Hadi Awang who said, “We want parties that inherited independence, such as PAS, UMNO, MCA, and MIC, to lead the state.”

“I know the parties involved in independence were UMNO, MIC, and MCA, which formed the Alliance Party, won the 1955 election, and subsequently negotiated with the British for independence,” said @SyedAkramin, then added, “But PAS? When?”

His post has since drawn attention from a good number of netizens who wasted no time hopping into the comment section to start the roasting session.

Take it from netizen @CenPolo who said that PAS was previously the bureau of religion in UMNO before they sulked and left to form a new party.

Then there was @vincent40791930 stating that PAS only knows how to add their name inside as contributors.

Another netizen lamented that PAS loves to hitch a ride and then bring down the host.

Check out the hilarious picture comment too:

 

“All Malaysians inherit independence, not  political parties,” said @fkl5258.

When such topics arise, it is vital to take readers and netizens down the memory lane too.

According to factsanddetails.com, the independent Federation of Malaya represented a continuation of the 1948 Persekutuan Tanah Melayu and its constitutional framework, which upheld the dominant political position of the Malays and protected their rights, privileges, and “special position.” 

Malay was established as the national language, the Malay Rulers became constitutional monarchs, and citizenship was extended to qualified non-Malays who pledged loyalty to Malaya and were guaranteed freedom to practice their religion, language, and culture.

These arrangements were largely drawn from an UMNO–MCA–MIC Alliance memorandum submitted to the constitutional commission and later described as a “social contract.” Note that PAS was missing from the details.

PAS’ claim toward independence probably came from the fact that it was an offshoot from UMNO.

According to Wikipedia, PAS traces its origins to 24 November 1951, when it was established as Persatuan Islam Sa-Malaya during a gathering in Butterworth, Penang.

The party emerged from efforts by a group of Muslim religious leaders within UMNO who wanted to create a dedicated political movement centred on Islamic principles. In its early years, however, the distinction between PAS and UMNO was not clearly defined.

Initially, PAS permitted individuals to hold membership in both organisations, and several of its founding leaders were also active members of UMNO.

PAS’ first president, Ahmad Fuad Hassan, was himself an UMNO religious figure. His tenure lasted until 1953, when disagreements within the party led to his departure.

He subsequently rejoined UMNO, and his exit also marked the end of the practice of dual membership between the two parties.— Focus Malaysia