Son of Memali survivor recounts horror of tragedy, flays Dr M

Triggered by Dr Mahathir Mohamad's nonchalance over the Memali tragedy, the son of a survivor of the bloody clashes has recounted the horror of what happened during the police raid 32 years ago.

PAS youth member Mohamad Zuhdi Mat Piah, who was just a year old at the time, said while Mahathir did not pull the trigger himself, he was still very much responsible for the bloodshed that occurred in the Kedah village in 1985.

"Your hands are covered in the blood of Memali's victims. Fourteen people were killed cruelly, and even though it was not you who shot or killed them - just as you have never laid a brick to build the country - but (their deaths) happened because of instructions from you," Mohamad Zuhdi said in a statement.

On Sunday, Mahathir had been asked about how the civilians killed during the Memali tragedy could possibly be criminals.

The nonagenarian responded by questioning how four police officers could have been killed in the incident if the villagers had no weapons.

He then elaborated that police responded to force with force, but could not complete his answer as pandemonium broke out at the event.

Mohamad Zuhdi said the police officers were killed by bullets, implying that they had been killed by "friendly fire".

He also insinuated that Mahathir had ordered the raid on Memali due to fear that influential PAS leader Ibrahim 'Libya' Mahmood could oust Umno from Baling.

"Ibrahim and 13 others who were killed were gunned down with M16s. They were strewn about their front yards.

"In front of their wives and children, without mercy, they were kicked and hit with rifle butts.

"Those who still lived were beaten like animals, and hurled into trucks and piled up without mercy... thrown like trash," the PAS youth member said.

Mohamad Zuhdi said his father Mat Piah Yunus was one of those who had survived the police assault.

He said his father had been shot 14 times and was ready to die a martyr, but survived and was dragged to a hospital instead.

Several months later, Mohamad Zuhdi said Mat Piah was locked up under the Internal Security Act for two years.

Besides his father, he said women and children from Memali had also suffered, with many severely injured, and some permanently disabled.

However, he said despite all this, 32 years later Mahathir has never admitted guilt or apologised over the incident, while former critics such as Amanah leaders Mohamad Sabu and Salahuddin Ayub have now become his allies.

But he said the children of Memali's victims would never forget what happened, and said the incident would continue to haunt Mahathir.

Mohamad Zuhdi then recalled the prayer of former PAS president, the late Fadzil Noor, that Mahathir would live long enough to see the outcome of all his actions.

"Yes! Now Mahathir is 'reaping' it. Those who want to be with him are welcome," he said.

Mahathir was prime minister at the time of the Memali tragedy, but had for a long time insisted he was not in the country when the clashes occurred.

In 2014, he admitted to being in Malaysia when the police clashed with the Kampung Memali villagers.

However, he insisted that any responsibility should fall on Musa Hitam, who was acting prime minister at the time as well as the home minister in charge of police. - Mkini