‘SET UP RCI ON MEMALI WHILE WITNESSES ARE STILL ALIVE’
Findings in a 1986 White Paper on the incident are questionable
THE government has been urged to expedite the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCl) into the Memali incident to seek justice for the victims and their families.
Kedah Pas deputy commissioner Muhamad Sanusi Md Nor said it was crucial for RCI to be established as soon as possible, especially when the witnesses and the next of kin of the 14 civilians were still alive.
Sanusi, who is also the chairman of a special committee for Memali victims, said the truth could only be gleaned through an RCI.
He said the findings contained in a White Paper in 1986 on the incident were questionable, at best. The White Paper, he said, only contained findings which were favourable to the government, which was then helmed by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Sanusi said the victims’ families were disputing some of the findings, which they claimed were misleading.
“For example, the White Paper stated that the four policemen were killed by Ibrahim Mahmud’s followers using firearms. Howev- er, none of the villagers had firearms during the incident.
“If Dr Mahathir is sticking to this (White Paper) version, then he should further explain it because the families are not buying his version of the tragedy.
“The families are willing to accept the truth if the villagers were wrong, but the real, undisputed truth can only be uncovered through an RCI,” he said at Sungai Pau here yesterday.
Sanusi also expressed concern that RCI would not materialise if Pakatan Harapan came into power in the 14th General Election (GE14).
He said he feared that calls for RCI would be silenced if Dr Ma- hath ir was made the nation’ s seventh prime minister if the Pakatan Harapan pact forms the new Federal Government.
“The victims and their families have been waiting for three decades for an RCI on the Memali tragedy.
“If Dr Mahathir returns to power, there is a possibility that he might interfere in the inquiry to prevent the truth from being told,” he said.
Kampung Memali in Baling, Kedah, was the scene of bloodshed on Nov 19, 1985, when villagers resisted police’s attempt to arrest religious teacher and local Pas leader Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya, under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for deviant teachings, an allegation rejected by Pas.
Eighteen people, including four policemen, were killed while more than 100 people were injured as a result of the clash.
The families are willing to accept the truth if the villagers were wrong, but the real, undisputed truth can only be uncovered through an RCI. MUHAMAD SANUSI MD NOR Kedah Pas deputy commissioner