PAS crystallises its stand on Merdeka history in 8 points
(Harakah Daily) – In eight points, PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has summarised the stand taken by the party on the controversy surrounding the historical distortion of the Bukit Kepong incident in 1950, in a move to crystalise the party’s stand amid a frenzy of name-calling and debate dares from both sides of the political divide.
The eight points are:
1. PAS rejects and has never endorsed any group or movement in support of the communist ideology.
2. PAS views the 1950 Bukit Kepong incident a tragedy, but views the late Muhammad Indera as an independence fighter, in contrary to assertion that he was a communist and terrorist.
3. PAS stands by the fact that transcript of deputy president Mohamad Sabu’s speech on August 21 only mentioned Mat Indera as a hero, without any mention of the word ‘communist’ as claimed by Utusan Malaysia. Such a spin has led to Mat Sabu and PAS being labeled communist.
4. PAS is convinced with the findings in the book Pengukir Nama Johor published by the Johor Heritage Foundation in 2004, listing Mat Indera as a religionist and freedom fighter.
5. PAS expresses confidence in the research work by Ayub @ Uiop Kassim in 1973, titled “The 1950 bloody tragedy of Bukit Kepong, Muar: A Post Mortem”. The work is to fulfill the requirement for a degree in Literature at University Malaysia’s Faculty of History, and concludes that Mat Indera was not one who believed in or joined the communist movement.
6. PAS believes that the struggle for independence had commenced much earlier than UMNO’s formation in 1946. ‘Left-wing’ fighters who had taken ‘confrontational approach’ in various states such as Mat Indera, Rosli Dhoby, Datuk Maharajalela, Tok Gajah, Tok Bahaman, Dol Said, Tok Janggut, Abdul Rahman Limbong and many others must be given their due recognition in history.
7. PAS believes that UMNO had never resorted to armed struggle in the fight for independence, yet the other freedom fighters had sacrificed their lives in the fight to drive out the British colonial regime. As such, UMNO only joined at the ‘final lap’ of the struggle, thereby taking credit for the country’s independence and denying the contribution of those who had died and who opened the path for Merdeka in 1957. Having said that, PAS accepts whatever little contribution from UMNO in achieving independence for Malaya.
8. UMNO’s cooperation with British colonialists meant their leaders had joined the British administration and therefore were British officials.
According to Tuan Ibrahim (left), these points sum up the Islamic party’s understanding of the country’s independence struggle.
“The question of interpreting history and reviewing history is closely tied to the amount of information available as well as our perception of a certain issue,” he added.
Tuan Ibrahim said making clear the party’s stand on the issue would not be able to put a stop to media spin from UMNO, which he said was aimed at diverting public attention from other pressing current issues, including rising living costs, electoral frauds, corruption and wastage, the ExxonMobil and MAS shares fiasco, the RM24 million ring issue linked to the prime minister’s wife, and the latest announcement of a six percent tax for each pre-paid mobile top-up.
‘Agree to disagree’
Tuan Ibrahim reiterated that a principle in the issue of differences in history was the ability to “agree to disagree” without any emotional baggages.
Those who have differences in their understanding could always resort to intellectual debate, and not personal attacks, he said.
“We have to agree to disagree in historical research because it relies heavily on the amount of information in hand, before one can come up any conclusion with a sense of accuracy,” said Tuan Ibrahim, who is also Pahang PAS commissioner.
Citing a hadith of the Prophet warning Muslims that their disputes will be settled in the Hereafter, Tuan Ibrahim said one should not condemn or humiliate the dead.
