‘The issue of Dr M saying sorry is not important’

With the exception of Kua Kia Soong, many other ex-ISA victims see no tangible value in getting Dr Mahathir to ask forgiveness from them

(Berita Daily) –  In 1987, 106 people from opposition parties and BN politicians, academics and leaders of NGOs were detained under the now defunct Internal Security Act (ISA).

Now, 30 years later the man who called for the arrests is part of the opposition bloc and has quit Umno to form Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).

Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the country’s Home Minister from 1986 to 1999 and had signed the detention orders for the detainees including DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and his son Lim Guan Eng for two years.

A former detainee Kua Kia Soong, who was also arrested for 445 days under the Act, has been demanding the former premier to publicly apologise to all the detainees and their families, while urging that the longest serving premier must not blame the police for the political crackdown.

“Mahathir has overlooked something that is so elementary to the ISA, namely, that it is the Home Minister (ie. Mahathir at the time) who signed the two-year detention order after the first 60 days of solitary confinement,” Kua, who is the adviser of human rights group Suaram, said in a statement.

Kua’s statement comes as a coalition of civil society organisations including Suaram plans to commemorate the upcoming 30th anniversary of Ops Lalang.

Berita Daily spoke to several former detainees on whether it is imperative for the former Umno president to apologise to all of his victims.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar: The issue of saying sorry is not important. He can say it but that is not important. What is important that he needs to do some reflection. He has changed his principle about DAP, Anwar Ibrahim and the change happened due to his lust for power and politics.

That is the main issue for me now. As the people of this country, I want him to face his own self, when he was in power, he gave all excuses to detain us but now he says he was not the one who called the shots. The changes were purely driven by power and politics and his aim is to bring down Najib Razak. For me, I am disappointed that he is up to do anything to get what he wants. For him, the ends justifies the means. That’s what disappoints me.

Chandra was arrested in Penang during the operation and held for 60 days under the ISA. He was then the president for Aliran – a Penang based NGO. He is now the president of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).

Dr Nasir Hashim: I am skeptical of Dr Mahathir. When we were all arrested under Operasi Lalang, he was mature enough to decide and to think. Even if he says sorry, the matter is not solved. Is he apologising because he knew that he had done the wrong thing or is he going to say sorry because of political mileage? I do not know because I am not God to judge him.

Has he said sorry to Anwar Ibrahim and to his family after all that he had done to them? We know that they had met each other but has he said sorry? For me, the apologise does not mean anything to me anymore. His way and approach at the age of 90 is very admirable but I don’t think that he will say sorry. His ego is still there and he is not a humble man.

Nasir Hashim was arrested under the ISA for two years and was among the last person to be released from Kamunting due to his left leaning political ideology. He is now the chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and was a former Selangor state assemblyman for Kota Damansara.

Khalid Samad: I don’t think it is necessary for Dr Mahathir to say sorry. For me, he is with Pakatan Harapan now and is together going against Najib Razak. That is more than enough for me. How can we ask a 90-year-old man to apologise to the whole nation. He has his image to carry.

It is not like he is not with us fighting corruption. He is with us and is fighting a kleptocracy government. That is enough for me.

Khalid was a PAS youth member at the time of his arrest. He was arrested at the Subang international airport a day before the crackdown and was released after 60 days. Now an MP for Shah Alam, Khalid had left PAS to join Amanah – a progressive Islamist party consisting of ex-PAS leaders including fellow ISA detainee Mohamad Sabu who is also the president of the party.

Ibrahim Ali: Personally, I think that Dr Mahathir does not need to say sorry but he should be congratulated for not interfering in policy making decision in the Operasi Lalang incident. The operation was conducted by our security forces to ensure to nation’s safety and Mahathir had nothing to do with it. As the prime minister, Mahathir was briefed by the police on the situation after the operation.

The situation at the time was very tense and I was arrested too even though I had nothing to do with the demonstration at the Kampung Baru stadium. For 60 days I was detained, I did not run away. That was the second time I was arrested under the ISA. So what does Kua knows. Seeking cheap publicity? So his idea for Mahathir to say sorry to all of the detainees is nonsense.

Ibrahim Ali is now the president of a Malay right wing group Perkasa, for which Mahathir was once its patron. A former student activist, Ibrahim was also a former MP for Pasir Mas. It is said that Ibrahim will be contesting as an independent in the upcoming general election.