KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — With controversy still raging over the 1985 Memali incident, Tun Dr Musa Hitam sought today to clear the taint of bloodshed he said has clung to his name for nearly 30 years.
In a statement, the former deputy prime minister reiterated that his one-time boss, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister and present in Malaysia on the day of a deadly standoff between the police and followers of an Islamic sect on November 19, 1985 in Memali, Kedah, contrary to past news reports.
“On the day of the incident, I together with the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had met with the Prime Minister in his office and the acting IGP had given a brief on what happened following the police operation in Memali involving the death of 4 policemen and 14 civilians,” Musa said.
He added that he had asked Dr Mahathir to postpone his pending visit to China, and cited three reasons: the incident had taken place in the prime minister’s home state of Kedah; it had involved Malay Muslims; and the postponement would convey the perception that the head of the country’s government’s concern and priority for a domestic crisis.
“Dr Mahathir made the decision to depart for China,” Musa said.
The Johor-born said he had then proposed to Dr Mahathir to present the Memali incident in Parliament for debate, which he had done the very next day on November 20, 1985.
“Even so, I took responsibility and accountability for what happened even though I was not directly involved,” Musa said.
The 79-year-old has drawn consternation from politicians on both sides of the aisle with his disclosure at a public forum on March 27.
Opposition lawmakers have demanded a royal inquiry into the Memali incident that had stained and cast a stigma on Islamist party, PAS.
In the talk organised by the PAS-led Kelantan government and titled, “Malaysian Politics: Then and Now”, Musa said he had not yet been made acting prime minister as Dr Mahathir was still in the country.
He highlighted that as the then-home minister, he had instructed the police to always follow the due process of the law and to avoid violence and bloodshed.
Musa, the first of Dr Mahathir’s four deputies in the latter’s 22-year-long administration, said that his intent in revisiting the issue was not to cause a “new polemic”.
He pointed out that his remarks were only in response to the moderator of the talk, Datuk Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff, and commended the associate professor with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for providing him a platform to “correct the facts of history on an important event involving myself”.
“I was frank and sincere and admit that the one black spot on my political career is the Memali incident,” he said in his statement.
Musa said he had first spoken about the events surrounding Memali in court several years ago when he was embroiled in a lawsuit and when Dr Mahathir was still PM.
He maintained today that his testimony remained the same as during the talk, that he was not the then-acting prime minister during the Memali incident.
He said he tried to speak with the media after retiring from government in hopes they would report the truth, and added, “I realise and understand that at that time there was no one prepared to face the risk of speaking the truth on a subject that concerned the position of a Prime Minister”.
Dr Mahathir, now 88, has said he does not remember the details of the Memali incident and asked to check government records to refresh his memory.
