(CORRECTING SPELLING IN HEADLINE)
GEORGE TOWN, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- DAP chairman Karpal Singh wants his fellow
Pakatan leader Mohamad Sabu to retract a recent statement he allegedly made
regarding the Bukit Kepong incident in the 1950s.
He said the incident should not be disputed and must be accepted because it
had been historically documented that the policemen and their family members
fought the communist guerillas.
"Touching upon such a sensitive issue more than 61 years after the event is
certainly unjustified and I think he should seriously consider retracting it in
view of the negative reception of it by all quarters," he said here today.
Mat Sabu, who is PAS deputy president, allegedly remarked during a talk in
Tasek Gelugor, here, on Aug 21 that the communist guerillas who attacked and
killed 25 police personnel and their families in the Bukit Kepong tragedy were
the real heroes as they were actually fighting the British.
He said Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu, should immediately do the
needful to assuage the feelings of the families of those who perished in the
attack.
-- MORE
KARPAL-RETRACT 2 (LAST) GEORGE TOWN
"I am not anti-PAS and I am not anti-Sabu, but I do not agree with his
statement here on this issue," he said.
However, the Bukit Gelugor MP said Mat Sabu's statement could not be
justified and that it could damage Pakatan.
"He should retract his statement as I do not see why he should not. I do not
think what he said has any positive amplification for Pakatan; it's negative,"
he said.
Mat Sabu later clarified the remark, stating that those who attacked Bukit
Kepong were heroes because they were freedom fighters, and not because they
attacked Malay policemen.
-- BERNAMA
KTK JS