Memali incident returns to haunt

Recent comments by former Deputy Prime Minister Tun (then Datuk) Musa Hitam have started tongues wagging. His comments raise several intriguing questions.

On March 27, at a discussion themed 'Malaysian Politics: Now and Then', Musa had been asked about the 1985 Kampung Memali incident in which 18 people were killed.

He clarified that he had not been Acting Prime Minister at that time as then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad was still in town. Musa, who was then Home Minister, described the Memali incident as a “black mark” in his political career.

Musa said in a statement later that on Nov. 19, 1985, the day of the incident, he and the then acting Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Amin Osman met Dr Mahathir at his office.

Mohd Amin, Musa said, had briefed Dr Mahathir on the police operation in Kampung Memali, which had resulted in the deaths of four policemen and 14 civilians.

“At the meeting, I asked Dr Mahathir to postpone a China visit on three grounds: 1. The incident occurred in Kedah, the home state of the prime minister; 2. The incident involved Malays who professed Islam; and 3. By postponing the visit to China, Dr Mahathir would have portrayed that he had given priority to and showed concern for an incident that happened in the country.”

But Dr Mahathir went ahead with the trip.

Eighteen people were killed and many others injured after the police launched an operation to arrest a religious teacher, Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya, in Memali, Baling, Kedah.

Press reports said the police operation was carried out when the residents tried to prevent the arrest of Ibrahim under the Internal Security Act for allegedly having engaged in deviant teachings.

Musa said he assumed responsibility and accountability for what had happened although he was not directly involved in the incident.

He also said no one from the government or Umno had been prepared to come out with the truth since the incident.

"I had offered to attend an exclusive interview with the media specially on the subject of the Memali incident, but no media was willing to interview me.

"I realise and understand that at that time no one was prepared to face the risk of talking about matters that could be assumed as having a bearing on the position and person of a prime minister in power," he said.

One question that arises from his revelations is this: Why was it made to look as if Dr Mahathir was abroad at the time of the incident?

Dr Mahathir, in responding to Musa’s statement, is reported to have said: "I am studying the matter. It is because this happened a long time ago. I have to check back whether what he said is right or not."

Former Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, a man noted for his principles, had written in the Afterword for the book Memali: A Policeman Remembers, published in 2011, that Dr Mahathir was in the country at that time.

But, Tunku Aziz went on to say, it was “put about at his behest that he was not in the country”.

The book, by the way, was written by Tunku Muszaffar Shah Tunku Ibrahim who was the Officer in Charge of the Police District of Baling at the time of the Memali incident. Kampung Memali comes under Baling.

In the book, Tunku Muszaffar Shah said the Memali incident happened due to poor decision making. He attributed this to “political interference” and an underestimation by the authorities of the determination of Ibrahim Libya’s followers.

Another question that arises is whether the media had been misleading the Malaysian public with regards to this fact or whether it simply did not know? And why didn’t any media organisation interview Musa when he offered to tell his side of the story about Memali?

Why didn't Musa speak up more forcefully then?

Yet another question is: Does it matter whether Dr Mahathir had been in town or not, since under the principle of collective responsibility, his entire Cabinet has to answer for something like this?

Now, the families of those who died, and those who were detained under the ISA and later released are clamouring for answers. Will there be answers?

This much is certain: Memali has come back to haunt us, especially the main players.