Forgive Chin Peng, let him be buried back home, Putrajaya urged: - TopicsExpress

Forgive Chin Peng, let him be buried back home, Putrajaya urged: KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Adopting a softer approach, PAS and PKR pleaded today with the Najib administration to soften its stance and let exiled Malayan communist leader Chin Peng be buried in his Sitiawan, Perak hometown. PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told The Malay Mail Online he disagreed with the late communist’s ideology, but said the government should acknowledge the contribution of the man born Ong Boon Hua, to the country’s struggle for independence from colonial British rule and put into perspective. “If we are able to forgive and forget the atrocities of the Japanese as well as the British, why aren’t we able to magnanimously forgive Chin Peng?” Dzulkefly asked. “The Japanese plundered even worse, and so did the British... There is a need to rewrite the history of our struggle for independence and put in perspective all those who struggled and contributed in their respective ways,” added the director of the PAS research centre. Chin Peng died on Malaysia Day yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand, in exile. The Bangkok Post had reported the 88-year-old’s death was due to old age. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday that Putrajaya would not allow Chin Peng to be laid to rest in Malaysia, calling him a “terrorist leader that waged war on the nation”. Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar also said that security has been heightened at borders and entry points to prevent attempts to smuggle Chin Peng’s remains into the country. PKR vice-president N. Surendran reminded Putrajaya that the Malaysian government had signed a peace treaty with Chin Peng in 1989 that allowed members of the now-defunct Malayan Communist Party (CPM) to return to their homeland if they laid down arms. “It’s wrong of us as a nation to go back on the terms and spirit of the agreement,” Surendran told The Malay Mail Online. “He’s dead now, surely we should be magnanimous,” added the Padang Serai MP. Yesterday, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said it was time to “move on” from the past and noted that it was Chin Peng’s wish to have his ashes returned to his birth place in Sitiawan, Perak. “Whether one agrees or not with his struggle, his place in history is assured,” said Lim. In a statement yesterday, former CPM chairman Abdullah CD said Chin Peng had loved Malaysia very much. “He had the wisdom and courage to bring peace to our country,” said Abdullah, who had remained a close comrade and friend to Chin Peng over the years. “We fought to death to defend our country against foreign aggressors. Together we mustered the courage to fight against evil forces and injustices in society,” he added in the statement representing several peace villages formed in Southern Thailand after Chin Peng, who was then the CPM secretary-general, had led a violent 12-year insurgency from 1948 to 1960 against British colonial rule and continued his battle even after Malaya achieved independence in 1957, and after Malaysia was formed in 1963. Malayan Communist guerrilla fighters had burned villages, orchestrated assassinations and attacked police stations before the military force provided by British Commonwealth nations forced his movement into the jungle. The violence left more than 10,000 people dead and led the British to isolate and resettle more than 400,000 Chinese in “new villages” to cut Chin Peng’s presumed base of support, US daily, Washington Post reported today. Chua Tian Chang, another PKR vice-president, also said today there was no reason for the government to prohibit Chin Peng’s ashes from being brought back to Malaysia. “Why do we have new villages? We have ISA (Internal Security Act). We have the Emergency Ordinance. We have Rela. We have Rukun Tetangga. All these things, have one way or another, to do with the movement led by Chin Peng,” Chua told The Malay Mail Online. “We cannot erase all this and come into a historical vacuum,” added the Batu MP. The Kumpulan Aktivis Mahasiswa Independen (KAMI) said yesterday that they were willing to make arrangements to bring back Chin Peng’s remains. “He is still an independence fighter for students and the youth, especially in KAMI,” the student group said in statement yesterday. “Tunku Abdul Rahman himself acknowledged Chin Peng’s contributions, but why are those who took up arms not getting the honour they deserve?” it added. dlvr.it/3zS63q