Mubarak backs government’s decision on Chin Peng’s ashes Posted on September 20, 2013, Friday KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) has offered strong support for the government’s decision not to allow the remains of Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng from being brought back to Malaysia in the best interest of the country. Its information chief, Datuk Abdul Rahman Sulaiman said he hoped the government would stand firm with the decision. He said Mubarak abhorred at any suggestion to bring home Chin Peng’s ashes as he was not a hero to be glorified. Describing such call as politically motivated and boils down to ignorance of history, he said the demand should not be entertained as Chin Peng’s sins were too big to be forgiven. He recounted that Chin Peng did not return home during his lifetime as he did not comply with the terms of the peace treaty signed between Malaysia, the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and Thailand in 1989. Abdul Rahman said Chin Peng did not want to risk facing legal action for the atrocities inflicted by communist insurgents against the people or to undergo a rehabilitation programme. “Instead Chin Peng chose to live in exile as he dared not face the people and members of the security forces that he had persecuted. This makes him unfit to be honoured as a hero by the people,” he told Bernama. Abdul Rahman said he was mindful of the peace agreement inked in Hatyai on Dec 2, 1989 as he was among editors assigned to churn out articles to persuade the people to accept the government’s decision to sign the accord. “I could still remember that the people then were enraged when the government agreed to go to the negotiation table with CPM as they could not forget the horrors of communist insurgents who killed innocent people,” he said. Abdul Rahman said Chin Peng’s willingness to lay down arms and take part in peace talks at that time was prompted by the fall of communism in Eastern Europe as well the disintegration of the CPM. In Melaka, National Silat Federation (Pesaka) president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said Chin Peng’s death should not be mourned and grieving his demise could be deemed as an act of treason. He said a wave of violence unleashed by communist insurgents against the people during the insurgency could not be pardoned and those who mourned Chin Peng’s death could be construed as extolling communist brutality. “Chin Peng’s death is not a loss to the country and those who weep for his death relish his cruelty in killing innocent people. “Many women had become widows and children had become orphans due to communist annihilation. Is Chin Peng worthy of mourning by the people, especially the younger generation?” he said in a statement. Asserting Pesaka’s support for the government’s stand, he said the association would not allow Chin Peng’s remains to be brought home. In Putrajaya, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said allowing the remains of Chin Peng to be brought home would only hurt the feelings of family members of the people and soldiers killed by communist insurgents during the Emergency. “It will also break the hearts of ex-soldiers and ex-policemen who were maimed or wounded in skirmishes or ambushes during the insurgency. “Many ex-servicemen and ex-policemen who survived the ordeal are still alive today,” he told reporters after launching an online youth organisation registration system (eRoy) here today. Khairy, who is also Umno Youth chief, said Chin Peng did not take an offer to return home to be a Malaysian citizen after signing the peace treaty between the Malaysian government, the CPM and the Thai government in Hatyai in 1989. On a suggestion by the MCA to allow Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought home, he said the MCA was entitled to its opinion but Umno Youth stood firm behind the government’s decision. In Sandakan, a police report was lodged at the Sandakan Police District Headquarters Sandakan against those who tried to bring Chin Peng’s ashes home. The report was made by 11 Libaran Umno Youth division members led by its information chief Mazlani Jenuary and Malaysian Moral and Human Development Association’s Sabah branch chairman Asmawi Asa. Speaking to reporters after lodging the report, Asmawi said, “We condemn attempts to bring Chin Peng’s ashes home as he was not a national warrior but a communist insurgent who had terrorised the people.” Sandakan police chief ACP Rowell Marong confirmed receiving the report when contacted. He said the report would be referred to the Setiawan police station, Perak, where the first report was filed. In Kota Kinabalu, the Sabah branch of the Malaysian Ex-Servicemen Association yesterday lodged a report at the Kota Kinabalu Police District Headquarters over the attempts. Its vice-president, Mohd Rakim Abdullah said Sabah ex-servicemen were saddened over the attempts as thousands of soldiers had fallen or had been maimed or wounded at the hands of communist insurgents since the Emergency and until they laid down their arms. The association’s Kota Kinabalu branch chief Adrin Abdullah said he had seen several soldiers lost their legs when they stepped on landmines planted by CPM insurgents during operations in the peninsula. About 800 soldiers from Sabah were stationed in the peninsula at the height of communist insurgency, said Adrin who left the army after a 21-year service.BP
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 13:40:27 +0000
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