This is default featured post 1 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.

This is default featured post 2 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.

This is default featured post 3 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.

This is default featured post 4 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.

This is default featured post 5 title

Go to Blogger edit html and find these sentences.Now replace these sentences with your own descriptions.

Sunday 4 September 2011

Pakatan defends Mat Sabu, flays Utusan


The opposition coalition also condemns Umno for only propogating
a history that doubles up as government propaganda.
PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat has risen to the defence of one of its leaders who has been accused of being a communist-sympathiser for questioning the legitimacy of Malaysia’s history.
Last Saturday PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu was slammed by Utusan Malaysia for allegedly hailing the communists who attacked the Bukit Kepong police station during the Emergency on Feb 23, 1950 as heroes.
Utusan also quoted him as saying that the country’s first premier, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, and Umno’s first president, Onn Jaafar, should not be recognised as freedom fighters because they were British officers.
Mohamad Sabu, known popularly as Mat Sabu, has since denied the accusations and plans to file a lawsuit against the Umno-owned daily over its “distorted” report.  Pakatan Rakyat today stood by Mat Sabu in stating its conviction that he had made no such remarks as claimed by Utusan.
In a statement signed by PKR Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, DAP Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong and PAS Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad, the coalition condemned the report as “irresponsible spin-mongering being perpetrated by Umno leaders and the media”.
Pakatan also echoed Mat Sabu’s previous statement that he had never made any mention of communisists and that his attempt to highlight the need to appreciate historical plurality had been taken out of context.
“We hereby firmly attest that we do not question Mat Sabu’s motivations in attempting to raise legitimate doubts about the historical narrative of our country,” it said.
“However we do seriously question the reckless and insidious reporting of Utusan Malaysia which has time and again resorted to fabricating fictitious arguments with malicious intent.”
Mat Sabu had earlier clarified that what he had said was that Merdeka should cease to be an Umno celebration and become a Malaysian celebration by recognising the other people who contributed to the nation’s independence.
Pakatan voiced full agreement with his statement and further questioned the historical narrative as provided by the Umno-BN government.
“We severely criticise the systematic and decades-long effort to “sanitise” Malaysian history so that only the contributions of Umno and its cohorts are recognised while the legitimate contributions of other Malaysian nationalists and freedom fighters are conveniently erased,” it said.
Manipulated for years
Pakatan then demanded to know what place history held for names like Ahmad Boestaman (founder of Parti Rakyat Malaysia) and Dr Buharnuddin al-Helmy (founder of Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya) or organisations like Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM).
“They were effectively the pioneers of organised Malay political activism,” it said. “And then we have the “People’s Constitution” crafted 10 years before Merdeka by the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) and Pusat Tenaga Rakyat (Putera).”
“The Putera-AMCJA effort was not only momentous in scope and effort, but more importantly our country’s first truly multiracial coalition.”
Pakatan emphasised that the struggle for independence was not a singular effort by the Alliance but one that took place on many different frontiers and spearheaded by many different personalities.
“But Umno leaders will have no part of such a colourful past,” it said. “History according to Umno is a monochrome version that offers no room for dissenting views.”
“Our history textbooks are not only missing a chapter or two, but an entire parallel history that has now been successfully erased from official memory.”
Pakatan pointed out that it was in Umno’s interest to maintain their version of history not only because it upholds their leaders and claim to power, but also because it conceals their “chicanery and Machiavellian machinations”.
“We conclude by stating again that Mat Sabu was not wrong in attempting to contest existing perceptions of history,” it added.
“What is wrong is the fact that Malaysians have been manipulated for years by the propaganda machinery of the Umno-BN government.”
Taken from Free Malaysia Today

Bukit Kepong ‘battle’: NGOs back Mat Sabu


Deputy IGP criticised for practising double standard in carrying out police 
investigation of the PAS deputy president.



KUALA LUMPUR: Several NGOs today criticised Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar for practising “double standard” over the controversy surrounding PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu’s remarks on the Bukit Kepong incident.
Last week, Mohamad Sabu, also popularly known as Mat Sabu, criticised Utusan Malaysia over its report which suggested that he allegedly praised the communist insurgents who attacked the Bukit Kepong police station during the Emergency on Feb 23, 1950 as heroes.
During a political rally in Tasek Gelugor on Aug 21, Mat Sabu allegedly said that “nearing Merdeka, the Bukit Kepong clip will be aired”.
“In Bukit Kepong, the police were British policemen. Those who attacked Bukit Kepong were the true freedom fighters. Their leader was Mat Indera (Muhammad Indera).”
Later, Khalid confirmed that police will investigate Mat Sabu after receiving 49 police reports nationwide regarding his alleged statement, and might charge him under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Angkatan Warga Aman Malaysia (WargaAMAN), representing 20 major Indian NGOs, came to the defence of Mat Sabu saying that people will lost their trust in the police for clearly discriminating against the Pakatan Rakyat leader.
“We are not against the police decision, but why didn’t the police take similar action against Utusan Malaysia, Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali and Senator Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor for their racial statements?” WargaAMAN secretary-general S Barathidasan asked.
He said that WargaAMAN itself had lodged numerous reports against Utusan Malaysia and Ibrahim for stoking racial tension, but till today the police did not carry out a single investigation.
He added that the reputation of the police will be damaged if they continued to show favoritism to the Barisan Nasional.
Barathidasan also fully supports the views of Mat Sabu as “substantively correct”.
“The Bukit Kepong incident is the best example of Malaysians being ‘blind to history’ or to the spin of the Umno-led government.”
The incident took place seven years before independence.
“The 17 policemen and family members who died in the attack had served the British government and not the interest of the people in Malaya,” he added.
He also said that during the Japanese occupation, the British colony supplied weapons to the Malaya Communist Party (MCP) in the fight against the Japanese.
“But, later the communists withdrew their support from the British after the government refused to talk to them,” he said, adding that Mat Indera were among the few Malay heroes who fought both the Japanese and British rulers.
Mat Sabu’s view on Mat Indera is therefore correct, he said.
Taken from Free Malaysia Today

Onus on media bosses to ensure safety


The National Union of Journalists says media employers must ensure reporters
assigned to war-torn zones be given full protective gears.



KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has reminded media employers that they should be responsible for the safety and welfare of journalists as they are the ones who decide whether certain assignments should be covered.
Said NUJ general-secretary V Anbalagan: “Employers have to ensure their employees are provided with full protective gears like bullet-proof helmet and vest when covering assignments in a war-torn zone.”
He was commenting on the death of BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, 39, who was killed while on assignment in Somalia yesterday.
Noramfaizul was with Putera 1Malaysia Club for a humanitarian aid mission in Mogadishu. He was said to have been shot by a sniper.
In the incident, Noramfaizula and a TV3 journalist, Aji Saregar Mazlan, who was also injured, were travelling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle to Mogadishu under armed escort when the attack took place.
“The NUJ wishes to convey its condolence to the family of Noramfaizul,” said Anbalagan.
The Somalia aid team is expected to return, with Noramfaizul’s body, tomorrow morning.
Timely reminder
Anbalagan also said Noramfaizul serves as a “timely reminder” to journalists and employers to adhere to standard operating procedures, whether on assignment inside Malaysia or overseas.
He added that employers should also take out insurance policy to cover death or injuries of their employees.
If they are not covered by insurance, “employers should seriously reconsider sending them for such assignment”.
“Most importantly, employers should brief their reporters, photographers and cameramen on the do’s and dont’s when covering events where their life is at risk. This can be done based on the experiences of senior journalists,” he said.
Anbalagan said that in the recent Bersih 2.0 rally, the NUJ has provided some guidance to its members on measures to be taken when covering the rally as this was considered a “social unrest event”.
He said NUJ will soon release a comprehensive safety guide book for journalists covering events like earthquake, floods and social unrests locally or overseas.
Taken from Free Malaysia Today

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Share

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More