IPOH: Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has slammed critics who accused the Government of according greater honour to MH17 victims than security personnel killed in the Lahad Datu intrusion.
He stressed that the Government fully appreciated the sacrifices of security personnel who gave their lives to defend the country.
The remains of the fallen heroes were laid to rest with full honours and awarded with specially-created Pingat Kedaulatan Negara, he said.
“Such accusations will not only hurt the feelings of family members of the MH370 and MH17 tragedies but also the families of the security personnel killed in the intrusion,” he said after opening the Ipoh Timor Umno division meeting.
He was responding to a comment made on Saturday by Lumut MP Mohd Imran Abdul Hamid, who accused the Government of going “overboard” with the ceremony for the MH17 victims.
Imran, a retired senior navy officer, claimed that the Government was practising double standards when it accorded a huge ceremony for the remains of MH17 victims but not those who died defending the country during the Lahad Datu crisis in March 2013.
MCA Youth has called on Imran to apologise for questioning the honour accorded to the victims of the MH17 tragedy.
“He has failed to understand that this tragedy has nothing to do with politics,” said secretary-general Leong Kim Soon.
“The full military honours given to the victims (of the MH17 tragedy) are the Government’s way of paying tribute to them so that they can be accorded the dignity they deserve,” he said.
He noted that the Government had also vowed to bring those responsible for the downing of MH17 to justice and had pledged to investigate the cause of the tragedy no matter how long it took.
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