Probe Ummah chief Ismail Mina for sedition, says MCA

Ismail Mina Ahmad.

PETALING JAYA: MCA wants Ummah chairman Ismail Mina Ahmad to be investigated for sedition over his claim that only the Malays fought the communists.

The party’s religious harmony bureau chairman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker, in rebuking the leader of about 300 Muslim NGOs, said it was such negative views that caused rifts in the country.

“Irresponsible statements such as those from Ummah are the cause of our national divide ... not vernacular schools or others,” he said in a statement yesterday.

At a convention, Ismail Mina claimed that only the Malays resisted British colonists, Japanese occupiers and the communists.

Ti highlighted the sacrifices of Sybil Kathigasu, resistance fighter Lim Bo Seng and native Sabahans during the Sandakan Death Marches, and the multiracial security forces that fought during the 2013 Ops Daulat in Lahad Datu.

He said there was clear evidence that non-Malays patriotically defended Malaya during the pre- and post-Independence era.

“However, they have been selectively forgotten or overlooked by some. It is pathetic and an outright insult to Malayan and Malaysian soldiers, guerillas, policemen and civilians to erroneously and biasedly claim that only Malays fought in WWII and during the communist insurgency,” he added.

Ti also commended the National Patriots Association which defended the sacrifices of the non-Malays in fighting the enemy.

Patriots chairman Brig-Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji said non-Malay officers had fought alongside Malay veterans for Malaya’s independence.

“Distorting history to suit one’s political purpose and instilling hatred towards non-Malays is totally irresponsible,” Brig-Jen Mohamed said, calling on the Defence and Home Ministries, the Inspector-General of Police and the chief of the Armed Forces Religious Corps to set the record straight.