Nazri, who was then in Umno Youth, is of the view that the response from the government then was not proportionate, referring to the police raid against the villagers in Kampung Memali.
“It was too rough, these are kampung folks, not terrorists.
“It was a disproportionate response from the government in handling the issue,” he said in a press conference after opening the Pasareka design market here today.
Nazri, who is an Umno supreme council member, said the support for an RCI now was not to look into the cause of the incident, but on the response by the government at the time – with prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the helm – in handling the situation.
“We are not interested in the cause. We want to know who gave orders. Mahathir has to answer and we want to hear it,” Nazri said, adding that the terms of reference must be on whether the response was proportionate or overboard.
He then cited the government’s response during the Al-Maunah incident in July 2000, when the then Defence Minister Najib Razak, despite getting the green light to attack, did not do so.
“Najib decided against taking such action as the people were not uniformed communist terrorists,” Nazri said, adding that Najib had instead taken the approach of trying to persuade them.
On former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam’s call for the RCI to be held after the next general election, Nazri said this was for the cabinet to decide.
The Memali incident of Nov 19, 1985 saw a massive police siege on a village in Baling, Kedah which ended with 14 residents and 4 police officers killed.
Violence erupted when hundreds of villagers put up barricades in an attempt to stop preacher Ibrahim Mahmud, also known as Ibrahim Libya, from being arrested under the now repealed Internal Security Act (ISA) for alleged deviant teachings, an allegation rejected by PAS.
The issue of the Memali tragedy was revived earlier this month when Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said PPBM chairman Mahathir, who was prime minister, had tried to shift responsibility to his then deputy Musa Hitam.
On Aug 5, Zahid reportedly cited Musa’s biography in which the former deputy prime minister said Mahathir was in the country when the incident occurred.
“That person (Mahathir) was in Malaysia, but put the blame on Musa, and Musa was made a scapegoat by that person,” Zahid was reported to have said.
On Aug 20, Zahid said the government was willing to consider an RCI into the tragedy, eliciting strong support from PAS leaders.
Kampung Memali, where people still wait for Mahathir’s apology