Nik Aziz laments UMNO's silence over Merdeka denial

Harakahdaily

Sep 15: PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (right) said he was still waiting for UMNO's response to the statement by National’s Professor Council's Dr Zainal Kling that the country had never been colonialised by Britain. Zainal, a member of the Council, lending support to media attack against PAS's Mohamad Sabu over his call to revisit the country's British-friendly history, raised eyebrows when he declared that Malaya's status as a British protectorate meant that it had never been colonised, despite being under British control.Nik Aziz said he had been eagerly awaiting UMNO's reaction, saying he had been going through newspapers on a daily basis. “Perhaps this issue is too small for them? Or perhaps because such a view was expressed by an UMNO member, with even its former president agreeing?” asked Nik Aziz on the silence from UMNO leaders over the claim. Zainal's remark got the backing from none other than former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who said the Malay sultans had invited the British to advise them on running the states, adding that Malaya was not 'technically' a British colony. Nik Aziz’s call echoed PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man who called on UMNO to make its stand known. 'Tunku trusted by Brits' Meanwhile, national laureate A Samad Said has also commented on the controversy sparked by Mat Sabu's remarks, saying Malaysia first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, regarded officially as the country's 'Father of Independence', was not a Merdeka fighter. “I don’t think Tunku Abdul Rahman was an independence fighter. Prior to him were Mat Kilau, Mat Indera, (Ahmad) Boestaman, Ishak Haji Muhammad and others. These individuals really fought and they were people who we call fighters. "To me, Tunku Abdul Rahman was not a fighter. He was merely the recipient, someone who the English agreed to hand over (governance) to," Pak Samad told a forum titled "Who owned the country’s independence?” last night. He added that the British needed someone who could guard their interest in its absence, and recalled his own conversation with the late Ahmad Boestamam while working under him at Fikiran Rakyat newspaper, adding that Boestamam, late PAS leader Burhanuddin Helmy and the Tunku were called to negotiate on how the independence should be “received”. Pak Samad (right) further claimed that the British was ready to grant independence but it must be given to someone they considered “reasonable”. “And the reasonable 'someone' is Tunku Abdul Rahman,” he said, and reiterated that the Tunku was working with the British. "UMNO was formed after Boestamam, Burhanuddin and others had formed their political parties to fight for independence. The British did not want to negotiate with these people, leftist politicians,  because they would not safeguard the British interests," he said