KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia will face yet another defamation lawsuit, after DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang announced plans to sue it and two Umno leaders over allegations that he was a key instigator of the deadly May 13, 1969 racial riots.
Lim slammed former deputy education minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin and the newspaper for allegedly spreading “racist lies, poison and incitement” by claiming he had urinated on the flagpole at the then Selangor Mentri Besar’s residence, a scene of which was depicted in controversial film “Tanda Putera”.
The senior opposition man said such wild allegations appear to be a move to whip up support among Umno members in the run-up to the party elections starting at the end of this month.
“[B]ut the question Malaysians and even Umno delegates, divisional and branch leaders must ask is whether they will allow the dissemination of racist lies, poison and incitement to sacrifice the higher national interests of Malaysian nation-building in the belief that this is the surest way to high votes and influence in the upcoming Umno party elections!” he said in a statement today.
Utusan recently quoted Puad and Zainuddin in separate articles claiming that Lim was a key instigator in the riots that rocked Kuala Lumpur. The incident prompted the government to implement the New Economic Policy (NEP) to address the broadening economic gap between the majority Malays and the wealthy Chinese community.
Lim argued that it was not possible for him to be related in any way to the riots, as he had not been in the national capital when it happened.
He said he has consistently called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to find out the causes and the culprits behind the deadly confrontation.
Lim added that had be instigated the riots, he would not have written to the-then prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, expressing his “anxieties for the future of Malaysia” and making a three-point proposal to forge national unity in the wake of the tragedy.
“As I said in my letter to Tunku: ‘From the very outset of the May 13 disturbances, the DAP had offered its help to restore peace and harmony.
“‘I myself, on 17th May, had occasion to make a similar offer and pledge on behalf of my party at a press conference in Singapore, on the eve of my return to Malaysian capital from Sabah and arrest’,” he said, referring to his detention over his alleged involvement in the riots.
“We should learn the lessons from the tragedy of the May 13, 1969 so that Malaysia can be a more united, successful and prosperous nation and not to distort history and the tragic events of 44 years ago for petty political advantages as in securing high votes and greater influence in the upcoming Umno party elections.”
