In 1974, the sleepy town of Baling, Kedah awakened to a mass demonstration by the Action Front of the National Union of Malaysian Islamic Students for farmers rights.

The students protested the low price of rubber, which they claimed, left many rubber tappers hungry to the point of starvation.

Today, PAS Kedah is hoping for a large crowd, from all over the country, to join in observing the incident’s memorial at the Kupang Public Field in Baling from 3pm to midnight.

PAS Kedah opposition leader Amiruddin Hamzah assures that there would be no trouble at the gathering, which will see several controversial leaders addressing the crowd.

They include fiery speakers like Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, his deputy Mohamed Sabu, the party's Kedah commissioner Mahfuz Omar, students leaders and others who figured prominently in the Baling mass protest of 1974.

"The purpose of the gathering is to highlight the grievances of the rubber tappers, who have been neglected by the government, both state and federal, since then until now," Amiruddin told

Malaysiakini.

"The situation is getting worse for them especially in light of the price hikes in essential goods including food and petrol prices," he said.

They used to be able to sell one kilogram of rubber for 25 sen back then, while sugar cost about the same price," he explained.

"Today, the price of sugar is RM2.50 per kilogramme, while rubber is only RM2.40," he added, saying the price has dropped since January this year, when it was RM3 per kilogram.

Strong demand to gov't vow

Amiruddin said the gathering will issue a strong demand to the government to set the price of rubber at RM4 per kilogram, urging it to provide partial subsidy to ensure this price is met.

Perhaps, the government can stock pile rubber at RM4 per kilogramme until the price goes beyond that before selling it, he suggested.

He added that the rubber tappers, farmers and those involved in the bloody 1985 Memali protest would also attend the gathering, to commemorate those unforgettable experiences in Baling.

It would be interesting to hear Anwar's speech later tonight as his involvement in the Baling protest launched his career in politics, when he was then the leader of the Malaysian Muslim Youth Association.

Following the protest, Anwar was arrested under the Internal Security Act but later joined Umno, under former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's leadership.

Anwar rose quickly up the ranks becoming deputy prime minister only to be sacked from his posts and jailed six years for sodomy in 1998, the year the reformasi political movement was born.

The five-term Permatang Pauh MP faces another five -year jail term for sodomising his former aide, but is appealing the sentence meted out on March 7, pending which he is still free.

Since the mass protest in 1974, Baling was never the same town again, as 11 years later, on November 19, 1985, the little district, awoke to the brutal killings of 14 people, two policemen and scores of villagers injured in Kampung Memali.

Their imam, Ibrahim Mahmood or better known as Ibrahim Libya ( right ), was accused of fanning anti-government sentiments, spreading deviant teachings among the villagers and encouraging them to clash with security forces.

He, too, died in the massacre while PAS declared him a martyr and to this day, there has not been a fatwa to declare his teaching illegal.

Recently, the ghost of Memali returned to haunt the government when former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam revealed that his boss Mahathir was in Kuala Lumpur when the incident happened, in a way, washing his hands off the killings that took place, despatching the burden of guilt to the former premier.