I wrote the following in respond to a letter by Dr A Soorian 'Too late Chin Peng, to bury the past' (which appeared in The Sun on Sept 27). My reply was carried today but there were a few omissions. The following is the full version...

I find it hard to agree with the letter written by Dr A Soorian from Seremban.

As Chin Peng has written in his book , history is inevitably portrayed from the point of view of victors. This propaganda seems to me has influenced much of Dr Soorian's thoughts and understanding. Soorian has gone in great length to portray Chin Peng as an unworthy human, something which is familiar to us and something which has been told repeatedly all these years by those who hold the levers of power. The way how initially Chin Peng's was portrayed as a hero and later as a villain by the British itself is an easy example of how those in power can interpret issues as they wish. Soorian's thoughts, I believe, is caught in this framework.

For one, I find Chin Peng having the courage to admit the failures and weaknesses of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) which he led. Till today, I have yet to hear the Japanese or the British colonists ever admitting any wrongdoings on their part during the war against our nation. Today, we welcome and embrace the Japanese and British business class, forgetting all their atrocities and murders committed on the Malaysian people. It is sad that we can have such double standards.

Chin Peng had waged a war against the Japanese and British. His enemies were clear. In fact, what is the difference of the killing of Sir Henry Gurney by CPM compared with the killing of JWW Birch in Pasir Salak by Maharaja Lela. Today Maharaja Lela is a hero but it is hard to accept the sheer fact that CPM was the first political party in the country calling for independence and the first to wage a war against the invaders.

Soorian's remark about Baling talks is yet another misconception. The CPM never changed its stand from the Baling talks in 1955 to the final peace accord signed in 1989. On both occasions, they declined to surrender but agreed to lay down arms. In 1955, the talks failed as British were pulling the strings but a similar peace proposal was agreed 34 years later. Therefore, who prolonged the war?

If the CPM did not have the support of the poor and the rural masses, they could not have succeeded all this while. It took very draconian laws and very undemocratic measures by the British to erode the popular support the CPM had. Villagers were put in so-called new villagers which were in fact detention centres. If the CPM was so unpopular, I am sure the colonial authorities then, would have had a much easier task.

Nobody in the right frame of mind would wage an armed struggle. Every armed struggle all over the world today is rooted in deep dissatisfaction of the failure of the system we live in. It is important to find answers to these fundamental questions. By not addressing these questions, we would be walking the thin line of calling every other person a terrorist.

On the killings of the European planters, though Chin Peng did not issue the directive, he was not against the killings except the killing of a 21-year-old probationary who had just started work. It is said that the planters killed were ruthless owners who had brought great hardship to the workers, and most workers were not sympathetic about their death.

A few years ago, I had an opportunity to talk to some estate workers in Sungai Siput area and did inquire about the communists and their role during the British rule. To my surprise, the Indian workers whom I met said they consider the communists as the Jungle God (Kattu Perumal). They only help us and do not do us any harm, they said. I was surprised with their views.

Chin Peng has numerously made his remark that if we lived in his era, we might do the same. Quoting him, "And if you had gone through the ghastly period of the corrupt British Military Administration immediately after the Japanese capitulation and seen the wholesale poverty that pervaded after years of Japanese atrocities, if you had watched how the administration worked in Malayan towns and villagers, you could not be quick to say that I should have been cool-headed and taken the easier road."

I think it is time to welcome Chin Peng. Unlike Soorian, I feel the government is more worried of the popularity of Chin Peng upon his return. After all, the government has acknowledged that the CPM did play a part in hastening the independence of Malaysia. This is a historical fact.

Chin Peng said he is unrepentant and is entitled to this view. We are doing an injustice by not allowing him to visit his country of birth. Whatever said, Chin Peng and CPM has played an important role in the country's history. Today, Japanese and British companies continue to plunder our workers while the United States go on killing thousands of innocent people all over the world. Yet, we give them the red carpet treatment.

We talk about a borderless world and yet we built fences all round it. Let Chin Peng come home and let us see if he is welcomed.