There are heroes who fought for the independence of the country even before Umno existed but the ruling party fears it may lose its position of power if its version of history is rewritten to tell the truth said PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu.

mat sabu pc with salleh man 190811 Speaking to a 800 strong crowd at a ceramah in Gombak yesterday, Mohamad, popularly known as Mat Sabu ( left ), said that Umno kept smearing PAS as being supportive of the communist cause as it was afraid that the true history of freedom fighters might be revealed.

"All I said was Muhammed Indera (Mat Indera) was an activist for independence and Umno then says Mat Sabu is communist.

"Umno has inherited the colonial attitude. They are worried that history will need to be rewritten if we push matters further," he said.

Mohamad has come under heavy fire for allegedly saying in a speech that insurgent Mat Indera, who led the attack on the Bukit Kepong police station in 1950, was the real hero in the incident and not the police who were on the British payroll.

The issue was first highlighted by Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia , and has since raised the ire of many former servicemen, with some going to the extent of demanding that Mat Sabu's citizenship be revoked.

According to entries in history books, communist insurgents attacked the Bukit Kepong police station on February 23, 1950, during the Emergency period while the country was still under the British rule.

Merdeka Day has lost meaning

The charismatic speaker reiterated that those who fought for the nation's independence decades before Umno had come into existence, were not given the equal recognition as Umno's - president Tunku Abdul Rahman and founder Onn Jaafar.

"The Merdeka celebrations, it is always an Umno style celebration of Merdeka . if it's not Tunku Abdul Rahman, or Datuk Onn, what about other leaders like Ishak Haji Muhammad (Pak Sako) or Burhanuddin al-Hilmi?

"When Merdeka comes, it is only Umno leaders who are featured why don't filmmakers direct films on Datuk Maharaja Lela or Mat Kilau Imam Rasu?

"Every year during Merdeka they only show films like ‘Bukit Kepong' and ‘Sarjan Hassan'. Don't get me wrong, Sergeant Hassan was an admirable fighter, but the fact is he was a British soldier fighting against the Japanese colonisers, even if it was a movie by the legendary P Ramlee," he quipped.

He lamented that over the years, the Independence Day celebrations seem to have lost its meaning among Malaysians as it is rare sight to see the national flag hung from houses or vehicles.

He insisted that he "loved his country very much" and had no intention of reviving communism or to move against the principles of Islam.

mat indera 060911 "These allegations are not new, our leaders have faced all sorts of allegations before," he said.

Mohamad also countered attacks that he feared debating with Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaludddin over the Mat Indera ( right ) controversy, as the beef was between him and Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, who has attacked Mohamad publicly.

"Khairy is a good boy, he has the potential to become a future PAS leader... I'm serious but why should I debate him when the one who has been attacking me is the Umno deputy president who keeps asking me to repent?

Mohamad is expected to sue Utusan Malaysia for misreporting his speech during the ceramah tomorrow, after his 24-hour ultimatum for a front apology from the newspaper expired two days ago.

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