Lim Kit Siang and former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor have pointed towards PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang on the Memali incident, which claimed 18 lives, including four police personnel.

Lim said if a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) is established to investigate the incident, Hadi should testify on the impact of his speech, known as "Amanat Hadi" (Hadi's address).

"(He should testify) on the impact of 'Amanat Hadi' on the loss of 18 lives in 1985 and how he could reconcile 'Amanat Hadi' with his present intimate relationship and defence of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the 1MDB scandal," Lim added in a statement today.

Renewed calls for an RCI on the Memali incident followed the fracas at the Nothing to Hide 2 forum in Shah Alam on Aug 13.

A riot erupted as Dr Mahathir Mohamad was answering a question on the Memali tragedy, which occurred during his tenure as prime minister.

Following this, Hadi claimed that the fracas was due to Mahathir's unsatisfactory response, which angered some in the audience.

Meanwhile, Rahim (photo) said an RCI on Memali would likely expose Hadi's role in influencing PAS members involved in the incident.

Rahim, who was the Selangor police chief at the time, said "Amanat Hadi" inspired many PAS members, including Ibrahim Mahmud @ Ibrahim Libya, who was the focal point of the Memali incident.

The former top cop said "Amanat Hadi" had labelled Muslims who do not adopt Islam as a complete way of life, including politics, as kafir (infidels).

"Hadi's message was actively taken up and preached by PAS Youth, and it was this message that inspired Ibrahim Libya.

"He was a strident PAS follower and was loyal to Hadi's message," Rahim told The Malaysian Insight.

"Amanat Hadi" was delivered during a ceramah in Kuala Terengganu on April 7, 1981. According to the White Paper on the Memali incident, excerpts of "Amanat Hadi" were widely reproduced.

Excerpts from the most contentious portion of "Amanat Hadi" are:

"Percayalah, kita menentang Umno, bukan kerana nama dia Umno. Kita menentang Barisan Nasional bukan kerana dia lama memerintah kerajaan. Kita menentang dia ialah kerana dia mengekalkan perlembagaan penjajah, mengekalkan undang-undang kafir, mengekalkan peraturan jahiliyah. Oleh kerana itulah kita menentang mereka. Oleh kerana itulah kita menghadapi mereka. Oleh itulah kita cuba berlawan dengan mereka.

"Perjuangan kita adalah jihad, ucapan kita adalah jihad, derma kita adalah jihad. Bergantunglah kita kepada Allah dengan (menghadapi) puak-puak ini kerana kalau kita mati melawan puak-puak ini, mati kita adalah syahid. Mati kita adalah Islam. Kita tidak perlu masuk Buddha, kita tidak perlu masuk Hindu, kita tidak perlu masuk Kristian, tapi kita menjadi kafir dengan mengamalkan politik suku, agama suku."

("Our fight against Umno is not because they are called Umno. Our fight against BN is not because they have been the ruling party for a long time. We oppose them because they maintained the colonialists' constitution, maintained the infidels' laws, maintained the rules of the ignorant. This is why we oppose them.

("Our struggle is jihad. Our speeches are jihad. Our donations are jihad. We depend on Allah [in facing] them because if we die fighting them, our deaths (will be considered) martyrdom. Our deaths will be Islamic. We don't need to be Buddhists, nor Hindu, nor Christians, but will be infidels if we practice politics based on race and religion.")

Read KiniGuide: Dusting off history books on Memali tragedy