LIM Kit Siang has filed a defamation suit against former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar over his remarks last month that DAP had wanted to split Malaysia into two following the May 13, 1969 racial riots.

The suit by the DAP veteran was filed on Wednesday at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, said his lawyer Ramkarpal Singh.

“The suit was served on Hanif’s solicitors today. The matter has been fixed for case management on November 21,” Ramkarpal said.

Hanif reportedly made the controversial remarks, mentioning Lim by name, when speaking as a panellist during a convention at Universiti Teknologi Mara.

His remarks were reported by Malay daily Sinar Harian in the article “Tun Hanif buat pendedahan DAP, PAS” on September 6.

Sinar Harian quoted Hanif, who was IGP from 1974 to 1994, as saying that he had jailed Lim under the Internal Security Act in May 1969 because DAP wanted to divide peninsular Malaysia into two parts after the general election that year, with the east coast for Malays and west coast for Chinese.

Following the Sinar Harian report, Lim, who is also Iskandar Puteri lawmaker, challenged Hanif to give an explanation to back his claims.

“I (want) to know where Hanif had sourced this preposterous allegation. I reserve the right to institute legal proceedings to protect my character and reputation if Hanif fails to do so,” Lim had said.

When Lim was detained under the ISA after the 1969 riots, Hanif was not yet the IGP. The latter was IGP only when Lim was detained a second time under the ISA during the Operation Lalang crackdown in 1987. – AFP, October 19, 2018.