NAZRI Abdul Aziz today threw his support behind the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the Memali incident, saying that Malaysians needed to know why the government responded with force, which left 18 people dead.

He said at the time of the incident, he was in Umno Youth and felt that the government was “rough” in dealing with the problem.

“I am for an RCI to be held. I felt that the response from the government in handling this was too rough.

“The use of force was disproportionate against the PAS leader Ibrahim Mahmud and his supporters.

“They were all villagers, not terrorists. Their response should not have been to shoot,” said Nazri, who is tourism minister, after launching the Pasareka Design Market in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said Malaysians want to know what prompted such a response from the government and who gave the instructions.

“We are not interested in the cause, we are interested in the response by the government in handling the situation.

“We want to know who gave the instructions. I feel that Dr Mahathir Mohamad has to answer,” he said.

Dr Mahathir had blamed the Memali incident on the “Amanat Hadi”, espoused by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang which occurred during his time as prime minister.

Four police officers and 14 civilians died when security forces and Ibrahim’s followers clashed in Memali.

He said that the probe should focus on Hadi who is closely connected to the incident, adding that amanat encouraged the fight against the government, calling it ‘jihad’ and those who die fighting will be martyrs.

Nazri said that’s the reason why he felt that an RCI should be held was not be because of Amanat Hadi.

“Amanat Hadi maybe be the cause but the response from the government at that time shouldn’t be such until people were killed. We are not interested in the cause as it could be political.”

“Amanat Hadi” refers to Hadi’s speech on April 7, 1981, in which he declared Umno and Barisan Nasional an infidel government which ruled like colonialists.

Yesterday, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan had agreed that their president Hadi be called to testify if a RCI is set up.

He had said this will allow Hadi to explain what really transpired in Memali and also answer allegations that he played a role in the tragedy.

On calls by Musa Hitam to have the RCI after the general election, Nazri said that let the cabinet decide if there is a need for it.

“It is not his decision, it is ours and we will decide. If he said to do it after election that is already political.”

Musa had said the Memali RCI should be set up after the next general election to prevent the issue from being abused by politicians.

He said there is a need to choose an appropriate time to form the RCI to ensure that it serves its purpose, rather than fulfilling the short-term political agendas of certain quarters.

Nazri said he believes that there must be closure to the issue and they want to know what had transpired during the tragedy.

“If Ibrahim Libya had ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and the government responded that way we don’t know. If he did and the government responded that way, then it is right.”

On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government is ready to set up an RCI to probe the incident if there is demand from any quarters, including families of the victims. – August 24, 2017.