Demong (centre, front) and other members after their meeting on Saturday.
KUCHING: The Association of Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans (PVATM) Sarawak demands that Ummah chairman Ismail Mina Ahmad retracts his recent statement that non-Malays did not fight for the country.
PVATM Sarawak, in its executive committee and branch chairmen meeting on Saturday, felt that the remark was very provocative in nature and should be withdrawn at once.
State PVATM chairman Roland Demong Radin said the statement by Ismail was uncalled for.
He suggested the Ummah chairman do research on key individuals such as Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (SP) gallantry award recipient, the late Datuk Kanang Langkau, and George Cross award recipient Awang Raweng, who fought the communists in defending the country.
Many of them (non-Malay soldiers) even lost their lives in defending the country, he added.
“How dare he (Ismail) say such a thing? He should not be so ignorant about the country’s past history.
“Everyone knows that all races joined hands to fight the enemy in those days. Not just the Malays,” Demong said.
He said PVATM Sarawak fully supported those who have condemned Ismail over his nonsensical statement.
Among those who have condemned Ismail’s claim was Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who, on Jan 16, said the claim was incorrect as history had recorded many contributions from ethnic minorities.
“In this case, to say that only the Malays had fought in the name of the nation is unfair. Malaysia is made up of multi-racial groups who would come together under the name of unity to fight enemies who would want to destroy the nation’s peace and harmony,” Ahmad Zahid was quoted as saying.
Ismail Mina Ahmad, chairman of a coalition of conservative Muslim groups called Ummah, had claimed during a convention on Jan 13 that only the Malays had resisted the British colonists, Japanese occupiers and battled against communist insurgents.
This triggered public outcry, including from the Malaysian Armed Forces Chinese Veterans Association, who said some of them had scars and had received gallantry awards for their service.
The said that Ismail’s remark was not only historically and factually wrong, but had belittled the contributions of the non-Malay veterans, including the Ibans, Indians and Sikhs.
The remark was also slammed by veterans group National Patriots Association.