SHAH ALAM: PKR’s Laksamana (Ret) Imran Abdul Hamid today questioned the manner in which the government handled the national mourning day on Friday, calling it an excessive affair to commemorate the Malaysian victims who died in the flight MH17 tragedy.
Imran, who is the Lumut member of parliament, said the government needed to explain why it had decided to organise a major event to commemorate the victims but failed to accord the same level of respect for the country’s fallen soldiers.
“It’s not that we do not sympathise with the victims of MH17, but the national mourning day did seem excessive given the fact that the 10 soldiers who died in Lahad Datu did not receive the same amount of honours.”
Imran had said this when debating the party’s political proposals during PKR’s national congress here today.
He said Malaysian soldiers who died while performing peace keeping duties under the United Nation’s banner were also not given the same amount of honours as accorded to the victims of the MH17 tragedy.
Imran also likened the soldiers who carried the 20 Malaysians victims’ coffins upon their arrival at Kuala Lumpur International efforts as akin to “slaves”.