Pas's Nasrudin Hassan calls Dr M a rude, old man

KUALA LUMPUR: Pas information chief Nasrudin Hassan has described Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a rude old man for alleging that those who had perished in the 1985 Memali incident had died in vain.

Nasrudin said the former premier had run out of issues to justify his political comeback.

He added, before this, Dr Mahathir had labelled Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as a munafiq (hypocrite) and on Thursday, his latest tirade against those killed in the Memali incident showed the former premier had not changed.

“Dr Mahathir has run out of ideas to prove that he still has what it takes to be the next prime minister, so he has resorted to bring up an issue from 30 years ago.

“What is clear is the fact that the Memali incident still haunts Dr Mahathir as he himself could not forget his violent regime.

“To put the nightmare behind him, he again denied that the victims died as martyrs but accused them of dying in vain,” he said in a statement today.

He said Dr Mahathir had made such a statement even when the Sultan of Kedah had previously visited graves of the deceased while some religious scholars had issued a fatwa that those who were killed in the Memali incident were martyrs.

Nasrudin said Dr Mahathir’s rudeness stems from his desire to wield power again and be appointed prime minister.

He also took a swipe at some former Pas leaders who were now in Dr Mahathir’s camp.

“These were the same people who were among the loudest in declaring the martyrdom of those killed in Memali incident,” he said.

Nasrudin further stated that Dr Mahathir was never anti-Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN) instead he was only against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He also pointed out that Mahathir’s attacks were mainly targeted at Pas.

“Do not be deceived and believe that the country will be better because there is a bigger possibility that Malaysia will be even more corrupted,” he said.