KUALA LUMPUR: MCA today admonished DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang for allying himself with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad despite the latter’s involvement in the detention of 106 people in a major crackdown 30 years ago.
MCA publicity spokesman Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said Kit Siang, who was detained during Ops Lalang in 1987, had previously accused Dr Mahathir of being responsible for the extensive crackdown.
“Are DAP, Kit Siang and his son (Lim Guan Eng), who had in the past absolved Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of any responsibility in the Ops Lalang operation, absolving Dr Mahathir (of blame) now that he’s an ally?
“It was only a few years ago that the entire blame was placed solely and squarely on Dr Mahathir,” Ti said in a statement.
Ti said Kit Siang had, in a blog post six years ago, accused Dr Mahathir of rewriting history when the latter blamed the police for making the arrests.
He said Kit Siang and Guan Eng “conveniently made no mention” of Dr Mahathir in their statements on the 30th anniversary of Ops Lalang, which has been described as one of the darkest moments in the country’s democratic history.
Dr Mahathir has consistently maintained that Ops Lalang, which occurred during his tenure as prime minister, was a police operation, and that he had no choice but to follow their advice.
In the 2011 book by Tom Plate, Conversations With Mahathir Mohamad: Doctor M: Operation Malaysia, Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying that he was not happy initially with the mass crackdown by the police.
Ops Lalang began on Oct 27, 1987 after 19 people were arrested.
Within a month, a total of 106 — including opposition and Barisan Nasional politicians, academics, social activists, and non-governmental organisation leaders — were detained under the now-repealed Internal Security Act.
A total of 40 people, including Kit Siang and Guan Eng, were detained for two years. Most of the detainees were released within 60 days.