POKOK SENA: After being heavily criticised by Pas members for his statement regarding the Memali tragedy, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today visited the grave of the late Pas president Datuk Fadzil Noor.
The PKR Langkawi parliamentary candidate also visited the grave of late Kedah Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak which was located next to Fadzil's grave in Muassasah Darul Ulum here this evening.
It is understood that it was the first time Dr Mahathir had visited the grave, since Fadzil passed away in 2002.
In his ceramah today, the PKR candidate also showered praises on Fadzil and claimed the latter to be his personal Islamic religious adviser.
"The late Fadzil was my personal religious adviser before he got active in politics.
"Whenever I have any question regarding religious matters, I would invite him to my home and we spoke about Islam, religious interpretation and so on," he said in his speech at Bukit Lada here.
Besides Fadzil, Dr Mahathir also praised the late Azizan, whom he described as an extraordinary figure, and claimed that they enjoyed a cordial relationship.
"The other Pas leader who I would never forget is Ustaz Azizan... he was an extraordinary man... a very nice person."
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir offered an apology to the family members and next-of-kin of Memali tragedy in Baling 30 years ago, after lamenting that the Pas supporters who lost their lives in the incident had died in vain, instead of martyrs.
His statement had sparked an uproar among the Memali victims' family members, including the children of the late Ibrahim Ahmad or popularly known as Ibrahim Libya.
Dr Mahathir, who was the prime minister then, however, pinned the blame on Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
The former premier had blamed "Amanat Hadi" in 1981 as the reason which led to the tragedy as the Pas members were convinced that it was permitted for them to kill civil servants who worked for infidel leader.