Four days ago Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported saying that the Government is ready to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 1985 Memali tragedy.  He added that the government would do so if there is a demand for it. In the clash between security forces and villages in the remote village of Kedah, 14 villagers and 4 police officers were killed. In addition to the deaths, close to 160 people were detained including women and children, and 36 of them subsequently held under the Internal Security Act. At the heart of the incident was Ibrahim Libya, a moniker earned for a year he spent at the University of Tripoli. A candidate for PAS in the 1978 and 1982 General Elections, Ibrahim was caught up the deeply divisive politics of the time. Today we ask, who wants a RCI today and for what purpose, 32 years after the fact.

Watch “Al Fateha Memali” here.

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Tags:  Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,  Deputy Prime Minister,  Royal Commission of Inquiry,  1985 Memali tragedy,  Kedah,  Internal Security Act,  Ibrahim Libya