Today, Hadi’s first response to the violence and chaos that disrupted the much-awaited forum focused on the question that seemed to have triggered the disruption with slippers, bottles and chairs being flung at the stage and flares ignited inside the hall.
Hadi had thanked those who raised the three-decade-old Memali issue, where 18 people were killed, when Mahathir was prime minister.
Zaid, who is a DAP member, was direct in his response suggesting Hadi cannot “wash his hands” off what had transpired.
“Yang tanya pasal Memali itu budak. Mastermind nya lain. Tapi Hadi, rakan kongsi Najib tidak boleh lepas tangan,” Zaid tweeted in Bahasa Malaysia, which translates to “The person who asked about Memali was a boy, there’s a mastermind behind it. Hadi, Najib’s close friend, cannot wash his hands.”
The disturbance in Sunday’s Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum, which was held at the Dewan Raja Muda Musa in Shah Alam, began moments after Mahathir finished giving his answer to the question on the Memali incident which had resulted in the death of 14 villagers and four police officers in 1985.
Mahathir was the prime minister at the time of the incident at Kampung Memali in Baling, Kedah.
The incident saw a confrontation between police and supporters of religious teacher Ibrahim Libya, who resisted attempts to arrest him under the Internal Security Act.
Questioning Prime Minister Najib Razak’s support for the former prime minister in the past, Zaid posted another tweet as follows: “Najib dulu sokong Tun masa itu, sekarang salahkan dia. Pilih lah yang mana suka. Itulah kesetian wira Umno.”
This second tweet from Zaid translates to “Najib supported Tun (Mahathir) at the time, but now is blaming him. Choose one or the other. That’s typical of Umno loyalty.”