Retract or I’ll sue, Maszlee tells Asyraf over communist claims

PETALING JAYA: Maszlee Malik has threatened to haul Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki to court if the latter does not retract his claim that the previous Pakatan Harapan administration had intentionally glorified communists.

The former education minister also wants Asyraf to tender an open apology.

Maszlee’s demand comes hours after the education ministry cleared the air about the changes in the content of Form 4 history textbooks, saying it was finalised in April 2018, before PH came to power.

In thanking the ministry, Maszlee said he is giving Asyraf until tomorrow morning to apologise and retract his claim.

“Otherwise, I will sue him for slander,” he said in a tweet, adding that many had urged him to do so.

Umno was not behind MP retracting support for PN, says Tajuddin

Asyraf had recently called on the education ministry to correct some content in the textbooks that he claimed glorified communists as independence fighters.

He claimed this was intentionally done by PH when in government to “sow the seeds” of a “Malaysian Malaysia” ideology.

Yesterday, former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching also said PH was never involved in the review process of school textbooks, saying it had left the job to professionals.

This evening, the ministry said the publication of the Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah history textbook was based on the Standard Curriculum and Assessment Document and the ministry’s standard operating procedure on textbook publication updated in 2018.